Some troubling news is coming out of Australia tonight, as longtime AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has been charged with “attempting to procure a murder.” If convicted, the musician could face up to a decade in prison.
Rudd, who was also charged with a series a drug possessions, drummed on some of the legendary rock band’s most classic records, including Back In Black (1980), Highway To Hell (1979), and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976), as well as recent albums like Stiff Upper Lip (2000) and the upcoming Rock Or Bust.
Here’s word from the Sydney Morning Herald on this developing story:
AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd will appear in New Zealand’s Tauranga District Court this afternoon [November 6] charged with attempting to procure a murder.
The charge was laid after police raided the drummer’s home on the Tauranga waterfront at Matua this morning. He is also charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of cannabis and threatening to kill.
Police said a 60-year-old man would appear in court today.
Police searched Rudd’s Tauranga home this morning.
Here’s a scene from the court proceedings, where Rudd was released on bail. He’s due back in court November 27.
Phil Rudd in court pic.twitter.com/zw4Er9DqRY
— tony wall (@tonywalljourno) November 6, 2014
Rudd drummed with AC/DC from 1975 to 1983, then joined the band in 1994 and has been with them ever since.
AC/DC’s new record, Rock Or Bust, is out on December 2, but Blabbermouth noted that Rudd was suspiciously missing from the band’s latest press photo, which was released in October. Rudd was also absent from two promotional videos shot earlier this fall, and Ultimate Classic Rock reports that AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson attributed his absence to a “family emergency.”
Stay tuned…