AC/DC's Brian Johnson and Chuck Norris Played Football Together

Picture the scene: it is 1983, and AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson is standing under the floodlights at Florence’s Stadio Comunale in front of 25,000 screaming fans. Only, he is not holding a microphone on a rock stage—he is playing in a charity football match for a United States celebrity all-star team against an Italian show business XI.

Recalling the surreal experience during a vintage interview with Tyne Tees Television, Johnson revealed that the US squad had a secret weapon on the pitch: martial arts icon Chuck Norris.

“There was about 25,000 there,” Johnson remembered. “It was floodlit and yer knees turned to jelly. It was against the Italian showbiz XI and they were unbeaten; they thought we were gonna be a walk-over, but they didn’t know we had Chuck Norris. He was centre-half and you didn’t go near the man – he was dangerous!”

A Red Card and a Man of the Match Trophy

Despite Norris ultimately earning a red card, Team USA managed to pull off a 1-0 victory against the previously undefeated Italian side. To top off the bizarre afternoon, legendary Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff presented Johnson with the Man of the Match award.

“It was a fantastic night,” Johnson said. “Music’s me love and football’s me passion, you know what I mean? They’re two different things.”

During the same 1983 interview, the Dunston-born singer also discussed his deep roots in the North East of England and shared ambitions to financially invest £100,000 into Newcastle United following their signing of Kevin Keegan. While that particular financial backing never materialized, Johnson’s lifelong fandom remains intact, punctuated by a cameo in the 2005 film Goal! The Dream Begins and a voiceover for a Newcastle United hype video in 2025.

Singer Brian Johnson and Angus Young of AC/DC perform onstage during a concert at Merkur Spiel-Arena on July 08, 2025 in Duesseldorf, Germany. — Singer Brian Johnson and Angus Young of AC/DC live at Merkur Spiel-Arena on July 08, 2025 in Duesseldorf, Germany.
(Photo by Andreas Rentz /Getty Images)

The years between the release of 1979’s The Long Run and 1994’s Hell Freezes Over marked a major period of separation for the Eagles. During this time and beyond, band anchors Glenn Frey and Don Henley experimented heavily with new sounds—displaying unexpected penchants for saxophones and synthesizers respectively—while trying to connect with new audiences. Meanwhile, members like Joe Walsh, Bernie Leadon, and Timothy B. Schmit brought their own unique resumes to the table, though not every side project found lasting mainstream traction.

The original four Eagles — Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner & Glenn Frey

Why Some Solo Projects Slipped Through the Cracks

Several solo records arrived at inopportune times in the music industry. Glenn Frey’s most underrated LP followed three straight gold-selling Top 40 hits, but ultimately failed to chart amid major industry shifts. Other members struggled to get their solo output moving while the band was still active.

Don Felder scored an early 1981 radio favorite with “Heavy Metal (Takin’ a Ride),” but he didn’t truly focus on his solo career until the 2010s long past the group’s heyday. Similarly, early roots contributor Bernie Leadon—an alumnus of the Flying Burrito Brothers—did not release his most complete solo project until 2025’s well-received Too Late To Be Cool.

Timothy B. Schmit brought his experience from country-rock pioneers Poco to the fold, yet his most underrated solo album failed to chart. In fact, it was just one of five Schmit solo releases to meet a tough commercial fate. Schmit’s career best-seller remains 1987’s synth-driven Timothy B, which reached No. 106.

Don Henley live concert — Don Henley, Photo: Alan Light, licensed CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Shadowed By Massive Success

The label of “underrated” does not always point to commercial failure. In some cases, strong LPs were simply cast aside by far greater blockbusters that followed.

Don Henley earned a gold-selling, Top 25 release featuring the No. 3 breakthrough single “Dirty Laundry.” However, that record became somewhat overlooked once his next two albums combined for nearly 10 million sales in the U.S. alone, overshadowing everything outside of 1984’s Building the Perfect Beast and 1989’s End of the Innocence.

Randy Meisner followed an undistinguished solo debut with an underrated album boasting a No. 19 hit single, alongside another release that just missed the Top 20. Despite those relative peaks, the music largely faded from public memory before Meisner ultimately stepped away from solo recordings prior to his death in 2023.

Joe Walsh managed a respectable chart run with an LP that went gold and peaked at No. 11—besting Henley’s chart position at the time—even though its top-charting single stalled out at No. 93. Walsh later hit a platinum peak with 1978’s But Seriously, Folks…, leaving earlier efforts sitting in the shadows.