The famous hard rock band from Australia was forced to postpone some performances on its U.S. leg after doctors advised Johnson to immediately stop touring or risk total hearing loss.
An announcement on the band’s official website said it is postponing 10 dates on the U.S. stint of its “Rock or Bust” World Tour owing to Johnson’s health condition.
The tour was supposed to start on March 7 at Atlanta’s Philips Arena and would end at Madison Square Garden in New York on April 4. It would have included performances in Ft. Lauderdale, Greensboro, NC; Washington, DC; Detroit, MI; Columbus, OH, Cleveland, OH; Buffalo, NY; and Philadelphia, PA.
As the band announced it would likely tap a guest singer when the tour resumes later this year, suggestions are mounting as to who could fill in for Johnson, who reportedly got his hearing loss from his other passion outside music: car racing.
CBS proposed eight singers (who already covered some of ACDC’s biggest hits) who could temporarily replace Johnson. Its list included rock veterans Steven Tyler, Axl Rose and Bruce Springsteen. Tyler is now taking time away from Aerosmith to experiment with country music, while Rose is preparing for a reunion with the classic Guns ‘n Roses lineup that includes Slash and Duff McKagan for a series of shows starting April.
If Angus Young and the gang decide to go for a female lead singer, CBS suggests Joan Jett, Shakira and Pink. But it would be a lot of fun, the website adds, if the band hires Jack Black, the School of Rock star who demonstrated his own version of “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll)” at the end of the movie.
For sivertimes.com, there are five singers who are capable of replacing the AC/DC vocalist. Famous names on its list are Dave Grohl, the Foo Fighters leader and former Nirvana drummer whose powerful voice is perfect for “Let There Be Rock,” and Myles Kennedy, the Alter Bridge frontman who is the voice behind some of Slash’s projects.
Of course, it would be a grand homecoming for the band’s first vocalist, Dave Evans, should it allow him to return once Johnson departs. While he is willing to take back his old job, Evans, who joined AC/DC in 1973 and was replaced by Bon Scott the following year, admitted to the Sydney Morning Herald that a reunion will never happen.
Selling more than 200 million records, AC/DC is one of the world’s bestselling bands. Its Back in Black album alone has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide.
