The autobiography “The Lives of Brian” by AC / DC singer Brian Johnson (75) continues to make circles. Now the specialist magazine “Ultimate Classic Rock” has picked up on a phase in the AC/DC cosmos that people tend to ignore a little these days.
Johnson was forced to withdraw from the bands’ live performances on medical orders in the mid-2010s. Otherwise he would have risked permanently losing his ailing hearing. But since AC/DC had already confirmed live dates, they had to do without their singer – and instead brought Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose on board to be able to fulfill the contracts.
Johnson reveals in his memoir, according to the magazine, that he never watched a meter of footage from Rose’s time at AC/DC. Of course, he never played “Mäuschen” either, and would drop by an AC/Rose gig in person. Instead, he describes his desperation at having to withdraw from the band’s live dates.
Commenting on Rose’s performances, Johnson says: “I was told he did a great job, but I just couldn’t watch it – especially when you’ve been doing it for 35 years. It’s like having a stranger in your house sitting in your favorite chair…”
And further: “But I am not resentful. It was a difficult situation. Angus and the boys did what they thought was necessary. After the band released a statement confirming I was leaving the tour and wishing me all the best in the future, I still couldn’t relax or focus on anything else. “It was just always there. Like a phantom pain I blamed myself for. For most of my career I’ve played in the loudest band in the world. For this I flew constantly; sat on the plane even when I knew for sure that I wasn’t doing well.”
Johnson is known to have returned to the boards that mean the world to him. But he also emphasizes that after his forced retirement in 2016, he felt he “wouldn’t have minded” one of his car races (who operated as a hobby; Editor’s note) to be killed.
“For a while people asked me if I was depressed, but depression is treatable. It wasn’t my hearing loss. What I felt wasn’t depression. It was more like pure desperation!”
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