Johnson thought AC/DC would split

AC/DC singer Brian Johnson had admitted he wasn’t sure the band would continue without Malcolm Young.

He knew he had to leave the decision to the mainman’s brother Angus – and says he’d have accepted whatever the guitarist said.

The band last week released 17th album Rock Or Bust, their first without mainman Malcolm Young, who was forced to retire as a result of dementia.

Johnson tells ABC Australia: “To me it was always up to Angus. He’s one of these two men who made riffs that nobody else made, since they were in school. I really thought it might not happen. If Angus turned round and said, ‘I can’t do it without Malcolm,’ I would have understood.”

He describes working without Malcolm as “a strange feeling,” adding: “Your workmate you’ve been with for the last 35 years isn’t there any more. For Angus it was more – it was his brother.”

But Johnson, who replaced Bon Scott following the frontman’s death in 1980, predicts the Youngs’ nephew Stevie will “do fine” as his uncle’s replacement. “What’ll happen to him is what happened to me – the band make him feel welcome and he won’t feel like an outsider. Stevie’s going to do fine.”

Rock Or Bust reached number 3 in the UK chart yesterday. The band will tour the world next year, although drummer Phil Rudd’s legal woes mean it’s not certain he’ll take part. Last week they said they’d accept an invitation to play at the 2015 Glastonbury festival if they were asked.

AC/DC are the cover stars of the latest edition of Classic Rock Magazine, on sale now.

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.