SHINEDOWN Singer Predicted GUNS N' ROSES Reunion Would Be Able To Fill Stadiums

Meltdown of the WRIF radio station in Detroit, Michigan recently conducted an interview with SHINEDOWN singer Brent Smith. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the partial reunion of the classic GUNS N’ ROSES lineup playing stadiums in the U.S. this summer:

Brent: “There were some people in the industry that were, like, when they put the shows on sale in stadiums, they were, like, ‘This is a catastrophe. This is never gonna work. No one’s gonna show up to this.’ And I was, like, ‘No, no, no, no, no, no.’ I’m, like,’ ‘If you think that, right off the top off your head, that there ain’t nobody gonna be in these stadiums, you’re sorely, sorely mistaken.’ And a bunch of those stadiums are already sold out, like two nights in a row. But you’ve gotta understand: Axl [Rose] and Slash had not been on stage [together] in, like, twenty years. So that’s the nostalgia, man. I mean, it’s awesome to see Duff [McKagan] up there, and I’m not taking anything away from him, ’cause Duff McKagan is an incredible… Not only just a wonderful human being, a very smart individual, but he’s an original member. And it’s not one hundred percent original [lineup], but when you see Slash and you see Axl together for the first time — I think it’s, like, the first time in twenty-three years — that’s the nostalgia. And also the fact that they sound good, you know.”

On Axl Rose singing for AC/DC after doctors told Brian Johnson he faced a total loss of hearing if he did not stop touring immediately:

Brent: “I watched one full show [of Axl with AC/DC] on the Internet. It was overseas… I’m trying to remember the country that it was… I think it was in Prague. And, I mean, man…. You know, look, for what he did, to go and fill the shoes for those shows, I feel like he did a really, really good job… You go back to the very first [AC/DC] album with Brian, which, of course, is the legendary ‘Back In Black’, I remember being, like, sixteen [or] seventeen years old and trying to hit all that stuff, man. It’s hard, dude. It’s definitely like climbing mountains, man. Those are some insane vocal patterns and melodies that are just crazy high. And, you know, I’m on the fence about how I feel about how [the other members of AC/DC] went about doing what they did. When you have a legacy with a band like AC/DC, but you have a frontman who came in and gave you your career back when the original singer, Bon Scott, passed away. To just be, like, ‘Yeah, man. We hope you do okay,’ and just kind of split after forty years, I’m still completely… I don’t have a great answer for that.”

SHINEDOWN‘s fifth studio album, “Threat To Survival”, debuted at No. 6 on The Billboard 200 album chart, selling 65,000 copies in its first week of release.

Interview (audio):