Def Leppard's Phil Collen Calls AC/DC With Axl Rose "Karaoke"

Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen is at least the second member of his band to publicly denounce AC/DC's presumed plans to continue with Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose.

"I'm a huge AC/DC fan," Collen explained in a recent radio interview, before explaining the turnover in the band over the last eight years. "You've got one person [left] — so it's not really AC/DC. Maybe call it 'A with Axl Rose.' It kind of loses its appeal. It become karaoke. It becomes something else and it's lost its integrity, really."

In January, Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott expressed his disappointment in how the iconic Australian rock band ended its relationship with longtime frontman Brian Johnson, after Johnson was sidelined with severe hearing loss. 

Rose filled in for Johnson on AC/DC's most recent Rock or Bust World Tour. Many reports since the end of that jaunt have suggested that the band's sole remaining founding member, guitarist Angus Young, plans to record a new AC/DC album with Rose.

Both Collen and Elliott in their respective comments on the subject emphasized that Rose did an exceptional job at the front of the stage in Johnson's place. But significant turnover in AC/DC's lineup has irked fans who don't think the band should continue to tour under the AC/DC name.

And it makes sense that members of Def Leppard would feel strongly about the subject.

As Elliott said in January: "...[Considering] that we had [drummer Rick Allen] lose an arm and we waited for him, the way that they dealt with [Johnson's health issues] was not the way I would have done it. Put it that way.”

On the other side of the aisle, AC/DC achieved its most commercially successful period after hiring Johnson in 1980 upon the tragic death of original frontman Bon Scott.

Rose famously rebooted Guns N' Roses in 1999 with an all-new lineup (except for himself).

Longtime AC/DC bassist Cliff Williams retired after the band's tour with Rose in 2016. 

On-again-off-again drummer Phil Rudd left the band in 2014 due to a litany of legal and personal issues. 

Angus' brother Malcolm Young died in November, about seven years after retiring due to early-onset dementia. 

It's unclear who the new AC/DC's lineup would include besides Angus Young and Rose.

Rose Tattoo frontman Angry Anderson, a friend of Young's, recently related a conversation he had with the guitarist about the future of AC/DC.

"I said to him 'What are you going to do?' and he said 'Mate, I’m writing a new album,'" Anderson told Rockpit. "I asked him who was in the band and he said 'Axl.' Brian’s not there, Phil’s not there, Cliff’s not there, sadly, Malcolm’s not there."

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