Due to ongoing legal problems in New Zealand, where he is a resident, Rudd was unable to join the band for the 2015 Rock or Bust World Tour and was replaced by Chris Slade.

A letter written by AC/DC vocalist Bon Scott to his sister Valerie during the 1978 Powerage tour claims Rudd suffered “a bit of a nervous breakdown & had to spend a lot of time with a shrink.

The split was partly the result of his own personal problems as well as a conflict with the band's rhythm guitarist and founder Malcolm Young, which allegedly escalated to become physical.

Simon Wright was later hired as Rudd's permanent replacement, and featured in the music videos released to promote the album.

In the last few pages of Circus Magazine's October 1983 edition it stated "Phil Rudd exits AC/DC [...] to spend more time with his family and his cars".

[10] Vocalist Brian Johnson added in a Hit Parader interview from the same period that "You couldn't find a more solid person or drummer than Phil Rudd.

[9] When AC/DC toured New Zealand in 1991 in support of their Razors Edge album, they called Rudd to see if he would be interested in joining them for a casual jam session.

Due to legal problems culminating in his house arrest, Rudd was replaced by former AC/DC drummer Chris Slade for the band's 2015–2016 Rock or Bust tour.

[15][16] The tour began in Oslo, Norway on 31 March 2017 and visited Sweden, Finland, the UK, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

[18] It was officially confirmed on 30 September 2020 that Rudd had rejoined AC/DC, after two years of rumours that he, along with fellow band mates Brian Johnson and Cliff Williams, would be returning.

It was later revealed that Rudd’s absence from these performances was a result of him opting to stay home with his partner, who is currently battling stage four breast cancer.

[12] He played in several bands in Melbourne before joining Buster Brown with future Rose Tattoo vocalist Angry Anderson.

[32] His ongoing legal problems led to the recruitment of AC/DC's former drummer Chris Slade in time for the band's Rock or Bust World Tour.

[3] In an interview on 13 November 2014, Angus Young had stated that AC/DC had experienced problems with Rudd earlier in the year when recording Rock or Bust, and that his situation had taken the band by surprise.

[40] In November 2023, Rudd announced the sale of his personal memorabilia, including drum kits and drumsticks from renowned performances, to support the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation.

Motivated by his partner Toni Wilson's fight against terminal stage 4 breast cancer, Rudd's initiative aimed to raise funds and awareness for the disease.