Brian Johnson says he didn't feel right making AC/DC the focus of his new memoir, The Lives of Brian, because those stories belong to the band's early members.
Johnson has been a member of AC/DC since 1980, but his time in the band is preceded by surviving members bassist Cliff Williams (1977), drummer Phil Rudd (1975) and guitarist and co-founder Angus Young (1973).
"I didn't want to write an AC/DC book, 'cause that's not my book. It never will be. It's not my story to tell," Johnson told Billboard in a new interview. "That book is for the boys, or whoever was there from the start. That's what I want to read. I want to read what it was like when Malcolm [Young] and Angus just had a meeting and said, 'Right, let's do this' and got the drummer and the singer. I think it would be fantastic if it came out, if somebody wanted to do it. But that's not my book. And I think a book about the present day or, say, when I joined to the present day would be nothing more than a catalog, a diary of what happened."
Johnson said he's considered writing another book (his first book was his car-centric Rockers and Rollers: A Full-Throttle Memoir) about music, but again he would be careful with how he broached the subject of AC/DC.
"I wouldn't write another book about the band, absolutely not," he added. "If there's something else to write about I would, but there isn't. It's somebody else's story. If I can think of something like the great f--k-ups on stage, maybe, that would be a f--kin' book!"
The Lives of Brian is available everywhere today via Harper Collins! Go here for more details.