Last week, we reported that AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson had been advised by doctors to stop touring immediately, or risk permanent hearing loss.

Now, news has begun to trickle out from his camp about how the rest of the band have dealt with the news, and it sounds like it's not particularly tactful.

According to a friend of Johnson's - comedian Jim Breuer - the singer feels that he has been 'kicked to the curb' by his bandmates, who issued a statement saying that the postponed tour dates would be made up later in the year, 'likely with a replacement singer'.

Breuer said on his The Metal in Me podcast that Johnson was "really depressed" and felt like a "hired gun", and also that he didn't want to quit his role in the band but believed that a replacement had already been found.

Johnson has been with AC/DC for the last 36 years, after their original frontman Bon Scott died.