Brian Johnson and Mark Knopfler Launching 'Music Legends' Series

AC/DC singer Brian Johnson and former Dire Straits frontperson Mark Knopfler are collaborating on a six-part TV series for Sky Arts, the two announced on March 13. The show, Johnson and Knopfler’s Music Legends, will feature the two friends interacting with a guest each week, as they treat an audience, according to the press release, "to a joyous journey through decades of music with exclusive access to a series of once-in-a-lifetime meetings, interviews and jam sessions between rock's ultimate legends."

Guests for the series include Tom Jones (regaling tales of friendship with Elvis Presley), Sam Fender, Cyndi Lauper, Nile Rogers (who jams with Knopfler on an exclusive Johnny Cash-style take of Chic's "Good Times"), Carlos Santana and Emmylou Harris (a longtime friend and collaborator of Knopfler's, who for this episode is also joined by country legend and current Eagles member Vince Gill).

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The two first banded together during the run of Johnson's series A Life On The Road. From 2017-2019, Johnson hooked up with various iconic musicians across the globe for a rock-and-talk, taking viewers to the places that helped define their careers. Among the numerous luminaries – including Sting, Roger Daltrey, Dolly Parton and Billy Joel – Johnson found time to hang with Knopler.

While the pairing of the two might seem unusual at first glance, their shared generational backgrounds – 76-year-old Johnson and the Scottish-born, 74-year-old Knopfler were both raised in the Newcastle area – it's the love of an era in music that both saw up close and fermented in their youth.

Johnson and Knopfler’s Music Legends will air on Sky Arts, Freeview and in the U.S. on NOW starting April 25.

It's all setting up for a banner year for both. Knopfler is set to release his first full-length album since 2018: One Deep River will drop April 12, and the collaborative benefit single for the UK's Teenage Cancer Trust and U.S. Teen Cancer America, a nine-minute instrumental reworking of Knopfler's "Going Home (Theme From Local Hero)," drops on March 15. The track opens with Jeff Beck’s final recording, and among the 60 artists featured are Joan Armatrading, Joe Bonamassa, Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder, Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Brian May and Sting.

Johnson and AC/DC have previously announced the UK and European dates for their Power Up Tour 2024 in support of the 2020 release Power Up. The two UK dates, July 3 and July 7 will be at Wembley Stadium. Johnson will be onstage without issue, as he is now specially fitted with ear monitors for the hearing loss that nearly halted his performing career several years back. After a one-off gig at the Power Trip Festival last October, the band line-up now consists of Johnson, Angus Young, Stevie Young (the late Malcolm Young's nephew), former Jane's Addiction member and session musician Chris Janey and American drummer Matt Laug.