Chris Slade (born Christopher Slade Rees; 30 October 1946) is a Welsh musician, best known for playing for the Australian rock band

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

. He drummed for the band from 1989 to 1994, performing on their 1990 album '' The Razors Edge'' along with their first live album with singer

Brian Johnson Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Rol ...

, ''

AC/DC Live ''AC/DC Live'' is the second live album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 27 October 1992. Two versions were released, one containing a single CD, with the second version being a double album on LP and CD known as ''AC/DC Live: ...

''. He returned to the band in February 2015 to replace

Phil Rudd Phillip Hugh Norman Rudd (born Phillip Hugh Norman Witschke Rudzevecius, 19 May 1954) is an Australian drummer, best known as the drummer of AC/DC across three stints. On the 1977 departure of bass guitarist Mark Evans from AC/DC, Rudd became ...

for the "

Rock or Bust World Tour Rock or Bust World Tour was a 2015–2016 concert tour by Australian rock band AC/DC, in support of their sixteenth studio album ''Rock or Bust'', which was released on 28 November 2014. This tour had 7 legs around the world lasting more than ...

". Slade has also played with

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You (Bruce Springsteen song), For You", "Blinded by the Light" an ...

, Tom Jones, Toomorrow, The Firm, and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Early life and career

Slade was born Christopher Rees in

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest (). ...

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

. He has worked with

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...

, Tom Jones,

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

(as co-members of the band Toomorrow), and Uriah Heep. On 10 June 1969 Slade was photographed by celebrity photographer Peter Borsari at the

Flamingo Hotel Flamingo Las Vegas (formerly The Fabulous Flamingo and Flamingo Hilton Las Vegas) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. The property includes a casino along with 3, ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

with

Tom Jones (singer) Sir Thomas Jones Woodward (born 7 June 1940), known professionally as Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer. His career began with a string of top-ten hits in the mid-1960s. He has toured regularly, with appearances in Las Vegas (1967–2011). Jones's ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

and Jones' personal assistant, Chris Ellis. He was an original founding member of

, playing on their eight studio albums released from 1972 to 1978. In the mid-1980s Slade played with

Paul Rodgers Paul Rodgers (born 17 December 1949) is a British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead vocalist of numerous bands, including Free, Bad Company, The Firm, and The Law. He has also performed as a solo artist, and co ...

and Jimmy Page in The Firm. He has played with

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

, and Gary Moore on his 1989 world tour. Slade received his highest exposure in November 1989 when he was asked to join

after drummer Simon Wright had departed. AC/DC were signed to the same management company as Gary Moore, with whom Slade had just finished touring. The Young brothers (

Angus Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * An ...

and

Malcolm Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to: People * Malcolm (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Clan Malcolm * Maol Choluim de Innerpeffray, 14th-century bishop-elect of Dunkeld Nobility * Máe ...

) initially hired Slade only temporarily through management, then asked him–during the recording of the only album he made with them – to join the band. Slade played on '' The Razors Edge'' album in 1990 and the accompanying world tour, and the "

Big Gun "Big Gun" is a song by Australian rock band AC/DC. It was released as a single in May 1993 from the soundtrack to the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie ''Last Action Hero'', as well as during reruns of '' The Savage Nation'' talk show as bumper music ...

" single released in 1993. According to Slade, after working on demos for the following album, ''

Ballbreaker ''Ballbreaker'' is the thirteenth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It was released in 1995 and was re-released in 2005 as part of the ''AC/DC Remasters'' series. Background ''Ballbreaker'' marked the return of drummer Phil R ...

'',

Malcolm Young Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian musician who was the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter of AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was with the band from its beginn ...

called Slade and told him they wanted to try a reunion with former drummer

. Slade replied, "That's me out then, I'm gone." Young said that he wanted to keep Slade on hand if Rudd's return did not work out, but Slade refused. However he made statements that he still got on well with AC/DC and "it was an honour and a privilege to play with those guys". After his departure Slade spent a few years living in the UK countryside, before receiving a call from Geoff Downes of the British

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

group

. Slade played with Asia for six years, before departing in September 2005. Slade has fronted an AC/DC tribute band, Chris Slade Steel Circle, and is currently touring the World with THE CHRIS SLADE TIMELINE – a band formed to celebrate 50 years as a rock drummer. The band takes music from all aspects of his lengthy career and has appeared at major festivals including

Hellfest Hellfest (), also called Hellfest Summer Open Air, is a rock festival focusing on heavy metal music, held annually in June in Clisson, France. Its high attendance makes it the French music festival with the largest turnover. It is also one of ...

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

, Harley Davidson Aquitaine, and Saint Tropez and is the only rock band to play the Moscow Olympic Stadium for the

Kremlin Cup The Kremlin Cup (russian: Кубок Кремля) is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts, which was suspended in 2022. It was part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour and was a Premier Tournament on the WTA ...

tennis tournament.

Return to AC/DC

Speculation regarding Slade's return to AC/DC started shortly after Phil Rudd's legal troubles became public. In a December 2014 podcast by

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jerich ...

, Jericho mentioned that he had it on good authority that Slade would be returning to AC/DC. Slade was photographed signing albums with the band on 7 February 2015. After the photo appeared publicly, Slade finally admitted that he was going to be the band's drummer and admitted to secrecy surrounding his return, and stated that it was done for the right reasons. The band issued a statement, "Chris Slade will be on drums for the upcoming Rock or Bust world tour.". Since that time, in addition to playing live, Slade has appeared in all promotional photos taken with the band and appeared in the music video for the single "Rock the Blues Away". In late April 2015 AC/DC's official website listed him as the band's drummer. On 30 September 2020, his role within the band was made clear: Phil Rudd was returning to AC/DC on the drums, effectively making Slade leave the band for a second time. In the same announcement, Brian Johnson and Cliff Williams were also returning to the band.

Equipment

Slade endorses

Drum Workshop Drum Workshop, Inc. (also known as DW Drums or DW) is an American drum kit and hardware manufacturing company based in Oxnard, California. Current products by DW include drum sets, snare drums, and hardware. History Drum Workshop was founded ...

drums, pedals and hardware,

Paiste Paiste (English pronunciation: , ) is a Swiss musical instrument manufacturing company. It is the world's third largest manufacturer of cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion. is an Estonian word that means "shine". Apart from cymbals and gong ...

cymbals,

Remo Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumheads, drums, and hardware. History Drummer and founder Re ...

drumheads, LP percussion and London drumsticks. Before switching to DW, he previously endorsed

Pearl drums , simply known as Pearl, is a multinational corporation based in Japan with a wide range of products, predominantly percussion instruments. History Pearl was founded by Katsumi Yanagisawa -who began manufacturing music stands in Sumida, Tokyo- o ...

, pedals and hardware.

Discography

With Tom Jones

*'' Along Came Jones'' (1965) *''A-Tom-ic Jones'' (1966) *''From The Heart'' (1966) *''

Green, Green Grass of Home "Green, Green Grass of Home", written by Claude "Curly" Putman Jr., and first recorded by singer Johnny Darrell in 1965, is a country song made popular by Porter Wagoner the same year, when it reached No. 4 on the Country chart. It was also r ...

'' (1967) *''Live: at the Talk of the Town'' (1967) *''13 Smash Hits'' (1967) *''Delilah'' (1968) *''Tom Jones Live in Las Vegas'' (1969)

With Toomorrow

*'' Toomorrow'' (1970)

With Tom Paxton

*''How Come The Sun'' (1971)

With Manfred Mann's Earth Band

*''

'' (1972) *''

Glorified Magnified ''Glorified Magnified'' is a rock album released in 1972 by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The album was produced by Manfred Mann and Dave Hadfield (except "It's All Over..." by Manfred Mann and Tom McGuinness) at Maximum Sound Studios, London in 1 ...

'' (1972) *''

Messin' ''Messin is a rock album released in 1973 by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. ''Messin followed ''Glorified Magnified'' and preceded '' Solar Fire'', and like all Earth Band albums contains a mixture of originals and covers (see track listing below). ...

'' (1973) *''

Solar Fire ''Solar Fire'' is the fourth studio album by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, released in 1973. It spent 15 weeks on the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at number 96 on May 11, 1974. It was initially intended to be a full adaptation of The Planets Suit ...

'' (1973) *''

The Good Earth ''The Good Earth'' is a historical fiction novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 that dramatizes family life in a Chinese village in the early 20th century. It is the first book in her ''House of Earth'' trilogy, continued in ''Sons'' (1932) ...

'' (1974) *''

Nightingales & Bombers ''Nightingales & Bombers'' is an album released in 1975 by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. "The title of this album was inspired by a recording made in Surrey, England during the Second World War, by an ornithologist intending to record nightingal ...

'' (1975) *''

The Roaring Silence ''The Roaring Silence'' is the seventh studio album by English rock band Manfred Mann's Earth Band. It was released on 27 August 1976, by Bronze Records in the UK and by Warner Bros. Records in the US. Like other Earth Band albums, this incl ...

'' (1976) *''

Watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...

'' (1978)

With Terra Nova

*''Terra Nova'' (1980)

With Kai Olsson

*''Crazy Love'' (1979)

With Frankie Miller

*''Falling in Love'' (1979)

With Uriah Heep

*''

Conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...

'' (1980)

With Gary Numan

*''

I, Assassin ''I, Assassin'' is the fourth solo studio album by English new wave musician Gary Numan, released on 10 September 1982 by Beggars Banquet. It peaked at No. 8 on the UK Album Chart. Three singles were released from the album: " Music for Chamel ...

'' (1982)

With Denny Laine

*''

Anyone Can Fly ''Anyone Can Fly'' is the title of the fourth solo album by Denny Laine. Track listing All tracks composed by Denny Laine Side one # "Running Round In Circles" 4.03 # "Be Together" 5.07 # "Who Moved the World?" 3.59 # "Racing Cars" 4.19 Side t ...

'' (1982)

With David Gilmour

*''

David Gilmour Live 1984 ''Pink Floyd's David Gilmour'' or simply ''David Gilmour'' is a film by David Gilmour from his 1984 tour from the album '' About Face'' for Europe. The film is mainly a concert performance from The Hammersmith Odeon in London in April 1984, an ...

'' (1984)

With The Firm

*'' The Firm'' (1985) *''

Mean Business ''Mean Business'' is the second and final studio album by The Firm, released by Atlantic Records on 3 February 1986. Repeating the same bluesy formula as on the first album, '' The Firm'' (1985), ''Mean Business'' did not achieve the same com ...

'' (1986)

With AC/DC

*'' The Razors Edge'' (1990) *'' Live at Donington'' (1992) *''

'' (1992) *"

" (1993)

With Asia

*'' Aura'' (2001) *''

Silent Nation ''Silent Nation'' is the ninth studio album by British rock band Asia, released in 2004. It was the last album with longtime vocalist and bassist John Payne, prior to the reunion of the original line-up in 2006. Production ''Silent Nation'' was ...

'' (2004)

With Bloodstock

*''Creator of Worlds''

With Damage Control

*''Damage Control'' (2007) *''Raw'' (2008)

With MIWA

*''My Wish Is Your Command'' (2011) *''Reach Out and Touch Me'' (2018)

References

External links

Official site

Chris Slade appears as a cast member on Bending Reality TV

Damage Control official site

MIWA official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slade, Chris 1946 births Living people Welsh rock drummers British male drummers Uriah Heep (band) members The Gary Moore Band members AC/DC members Asia (band) members Michael Schenker Group members Manfred Mann's Earth Band members The Firm (rock band) members People from Pontypridd Musicians from Cardiff Welsh session musicians British heavy metal drummers