Bon Scott had long been a fan of Brian Johnson before he took his place as the lead singer of AC/DC. The band just had a massive breakthrough with their 1979 album, Highway to Hell, when lead singer Scott died of alcohol poisoning months later in February 1980.
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At a crossroads in their career, brothers and co-founders Malcolm and Angus Young continued on at the urging of Scott’s mother. Before he died, Scott inadvertently planted the seed of Johnson, former lead singer of British rock band Geordie, joining the band. Scott became a fan of Johnson’s after hearing him live, making a comparison to one of his favorite rock stars.
“I remember the first time I had ever heard Brian’s name was from Bon,” Angus Young said in the 2012 book AC/DC: Hell Aint a Bad Place to Be, according to Far Out Magazine. “Bon had mentioned that he had been in England once touring with a band, and he had mentioned that Brian had been in a band called Geordie and Bon had said, ‘Brian Johnson, he was a great rock and roll singer in the style of Little Richard.’ And that was Bon’s big idol, Little Richard. I think when he saw Brian at that time, to Bon, it was, ‘Well, he’s a guy that knows what rock and roll is all about.’”
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After Scott’s untimely death, the Youngs went on a quest to find Johnson, who won over his new bandmates when he auditioned with a cover of AC/DC’s “Whole Lotta Rosie” and Ike & Tina Turner’s “Nutbush City Limits.”
“He was as sad about Bon as we were,” Angus Young said about Johnson’s reaction to Scott’s death. “Anyway, we said, ‘Do you want to give it a go?’ And he said, ‘I do ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ with Geordie,’ and off he went. We went, ‘This guy is cutting the mustard. Anything else you know? ‘Nutbush City Limits’? OK, we can knock that out,’ and he sang that great too. It put a little smile on our faces – for the first time since Bon. So we just started working with him then.”
Clearly, the Youngs’ instincts were on point, as Johnson’s first album with AC/DC was Back in Black, which would go on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
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