Welsh drumming legend Chris Slade is hanging up the sticks after more than six decades behind the kit
There are drummers… and then there are drummers whose opening beats can make an entire stadium collectively lose its bloody mind.
For Chris Slade, that beat will forever be connected with one enormous word:
THUNDER! ⚡
The legendary Welsh drummer and former AC/DC member has announced his retirement from drumming at the age of 79, bringing the curtain down on an extraordinary professional career stretching back more than 60 years.
Slade confirmed the emotional news in a video shared through The Chris Slade Timeline on Saturday, 22 August, explaining that his age and ongoing health problems have ultimately forced him to step away from performing.
And for us here at The Riff Report, there’s an extra bit of Welsh pride attached to this one.
Because before the stadiums, world tours and one of the biggest rock bands ever to plug a Gibson SG into an amplifier, Chris Slade was a lad from Pontypridd, Wales. 🏴🥁
💔 “It’s With a Heavy Heart…”
Slade didn’t hide how difficult the decision had been.
Announcing his retirement, he said:
“It’s with a heavy heart that I’m announcing my retirement from drumming.”
Slade explained that he’s approaching 80 and has been playing professionally since he was just 16 years old.
That’s not merely a career.
That’s practically an entire history lesson in British rock music.
Slade also thanked the musicians who have shared the stage with him in The Chris Slade Timeline, along with the fans who have continued turning up and supporting his shows.
But the drummer also revealed the sad reality behind his decision.
Around seven years ago, Slade suffered a small stroke. He explained that its effects have worsened over time and have now affected his ability to continue playing at the level he expects from himself.
Slade admitted he’d hoped to keep performing into his eighties, pointing towards musicians such as The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney, who have continued playing well beyond the traditional retirement age.
Sadly, his health has made that impossible.
His farewell was beautifully simple:
“With a heavy heart, it’s bye for now.”
Bloody hell.
Someone’s chopping onions backstage again. 🥹🥁
🏴 From Pontypridd to the Biggest Stages on Earth
Calling Chris Slade simply “the former AC/DC drummer” doesn’t really do the bloke justice.
His CV is absolutely ridiculous.
Born in Pontypridd, Slade began his professional career as a teenager playing with another little-known Welsh musician…
Tom Jones.
Yes. That Tom Jones. 😎
From there, Slade embarked upon a musical journey that would see him work with an astonishing collection of artists and bands across rock and pop.
His career included spells with Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, The Firm, Asia and Uriah Heep, alongside work connected with musicians including David Gilmour.
Slade was behind the drums during Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s hugely successful 1970s period, including the era that produced their famous version of “Blinded by the Light.”
But then came the phone call that would permanently cement his name into hard rock history.
⚡ AC/DC Come Calling
In 1989, Chris Slade joined AC/DC.
Not exactly a quiet little pub gig down the valleys, was it?
Slade arrived during a hugely important period for the Australian rock giants and appeared on their 1990 album:
⚡ The Razors Edge
And tucked away on that record was a fairly popular little tune.
You might’ve heard it.
“Thunderstruck.”
From Angus Young’s instantly recognisable opening guitar figure to the gigantic rhythm section underneath it, the song became one of AC/DC’s defining anthems.
And Slade’s powerhouse drumming became part of its DNA.
Then came one of the performances that helped turn an already brilliant era into rock folklore.
🤘 AC/DC at Donington 1991
If you’ve ever watched AC/DC: Live at Donington, you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about.
Monsters of Rock.
Donington Park.
- 1991.
A sea of rock fans.
Cannons.
Bells.
Angus Young charging around the stage like somebody had wired him directly into the National Grid.
And sitting behind an enormous drum kit was our Chris.
🥁💥🥁💥🥁
Slade’s bald head, moustache and absolutely thunderous playing became one of the defining images of that AC/DC era.
That Donington performance remains legendary among rock fans and stands as one hell of a monument to Slade’s time behind the kit.
🔄 The Return to AC/DC
Slade’s original AC/DC tenure ended in 1994 when longtime drummer Phil Rudd returned to the band.
But more than two decades later, the call came again.
Following Rudd’s departure from touring duties, Slade returned to AC/DC in 2015, joining the band for their enormous Rock or Bust World Tour.
Think about that for a second.
More than 25 years after first joining AC/DC, Chris Slade was once again sitting behind the kit hammering out:
⚡ “Back in Black”
⚡ “Highway to Hell”
⚡ “Whole Lotta Rosie”
⚡ “You Shook Me All Night Long”
⚡ “Thunderstruck”
…in front of stadiums packed with tens of thousands of people.
Not bad for a boy from Pontypridd, mun. 🏴🤘
🥁 The Chris Slade Timeline
Outside AC/DC, Slade continued celebrating his enormous career through The Chris Slade Timeline, formed in 2012.
Rather than pretending the previous decades hadn’t happened, the project embraced them.
The shows became a journey through Slade’s musical history, allowing audiences to hear material associated with the many different chapters of his career.
It also meant fans could continue seeing one of rock’s great drummers doing exactly what he’d spent his life doing:
Sitting behind a kit and absolutely leathering it.
Recent health problems, however, made performing increasingly difficult. A fall and serious rib injury had already forced The Chris Slade Timeline to cancel a festival appearance before the drummer announced his retirement.
❤️ More Than “The AC/DC Drummer”
For millions of rock fans, Chris Slade will always be associated with AC/DC.
And understandably so.
The Razors Edge.
“Thunderstruck.”
Donington.
The Rock or Bust comeback.
Those are enormous chapters in rock history.
But reducing Slade’s career to those years alone would overlook just how remarkable his musical journey has been.
He started playing professionally at 16.
He played alongside some of the biggest names in music.
He experienced the explosion of British rock.
He watched stadium rock become a global phenomenon.
And eventually, he found himself sitting behind the drum kit of one of the biggest rock ‘n’ roll bands the planet has ever produced.
That’s some innings.
🏴 The Riff Report Raises a Glass to Chris Slade
Here at The Riff Report, we’re always banging the drum — quite literally in this case — for Welsh musicians who’ve gone out into the world and made a serious bloody racket.
And Chris Slade absolutely belongs among them.
From Pontypridd to Donington, from playing alongside Tom Jones as a teenager to hearing tens of thousands of people screaming “THUNDER!” while sitting behind AC/DC…
What. A. Career.
Retirement announcements can sometimes feel like endings.
This one feels more like an opportunity to stand back, look at more than six decades of music and say:
Fair play, Chris. You absolutely smashed it.
The sticks might finally be going down.
The amps might be getting quieter.
But every time that opening guitar kicks into “Thunderstruck”, every time someone sticks Live at Donington on the telly, and every time another Welsh musician dreams about making it from the valleys onto the world’s biggest stages…
Chris Slade’s legacy will still be making one hell of a noise.
Diolch, Chris. 🏴❤️
From everyone at The Riff Report:
🥁 Thank you for the music.
⚡ Thank you for the thunder.
🏴 And thank you for flying the Welsh flag on some of rock’s biggest stages.
Enjoy your retirement, butt. You’ve bloody earned it. 🤘⚡🥁
The Riff Report
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. Zero Apologies. 🏴🤘
