AC/DC singer says not retiring after replaced by Axl Rose

NEW YORK - Veteran AC/DC singer Brian Johnson vowed Tuesday that his music career was not over after his increasingly serious hearing problems led the band to replace him with Axl Rose.

Brian Johnson, pictured on May 23, 2015, confirmed that he had been told by doctors that he risked total deafness if he maintained his tour with AC/DC

In his first public remarks since his removal last month, the 68-year-old singer confirmed that he had been told by doctors that he risked total deafness if he maintained his tour with the famously high-decibel Australian rockers.

"I am personally crushed by this development more than anyone could ever imagine. The emotional experience I feel now is worse than anything I have ever in my life felt before," Johnson, whose distinctively punishing vocal style has helped define AC/DC since 1980, said in a statement.

But Johnson said that he was undergoing medical treatment and hoped eventually to return to performing live.

"I wish to assure our fans that I am not retiring. My doctors have told me that I can continue to record in studios and I intend to do that," he said.

Johnson said that he had become acutely aware of his hearing problems as he was struggling to hear guitars on stage, interfering with his singing.

US radio host Jim Breuer earlier said he spoke to Johnson and that the singer felt "kicked to the curb" by the band for so swiftly parting ways with him.

AC/DC on Saturday announced that Rose -- the Guns N' Roses frontman known, like Johnson, for his intense voice but with a wider range -- would be its new singer for remaining tour dates in Europe and the United States.

Soon after the announcement, AC/DC guitarist Angus Young joined a reunited Guns N' Roses as a surprise at the Coachella music festival where they performed together one of AC/DC's best-known songs, the fast-paced "Whole Lotta Rosie."

Johnson was not an original member of AC/DC, joining after previous singer Bon Scott died in 1980 after a night of heavy drinking.

AC/DC's first release with Johnson, "Back in Black," remains one of the top-selling albums of all time.
"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," Johnson said.