RIP Bon – Hello Brian

On February 20, 1980, after a long night of drinking and alleged drug taking, AC/DC singer Bon Scott was pronounced dead. Coming on the heels of their most successful album at the time, Highway to Hell, and already to work on what would become their seventh studio album Back in Black, the band was at a crossroad. The band briefly considered quitting, but encouraged by the insistence from Scott's parents that he would have wanted them to carry on, they decided to continue, and went about finding a new vocalist.

Many were considered including Slade vocalist Noddy Holder and Easybeats singer Stevie Wright. At the urging of their producer John “Mutt” Lange, they brought in ex-Geordie singer Brian Johnson. The band was impressed and Angus Young recalled hearing about Johnson from Bon Scott years ago. On this day in 1980, the band formally announced Brian Johnson as the new lead singer of AC/DC.

With Johnson on board, the band completed the writing and recording of Back in Black which has sold to this day, over 25 million copies in the United States alone.

The 1980s were a commercial disappointment for the band with albums failing to live up to their past success. That all changed in the early 1990s when their album The Razors Edge came out. With two classic sounding AC/DC songs, “Thunderstruck” and “Moneytalks”, the album went multi-platinum. Success continued into the 2000s and cemented AC/DC as one of the most solid, hard rocking bands of all time.

Johnson received a scare in 2016 when he announced he wouldn’t be able to tour with the band due to health reasons – he had severe hearing loss and doctors feared touring would lead to complete deafness.

After a four year hiatus that saw even Axel Rose jump in as lead vocalist, the band was being put back together. On September 30, 2020, AC/DC officially confirmed the return of Brian Johnson (along with Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams to the band), alongside Angus and Stevie Young.

Brian Johnson was brought in to replace one of the greatest lead vocalists of a hard rock band – Bon Scott was young and dumb and growled his way beautifully through their songs. But Brian Johnson had range, he had style – He was an anthematic singer who never tried to steal a spotlight from any members of the band. He’s gritty and listening to his voice brings all the influences of rock and blues.

For those about to rock – We salute Brian Johnson for his legacy as a legendary rock vocalist.