The beginning has always been tough for Axl to sing, but those screams are worth the price of admission.

Well Brian has put out a statement backing up Angus' side of it, which is that Brian's doctors told him he will go deaf if he keeps playing stadium and arena gigs. He said he hopes to be able to do studio recording in the future, but right now he is focusing on his health. He also said he's not retiring, so that is gonna put Angus in a weird spot. AC/DC put out that statement wishing Brian well in future endeavors, which sounds like a permanent farewell message.

I would also like to express my gratitude to those who chose to embrace Brian's role in AC/DC and support our new line up. We greatly appreciate Brian's contributions and remain open to "discussions" as there are obviously several issues to resolve. In the meantime rather than dwelling on the negative, Axl/DC will be moving forward and surprisingly (without giving away any details) this unfortunate set of circumstances may have given us the opportunity to take our moneymaking tour that one extra step further. Regardless we hope to announce a retirement date within the next few months.

Sincerely,

Angus Young

AC/DC’s European stadium stops begin on May 7 in Lisbon, Portugal and run through June 12 in Aarhus, Denmark. Those cities and dates are included below. Following that, Axl Rose will head out on his previously announced summer reunion tour with Guns N’ Roses, dubbed “Not In This Lifetime …” AC/DC’s 10 earlier postponed U.S. summer dates will also be rescheduled with Rose as frontman.

In the last couple of years, Malcolm Young, [AC/DC] leader and rhythm guitarist, was forced to depart, stricken by dementia... without Young, they recorded the perfectly serviceable Rock or Bust album; Phil Rudd, their drummer, was ditched, having become embroiled in a court case that saw him sentenced to home detention...  with Rudd displaced they went on tour and were as thrilling as ever.

AC/DC announced that Johnson had been advised to stop touring, or risk “total hearing loss”. The group said 10 US dates would be rescheduled, “likely with a guest vocalist”, and that was it. Never the most forthcoming of groups – Malcolm’s dementia was admitted only when news outlets began to report it – they have made no further statement about their future.

They’d already long ceased to be a group who made records because they couldn’t stop themselves – a mere five albums since 1990 – and who played live only on long worldwide jaunts off the back of those records. They had entered the realms of those groups for whom each album was a potential return to form, rather than a new landmark. It’s not that they were making bad records, more that no one was turning to Black Ice or Ballbreaker instead of Back in Black or Highway to Hell. They were making records, and touring, to keep the business ticking over.

The Rock or Bust Tour was the most attended of 2015 with 2.3 million tickets sold, and the second most lucrative of the year behind Taylor Swift's The 1989 World Tour, grossing US$180 million. -src

If I believed AC/DC were likely to go into the studio the minute this tour was over, that more than anything they wanted to remain a working band, I’d be delighted to hear of them recruiting a new singer. But given the gaps between albums these days, I can’t see that being a possibility. If I believed they were simply desperate to keep on playing until the dying of the light, I’d be happy for them. Yet they only play live for albums, so it’s hard to believe they live for the show. Instead, a new singer would just be a way to keep the show on the road, whatever that show might be.

Hard-rock bands are uniquely capable of sustaining themselves in the face of a high turnover of members: when I spoke to David Coverdale last year, he was surprised to learn that he had employed 39 different musicians to fill out the lineups of Whitesnake. It’s a testimony to the strength of their brands that such acts are able to do this.

However, those bands that have are often dependent on a single charismatic member, who embodies the band and the brand, or are those whose careers are not, perhaps, what they were. History is not replete with examples of stadium-filling member bands retaining their status once they have adopted conveyor-belt membership. The nearest comparison I can think of is Queen, and they are a jukebox act now. Only their decision to hire Adam Lambert saw them regain their live-act status.

I'm watching Rosie with Angus now.

Where the fuck can I find that Mickey Mouse shirt Axl's been wearing?