AC/DC’s singer-songwriter, Brian Johnson, was nearly filled with hopelessness after hearing problems drove him to leave the band’s 2016 tour Rock or Bust. Axl Rose replaced him.
Johnson shared in his new memoir, The Lives of Brian, that he had suicidal thoughts after leaving the tour or risked going deaf. Johnson mentioned during an interview with Rolling Stone that he had “pretty serious” issues with his hearing and could not hear the tone of the guitars while on stage. He remembered how painful it felt when he told his tour manager that he wouldn’t be able to perform for the rest of the tour. "I called Tim, the tour manager, on my mobile right there in the room to tell him that I just couldn't continue," Johnson reportedly writes. "It was one of the most difficult conversations of my life — the pain of it made worse over the weeks that followed when the tour simply went on without me. It was a sheer cliff. I didn't tumble down. I was in free fall." Axl Rose, the frontman of Guns N’ Roses, replaced Johnson. He said Rose did a “great job” even though it was still a crushing ordeal. Before receiving support for his hearing problems, Johnson was “literally getting by on muscle memory and mouth shapes” while on stage. He said it felt “crippling” to be “standing there and not being sure” during performances. He had a small device that utilized the bone structure in the skull as a receiver. The device allowed him to return to performing on stage. AC/DC hasn’t done a tour since Rock or Bust, but Johnson joined the band again and recorded Power Up, their 2020 album. The surviving band members - Johnson, lead guitarist Angus Young, bassist Cliff Williams, and drummer Phil Rudd - were reunited. Malcolm Young passed away in 2017. Since 2014, his nephew Stevie Young has been performing in his place. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org. To get help with your hearing loss, contact Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation. We also sell earplugs so you can protect your ears next time you go to a live concert. Comments are closed.
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