Axl/DC Lives? Brian Johnson May Not Tour With AC/DC

Rumors that Brian Johnson is back in AC/DC were given additional credibility last week when the front man reportedly confirmed as much to a band he ran into at a Florida airport.

And while Johnson — along with drummer Phil Rudd — may indeed have recorded on the band's forthcoming studio release, Johnson may not be on board for the band's next tour.

That's according to former Guns N' Roses manager Alan Niven.

"I'm not sure that Brian, that his condition is going to let him tour," Niven told the Appetite for Distortion podcast. "That is the rumor I've heard. ... They can record together, but he may not tour with them. So Axl/DC may well be an entity into next year. Who knows?"

While Niven does not manage AC/DC, Guns N' Roses or Axl Rose at this time, the music industry is notoriously small. When you're working in it every day, you hear things from time to time.

But Niven's point is well taken.

Johnson himself may not be too keen to get back on tour. While talking about the extent of his hearing damage last winter, Johnson described torturous anxiety he felt on stage because he wasn't able to hear the band.

"On stage, it was getting hard and hard to hear the guitars, even hear the keys, and I was basically going on muscle memory," Johnson told The Sunday Times. "And I'm not the kind of guy who likes to cheat. The way I look at it, I had a great run."

Since leaving AC/DC, Johnson has not stayed completely out of music. He appeared on Jim Breuer's Songs From the Garage album. He also collaborated on stage with Robert Plant and Muse.

But singing in the studio or performing one song live is a different animal than playing a two-and-a-half-hour headlining set with AC/DC.

Johnson's severe hearing loss is the result of an auto-racing injury.

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