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Credit: Far Out \/ Harry (Howard<\/p>\n
Sun 5 July 2026 16:00, UK <\/p>\n
A lot of bands don\u2019t know what to do when a crucial member of their group passes away; however, AC\/DC<\/a> were able to bounce back pretty quickly. <\/p>\n It was a devastating blow to the group when Bon Scott died. He had a personality which really carried AC\/DC, and his vocals offered the perfect range to dance along to the blues rock-inspired sound of Malcolm and Angus Young. Scott took to the chaotic nature of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll a little bit too much, and unfortunately, it led to a serious deterioration in his health, which eventually led to his passing.\u00a0<\/p>\n The band had already started working on their next record, Back In Black, when tragedy struck, and so, in a bid to mourn their friend and take their minds off the loss, they decided to finish the record. The result was some of their best and most emotionally charged music of all time<\/a> that the band knew they needed to record, both for themselves and in honour of their fallen bandmate.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brian Johnson was the perfect person to step in and take on the vocals, as Bon Scott had previously given him his seal of approval. When he had been on tour in the UK at one point, he wound up seeing Johnson perform and thought he was one of the best vocalists he\u2019d ever laid both his eyes and ears on.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMalcolm remembered that Bon had once toured in a band through England,\u201d recalled Angus Young, \u201cAnd he was telling this story of this maniac he saw on stage one night rolling around on the floor, screaming his head off<\/a>. He said \u2018It was the best singer I saw in a long time\u2019, and that was the band, it was Brian.\u201d<\/p>\n The thing that made Brian Johnson such a good replacement was the fact that he wasn\u2019t a bad carbon copy but his very own kind of performer, with a totally different voice, yet one that could pretty easily complement AC\/DC\u2019s songs, past and present. When you go see them live, even in the modern age, they perform a mix of music from the band\u2019s discography, which means tracks Brian Johnson wrote and those that Bon Scott originally put together.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, there was one song from the band\u2019s back catalogue that Johnson refused to sing. You often find that a lot of new singers in bands are unwilling to sing the songs of their predecessors, but usually, it\u2019s because of pride. They don\u2019t want to sing songs that they weren\u2019t originally involved in making, because they don\u2019t feel close enough connected to the song.\u00a0<\/p>\n Further reading: From The Vault<\/p>\n For instance, Sammy Hagar refused to sing songs that were originally written and recorded by David Lee Roth when he joined Van Halen, because he didn\u2019t feel as though those songs were an accurate reflection of him as a singer. However, it was different for Johnson; he was happy to sing all of Bon Scott\u2019s songs, apart from the band\u2019s classic, \u2018It\u2019s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll)<\/a>\u2019, which he omitted from future setlists as a sign of respect rather than bitterness. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not doing that one. I can\u2019t,\u201d he declared emphatically, \u201cThat\u2019s Bon\u2019s song. That\u2019s his epitaph. When I think of that song, I think of Bon. I see him with the bagpipes and the smile. And I can\u2019t do it justice. It would be wrong. It would be like going into a church and shouting. It\u2019s a sacred song for him, for the fans, for the band, and for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/a> The Far Out Classic Rock Newsletter<\/p>\n