By Amanda Wicks
Phil Rudd has been estranged from AC/DC since the bizarre turn of events following his first solo album, Head Job.
Rudd was arrested in November 2014 on several serious charges, including allegedly attempting to have his former assistant killed. Although that charge was later dropped due to insufficient evidence, charges of Rudd threatening to kill his assistant did stick, as well as a drug possession charge, both of which led to Rudd’s being required to pay $120,000 in reparations and serving an eight month house arrest sentence followed by six months of post-release conditions.
Related: AC/DC Drummer Phil Rudd Pleads Guilty to Threats of Murder Charge
Although Rudd appealed the sentence, a New Zealand judge denied the appeal earlier today, according to Loudwire. Rudd called the sentence excessive and attempted to have it overturned, because, in part, he’s losing income by not being able to tour with AC/DC. The band spent the summer on the North American leg of their Rock or Bust World Tour.
High Court Justice Raynor Asher, who heard Rudd’s appeal, did not see his loss of income as pertinent, since the drummer had not been invited to participate in the tour. “It is far from clear that at the time when the offending took place there was any place in the band available to Mr. Rudd, given his drug addiction and state of mind,” Asher told local New Zealand station 3News. “It is only in certain countries that there is a certain problem arising from the convictions, and there is nothing to indicate that if Mr. Rudd was a greatly wanted band member that his inability to travel to those countries would mean that he could not be employed in other countries.”
Related: ‘Rock or Bust’: AC/DC Pack New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium
The incident that steamrolled into murder threats apparently began at a record-release party that did not go the way Rudd wanted. In an interview with Rolling Stone in August, Rudd said, “It came to a head at this woman’s party, which was badly organized. So I sacked all those guys on the spot. When I walked in, everyone was [drunk]; eight sheets to the wind and full of bourbon. That’s the last thing I wanted to see. I wanted them to sit down and listen to the album, have a snack and a cup of tea. It just got worse from there. I wasn’t handling it very well. The whole thing was a little bit too much for me. But the threatening charge is just a complete crock of s—. I wouldn’t do that.”
