Vocalist Brian Johnson of hard rock legends AC/DC, who are set to headline the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival this weekend, told the Los Angeles Times that he received words of support earlier this week from Paul McCartney, who played Coachella in 2009.

“I ran into him downstairs [at the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills, California] this [past Tuesday] morning,” Johnson said. “He goes, ‘Brian, you get on that stage and I’m telling you, you see all these kids looking for the hip-hop acts. Then they see you, and they’re like, ‘Who’s he? Oh, yeah — me dad talks of him.’ But he said it’s great because you’re doing your thing, and eventually all the kids go, ‘He’s cool, this dude!’

“It kind of takes you right back to the start, when you had to win over an audience,” the singer added. “I’m excited.”

Coachella, which takes place on both April 10-12 and April 17-19 in Indio, California, is headlined by AC/DC, Drake and Jack White. Billboard estimates that this year’s headliners will earn between $750,000 and $2 million each.

AC/DC‘s 16th studio album, “Rock Or Bust” sold around 172,000 copies in its first week of release to debut at No. 3 on The Billboard 200 album chart.

“Rock Or Bust” was released on December 2, 2014 and is AC/DC‘s first album without guitarist Malcolm Young, who is suffering from dementia. He has been replaced by nephew Stevie Young.

AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was arrested last November at his home in Tauranga on charges of threatening to kill and possession of methamphetamine and cannabis.

A “not guilty” plea to the charges was entered by his lawyer in December. Rudd faces several years in prison if convicted of the charges.

Although Rudd played on “Rock Or Bust”, he did not appear in photos or videos for the disc.

One-time AC/DC drummer Chris Slade officially joined the band’s lineup for its performance on the February 8 Grammy Awards telecast. Slade will also be behind the kit for the group’s upcoming world tour.

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