"It can look a bit strange – 'Who's this old guy in a school suit?'" says 61-year-old AC/DC guitarist Angus Young. "Somebody once commented, 'From a distance, he looks quite youthful.' It's only when you get up close that you can see the weathered look." That wear and tear are real for Young as he leads AC/DC through their toughest and possibly final world tour, which ends September 20th in Philadelphia, reports David Fricke of Rolling Stone.

But he speaks candidly about the severe hearing problems that recently forced singer Brian Johnson to retire from touring; the immediate offer to fill in from Guns N' Roses vocalist Axl Rose; bassist Cliff Williams' recent announcement that this tour would be his last; and the current health of ex-guitarist and Angus' older brother, Malcolm, who suffers from dementia. "It's hard to communicate," Angus admits. "I do pass on messages. I can't be 100 percent sure it goes in there. But I let him know there are a lot of people missing him." An exceprt from this brand new Q&A session follows:

Axl is used to running his own ship. Did you have to talk to him about how you do things – like being on time?

"He's been really good. He prepares himself, ready to go. We sit and chew the fat before we get on, work out what songs we want to do. It's gotta be fun for him, and for us."

Was Brian having hearing problems before you started the tour?

"He was having problems when we were rehearsing for Coachella [in 2015]. He already had one bad ear. He damaged it in a car accident. The one good ear was rapidly dropping. We were in Australia, and he was seeing a specialist. Each show he did, he had to get monitored and treated. But it was becoming too hard for him."

Do you think Cliff's decision to retire is related to Brian leaving?

"Cliff made it known before we'd even started touring – this would be his last. Besides myself, Cliff has been there the longest, since 1977. Cliff and Brian are in the same age bracket. They like to go out, hit the pubs. They had the bond".

Do you now wonder if it was time to quit when Malcolm couldn't continue – that you pushed the band too far?

"That might be the case. But Malcolm was always one to battle through. He would look at me in times of crisis and go, "We'll just go in and do some work. We'll sit and write some songs." He had that drive, and I feel obligated to keep it going, maybe because I was there in the beginning with him."

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Rock Or Bust US dates are listed below.

August
27 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum
30 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - BB&T Center

September
1 - Atlanta, GA - Phillips Arena
4 - Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena
6 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
9 - Detroit, MI - The Palace
11 - Buffalo, NY - First Niagara Center
14 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
17 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
20 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center