Former AC/DC bassist Mark Evans (pictured) says that it's up to Angus Young to decide if he should continue the band with a brand new lineup. Ever since AC/DC completed the tour cycle for its 2014 album "Rock Or Bust" nearly two years ago — a turbulent trek that weathered the forced retirement and eventual death of co-founder Malcolm Young, plus the departures of longtime singer Brian Johnson, drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Cliff Williams — fans have wondered whether sole founding member Angus Young would keep the band going or decide it was time for AC/DC to pack it in. Singer Angry Anderson of the veteran Australian act ROSE TATTOO said in an interview with The Rockpit that Angus told him he is at work on new AC/DC music and intends to have GUNS N' ROSES frontman Axl Rose — who took Johnson's place on the road in 2016 — sing on the LP. Asked in a new interview with Metal Rules if he thinks it would be "the right thing" for Angus to carry on with AC/DC with a lineup that includes no other original members, Mark said: "I don't think I'm in a position to say to it is right or wrong. My opinion is the same as everyone else's. Everyone has an opinion. My point is Angus is the guy who's made it. He's the guy that's been there all along. He's done every gig. He's the guy that's left to do and to carry on what Malcolm and George [Young, early AC/DC producer] did. He's earned the right to do it exactly how he should want to do. I think we should respect the opinion if he continues on with it. If he doesn't continue on, I think we should respect that opinion too. He has the right to make the decision, but me personally, whatever he goes with, fantastic." Evans, who played bass for AC/DC from 1975 until 1977, went on to say that he understands why so many fans have such a strong opinion about what Angus should do next. "Because the AC/DC fanbase is so, so strong, all those people who have followed them, some of those people might have started following the band from the very start, well over 40 years," he said. "AC/DC fans are invested emotionally, and they feel like they have some sort of ownership in the band because they've been fans for that long. And so that's why people are so passionate about it. Angus would appreciate people being impassioned about it. But you have to think everyone has different opinions and everyone's view would be different. "My point is Angus has earned the right to… he will make the right decisions; I'm sure he will," he continued ."And what's right for him, you know? And you if you think the band, Angus and Malcolm were brothers and they were always together. He knew Malcolm all his life. Now, when Angus first started having memories, he shared a bedroom with Malcolm. So, he was there all the time. And then when the band kept on playing, it wouldn't have been till probably the mid-'80s where they spent any sort of time apart. So, it's not just like, 'Oh, I think I'm a band.' It's a brothers band too. So, there are all those complexities about it. So, his decision carries a lot of weight. Whatever decision he comes to, do you know what I say? Bravo. Well done. Whatever it is." Evans joined AC/DC in 1975 and remained with them through their barroom days, their first international tours, and the majority of the Bon Scott-era albums: "High Voltage", "Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap", "T.N.T.", "Let There Be Rock", and the U.S.-only '74 "Jailbreak" collection — recordings that have since sold in excess of ten million copies in the U.S. alone. Although Evans's tenure in AC/DC was short-lived, it was during a pivotal point in the band's development. "We were really honing the classic AC/DC sound," he told Music Radar. "The steady, pounding rhythms; the hard-edged, twin-guitar attack; the in-your-face vocals — it was all right there. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was honest. It was something everyone could relate to." Evans in 2011 released his memoir, "Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside Of AC/DC".
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