Bon Scott was born on this day in 1946. He would have been 71 years old today.
Bon Scott died in London on 19 February, 1980. He was 33.
Scott was born in Forfar, Scotland and moved to Australia with his family in 1952 at the age of six. The family lived in the outer Melbourne suburb of Sunshine for four years before moving to Fremantle, Western Australia.
Fremantle is Bon’s final resting place.
Bon had already been in two successful Australian bands, The Valentines then Fraternity, before he joined AC/DC as lead singer in 1974. Bon was replaced by Jimmy Barnes when he left. Jimmy was considered as lead singer of AC/DC after the death of Bon but did not take up the offer.
Bon replaced the band’s original singer Dave Evans after the band had recorded just one single ‘Can I Sit Next To You Girl’. AC/DC was more like a glam rock band with Evans.
Bon’s first single with AC/DC was ‘Love Song’ but it was the b-side ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ that became the hit.
The first album ‘High Voltage’ featured Angus and Malcolm Young and Bon Scott before the band consolidated on the next album ‘TNT’ with Mark Evans and Phil Rudd. That line-up created the string of hits that solidified AC/DC’s place in Australian rock history.
With Bon AC/DC generated hits in Australia with ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ (no 20, 1975), ‘High Voltage’ (no 10, 1976), ‘TNT’ (no 19, 1976) ‘It’s a Long Way To The Top’ (no 9, 1976), ‘Jailbreak’ (no 10, 1976), ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’ (no 29, 1976) and ‘Highway To Hell’ (no 24, 1979).
At the time the albums ‘Let There Be Rock’ (1977 and ‘Powerage’ (1978) did not deliver any hits despite the now classics ‘Let There Be Rock’ and ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ both being released as singles but failing to chart.
AC/DC broke in the USA finally with their sixth album ‘Highway To Hell’. It was also Bon’s last album with the band. The album reached no 17 in the USA.
AC/DC did consider disbanded after the death of Bon Scott but at his funeral Bon’s father insisted the band carry on.
Former singer for Geordie, Brian Johnson, was officially sworn in as the new AC/DC lead singer on 8 April, 1980. ‘Back In Black’, with Brian’s vocals, was released on 25 July, 1980, just five months after the death of Bon Scott.
