AC/DC Singer: 'The Doctor's Looked Me Over, Poked, Scanned And Prodded All Possible Areas'

AC/DC was recently forced to postpone the first six shows of the next leg of its "Black Ice" world tour, which was scheduled to begin on Thursday (October 1) in Phoenix, Arizona. The gigs were postponed because singer Brian Johnson is recovering from a medical procedure and was advised by his doctor to get some additional rest. Five more concerts, in Las Vegas, Louisville, Kansas City, Des Moines and Milwaukee, were also postponed and will be rescheduled. The trek will now resume on October 16 in Washington, D.C.

Commented Johnson: "It's an inside job that forced me to reschedule those upcoming six shows! Inside being the operative word here. My insides were giving me lots of trouble, ulcers and such. They were really uncomfortable and painful, which required me to seek immediate medical attention.

"The doctor's looked me over, poked, scanned and prodded all possible areas. In the end, they gave me a clean bill of health, but insisted that I take a bit of time to recuperate and rest up.

"We've been touring non-stop since this time last year and have a lot more touring to do.

"Thanks for all of the get-well wishes and I hope to see you all again very soon."

AC/DC has been on the road in support of "Black Ice", its first studio album in eight years. The album has sold more than two million copies in the U.S. since its release as a Wal-Mart exclusive.

The band is still scheduled to hit South America later this year and arrive in Australia and New Zealand in early 2010.

AC/DC will release a limited-edition box set called "Backtracks" on November 10. The set, which comes in two versions, will be available on November 10 only through the ACDCBacktracks.com web site. As previously speculated, the "deluxe" package is housed inside a fully operational AC/DC amplifier and will come in a limited, autographed run of 50,000 copies. Included in the set are three CDs of live and studio rarities, two DVDs, a vinyl LP also containing studio rarities, a 164-page coffee table book, fine art lithographs of rare photos, a reproduction of an early AC/DC concert flyer and other memorabilia, including a button, guitar pick, and more.

A standard edition will feature two CDs of live and studio material, a single DVD plus bonus videos.

The first DVD is the long awaited video compilation "Family Jewels 3", which rounds up the group's music videos, live performances, and promotional clips from 1992 to 2009. The second DVD, "Live At The Circus Krone", captures a complete club show that the band played in Munich in 2003.

Details on pre-ordering the set are available at the web site, along with the full track listing.

Among the studio rarities included in the set are alternate versions of a number of early AC/DC tracks, as well as the never-before-released "Love Song", possibly the only ballad the band ever wrote with original singer Bon Scott.