Former AC/DC drummer Chris Slade has announced his retirement at the age of 79.
The Welshman most famously appeared on AC/DC’s hugely successful 1990 album The Razors Edge and he also performed with Tom Jones, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Asia and Uriah Heep.
The announcement comes seven years after Slade suffered “a small stroke”, the effects of which have worsened over time.
Slade says: ”Hello, everybody. It’s with a heavy heart that I’m announcing my retirement from drumming.
“I’m near enough 80 years old. I’ve been drumming professionally since I was 16 with Tom Jones. I’ve had a good innings. And thank you all for coming to the shows.
“So, what happened was that I had a stroke, as you probably know, about seven years ago. A small stroke, but it’s got worse.
“And I’m afraid that has screwed me up. I’m really jealous of people like The Stones or Paul McCartney who are going well into their 80s, and I wanted to do that.
“But it looks like I can’t. So, as I say, with a heavy heart, it’s bye for now.”
Despite the success of The Razors Edge, AC/DC brought back Phil Rudd in 1994.
When Rudd ran into legal trouble, Slade returned to AC/DC in 2015 for the Rock or Bust tour.
Slade admitted he was stung by the decision to replace him with Rudd. Malcolm Young called him and asked him to stay on as Rudd’s understudy, which Slade refused.
He said: “I wasn’t very happy about it. Who would be, right? They wanted to keep me on in case.”
