{"id":598019,"date":"2026-09-12T10:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T10:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/598019\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T10:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T10:38:11","slug":"what-motorhead-legend-lemmy-thought-of-ac-dc-icon-bon-scott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/598019\/","title":{"rendered":"What Mot\u00f6rhead legend Lemmy thought of AC\/DC icon Bon Scott"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I interviewed Lemmy in LA, it was over a Jack and Coke \u2013 at 10 o\u2019clock in the morning. Nobody seemed to find that unusual, least of all Lemmy. Yet when the conversation turned to Bon Scott<\/a>, he sounded less like a rock star remembering another rock star, more like a witness recalling what everyone else missed.<\/p>\n

The first time Lemmy saw AC\/DC<\/a>, they were playing a London pub. He\u2019d gone along with a girl to see what all the fuss was about. Bon was charging around the stage with Angus on his shoulders, creating the sort of chaos that would later become their trademark.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was obvious they were huge then, although they weren\u2019t huge then,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

Latest Videos From Louder<\/p>\n

Lemmy had spent his life watching bands come and go, and few people were better qualified to recognise the difference between a good band and a phenomenon. \u201cSome bands you see, and you just know. The Beatles<\/a> were one. The Stones were one. AC\/DC were one of those bands.\u201d<\/p>\n

What stayed with him, however, wasn\u2019t the spectacle. It wasn\u2019t the drinking, the lyrics or the mythology that would later surround Bon. It was the give-everything effort that Bon put into every single show. \u201cHe always looked knackered, because he gave everything in the stage show,\u201d Lemmy remembered.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

AC\/DC – It’s A Long Way To The Top (Official Video Ver.2), Full HD (AI Remastered and Upscaled) – YouTube
\n\"AC\/DC<\/p>\n

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Then came an image that seemed to summarise Bon Scott in a single scene: \u201cI remember seeing him come on stage and, in between songs, fall down, then get up and get pushed back on.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Lemmy, this wasn\u2019t recklessness. It was commitment. \u201cHe really gave it all. That\u2019s how you should do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Coming from anyone else, it might have sounded like praise. Coming from Lemmy, it sounded more like a code. Both men belonged to a generation that treated the stage as a place to empty the tank every night, and deal with the consequences later. \u201cIt\u2019s a workout,\u201d Lemmy said with a laugh. Perhaps that\u2019s why Bon resonated with him so strongly. You showed up. You delivered. You left everything on that stage.<\/p>\n

Tellingly, when asked to name his favourite AC\/DC songs, every one of Lemmy\u2019s choices came from the Bon Scott years. \u201cThere are so many great songs, but I\u2019ve always loved Can I Sit Next To You Girl, Whole Lotta Rosie and It\u2019s A Long Way To The Top,\u201d he said. The live version of Rosie was a particular favourite, he said, but it was It\u2019s A Long Way To The Top that seemed to capture something essential.<\/p>\n

Years later, Lemmy would record his own version of the song, with former AC\/DC drummer Simon Wright helping bring the connection full circle. He wasn\u2019t entirely happy with the mix that was eventually released, and insisted he had a better version at home. It felt less like a cover than a salute between fellow road warriors. Of all Bon\u2019s songs, it might have been the one Lemmy understood best. Asked why, he offered the explanation: \u201cIt\u2019s A Long Way To The Top is just a great song. It\u2019s that simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mot\u00f6rhead – its a long way to the top – YouTube
\n\"Mot\u00f6rhead<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

Near the end of our conversation, Lemmy\u2019s tone softened ever so slightly when he talked about something he wished he had done. \u201cI would have liked to get to know the guys better, and I would have liked to meet them earlier on.\u201d It wasn\u2019t regret. Not quite. More an acknowledgement that some connections arrive a little too late.<\/p>\n

What Lemmy saw when he looked at Bon Scott wasn\u2019t a legend, a pirate, a poet or some larger-than-life character; he saw something he understood instinctively and respected deeply: a fellow road warrior. A man who, every time he stepped onto a stage, gave everything he had. And in Lemmy\u2019s world there wasn\u2019t a higher compliment than that.<\/p>\n

Birds of a feather don\u2019t always fly together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When I interviewed Lemmy in LA, it was over a Jack and Coke \u2013 at 10 o\u2019clock in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-598019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}