Brian Johnson was on a highway to hell during a recent celebrity car race. The longtime AC/DC frontman escaped a roll-over crash while racing at the Silverstone Classic in the U.K. Johnson emerged from the vintage Austin A35 after the vehicle flipped over. Remarkably, Brian was unscathed after the wreck, according to Billboard . Johnson received medical attention at the scene but was deemed uninjured in the crash.
Brian Johnson’s accident came during the qualifying heat of the charity race, so he was unable to start in the official race, which featured 30 drivers in classic Austin A30s and A35s racing on a 3.66-mile Grand Prix circuit course. According to Silverstone Classic’s official website, other celebrities who competed in the five-team race included Olympic gold medalist Jason Kenny, three-time boxing World Champion Carl Froch, and Howard Donald from Engish pop group Take That.
Johnson, who retired from AC/DC last year due to his serious hearing problems, has long been a car and racing enthusiast, even penning a book, Cars That Rock with Brian Johnson: Burn Rubber with Brian in the Most Iconic Cars Ever Built . Johnson also hosted the show Cars that Rock with Brian Johnson . Brian has even blamed his love for auto racing for his hearing loss, attributing his disability to racing and not the decades of performing loud music in rock arenas.
AC/DC’s Brian Johnson wrecks classic car in insane crash, walks away unscathed: https://t.co/4ln8qufXyv pic.twitter.com/L7QSNSWNHM
— CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) August 1, 2017
In a Sirius Radio interview with automotive journalist Doron Levin last year, Brian Johnson revealed that his doctors ordered him to stop touring after dropping the bad news that he was at risk for total loss of his hearing.
Johnson also revealed his first hint at hearing loss came when he forgot to put earplugs in when racing at a New York State track nearly a decade ago. Five minutes into the race, Brian said felt “a little pop” in his ear and suffered tinnitus for more than six months.
Johnson later got sick and admitted his hearing issues became worse. During the first part of AC/DC’s “Rock or Bust” tour, Brian Johnson decided, with the full support of his bandmates, to step down from the band he fronted since 1980.
AC/DC has gone through multiple changes over the past three years. In addition to Brian Johnson’s departure, founding brother Malcolm Young no longer performs with the group due to health issues, while drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Cliff Williams have also left the band.
You can see the former AC/DC frontman talking about his favorite car on Cars That Rock with Brian Johnson below.
[Featured Image by Brian Cleary/Getty Images]