NEW YORK: Veteran AC/DC singer Brian Johnson vowed on April 19 that his music career was not over after his increasingly serious hearing problems led the band to replace him with Axl Rose.

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

AC/DC on April 16 announced, 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.