AC/DC’s Brian Johnson shares a heartbreaking letter about being forced to stop performing.
“That was the darkest day of my professional life.”
AC/DC startled fans in March by abruptly cancelling 20 North American and European performances after singer Brian Johnson received devastating news from his doctors: cease singing live or face “total hearing loss.” As the rest of AC/DC continues with the questionable choice of Axl Rose to act as the band’s vocalist for the remainder of the Rock or Bust tour, Johnson has shared a sorrowful letter with fans. “That was the darkest day of my professional life,” he says.
Though he can no longer play on stage in arenas and stadiums because the “sound levels are beyond my current tolerance,” he can still record in the studio. “I would like to tell our fans that I am not retiring. My physicians have assured me that I can continue to record in studios, and I plan to do so,” he says. Read his entire letter to followers below.
As many AC/DC fans know, the remaining shows for the 2016 AC/DC Rock or Bust World Tour, including 10 postponed U.S. shows, are being rescheduled with a guest singer. I want personally to explain the reason because I don’t believe the earlier press releases sufficiently set out what I wanted to say to our fans or the way in which I thought it should be presented.
On March 7th, after a series of examinations by leading physicians in the field of hearing loss, I was advised that if I continue to perform at large venues, I risked total deafness. While I was horrified at the reality of the news that day, I had for a time become aware that my partial hearing loss was beginning to interfere with my performance on stage.
I was having difficulty hearing the guitars on stage and because I was not able to hear the other musicians clearly, I feared the quality of my performance could be compromised. In all honesty this was something I could not in good conscience allow. Our fans deserve my performance to be at the highest level, and if for any reason I can’t deliver that level of performance I will not disappoint our fans or embarrass the other members of AC/DC. I am not a quitter and I like to finish what I start, nevertheless, the doctors made it clear to me and my bandmates that I had no choice but to stop performing on stage for the remaining shows and possibly beyond. That was the darkest day of my professional life.
Since that day, I have had several consultations with my doctors and it appears that, for the near future, I will be unable to perform on stage at arena and stadium size venues where the sound levels are beyond my current tolerance, without the risk of substantial hearing loss and possibly total deafness. Until that time, I tried as best as I could to continue despite the pain and hearing loss but it all became too much to bear and too much to risk.
Brian