New Study Finds Surgeons’ Work Improves When Listening to Rock Music

If you or someone you know needs to have surgery soon, check to see if the surgeon is a rock fan. Why? A new study found a surgeons' work actually improves when they're listening to rock music during a procedure.

This new study was recently published by Langenbeck's Archives of Surgery. The study noted, "Novice surgeons underwent a proficiency-based laparoscopic training curriculum. Participants were required to perform these tasks under three conditions: no music, with music in medium volume (45–50 dB) and in high volume (65–70 dB). Soft rock by the Beatles and hard rock by AC/DC were played. Task performance was evaluated by analyzing speed and accuracy."

So, what further details did this study find? When the Beatles were played at a medium volume during the study, "Participants were faster in peg transfer and more accurate in suture with intracorporeal knot compared to without music. The total score was improved by enhancing accuracy." However, these improvements went away when the Beatles were played at a high volume.

As for AC/DC, when their music was played at a medium volume, "Participants were faster performing precision cutting compared to without music. Both balloon preparation and precision cutting were performed more rapidly and the accuracy was maintained. Hard rock in high volume also resulted in increased speed compared to without music."

The next recommended sequel to this study? Use the same tests but compare surgeons' performance when listening to the Bon Scott and Brian Johnson parts of the AC/DC catalog. (If these scientists clearly aren't in a rush to cure cancer or any other diseases, their studies may as well continue to be cool.)

The AC/DC catalog can be split into two parts: The Bon Scott years and the Brian Johnson years. For the sake of our latest list, we're going to focus on the Brian Johnson years.

Johnson was officially announced as the new singer for AC/DC on April 15, 1980. Back then, he faced the daunting challenge of following Scott, who had died suddenly in February 1980 just as AC/DC was enjoying international success from their latest album, Highway to Hell.

Not only did Johnson rise to the occasion, but he also helped lead AC/DC with the release of their monster hit Back In Black, which is one of the highest-selling albums of all time moving over 50 million copies worldwide and 25 million copies in the United States alone.

Over the course of the past four decades, Johnson has become one of rock's most iconic and easily recognizable voices ever. His official return to AC/DC in 2020 after a nearly four-year absence due to hearing loss issues was one of the bright spots in an unprecedentedly dark year.

In his honor, here's our ranking of the top 25 Brian Johnson AC/DC songs.

AC/DC announced in February their new European tour dates. This marks the first tour from the band since 2016.

The "Power Up" tour will kick off on May 17 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany and will wrap on August 17 in Dublin. Currently, it's unknown whether AC/DC will expand their tour to other continents, but stay tuned.

In a brief statement from the band, they confirmed the lineup for the tour. Brian Johnson will be on vocals and joined by Angus and Stevie Young on lead and rhythm guitar, respectively. Matt Laug, who played with the band at Power Trip in October 2023, will be on drums.

As for bass, AC/DC has recruited Chris Chaney "to carry the torch for Cliff [Williams]." Williams retired shortly after the 2016 tour, but he appeared on AC/DC's 2020 album Power Up. Williams also performed at Power Trip with the band.