AC/DC may finally get a little respect. ‘We always keep our head below the radar,’ says Brian Johnson

updated 6:24 p.m. ET Nov. 6, 2008

NEW YORK - When Brian Johnson got the news that AC/DC’s new album had debuted at No. 1 in America — and in more than two dozen countries — he didn’t pop any champagne.

Instead, the lead singer of one of the world’s biggest rock groups celebrated alone, in a modest hotel, with a plastic cup of wine and a cheese sandwich. He was preparing for a tour.

“It (is) kind of ironic, isn’t it?” laughs Johnson, who had been staying in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., where the band kicked off their recent tour last month. “I wasn’t promenading down the street ... none of that. I was sitting in a little room.”