The trying year that AC/DC have suffered through may be too much to overcome, according to one expert. In a new interview, Jesse Fink, the author of 'The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC,' says he believes that, between Malcolm Young leaving the band due to illness and Phil Rudd's recent arrest, they may be forced off the road for good when their upcoming tour is done.

Angus [Young] has been the star of the show for many years now, so long as he is standing there’s still an AC/DC,” Fink tells the Herald Sun. “But given all the troubles this year I think this will be the final tour.”

The famously tight-lipped group have not formally announced that Rudd is out of the group, but they hinted at it with a statement following his arrest saying, in part, that, "Phil’s absence will not affect the release of our new album ‘Rock or Bust‘ and upcoming tour next year.” It is believed that Bob Richards, a friend of Stevie Young -- himself a fill-in for his uncle Malcolm -- will play drums on the tour. Fink believes that everybody in the band except Angus Young can be replaced, but admits that something may be missing in this next phase of the AC/DC's career.

”The band without Malcolm Young and Phil Rudd," he continues. "It’s really chipping away at the old spirit of the band. You’d have to question whether we’re really getting the authentic AC/DC experience. But the few songs we’ve heard from the new record sound pretty good. This band is very resilient.”

Fink had a feeling Rudd's time with AC/DC may have been up when the drummer released his first-ever solo album, 'Head Job,' earlier this year. A conversation with Phil Carson, the band's original A&R man at Atlantic, clued Fink in to an important aspect of their dynamic.

"[N]o one in AC/DC had done a solo record," he adds. "Carson said the general rule they followed was you stick with the band. Anything outside the band was frowned upon. Then all of a sudden in July there was news a Phil Rudd album was coming out and it was very odd. When he did promotion for the record you saw how much he had physically deteriorated since the last tour. He looked pretty crook.”

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