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Sat 3 October 2026 8:00, UK
Joe Elliott has one of the most unique voices in rock, as when you hear a Def Leppard tune, you can’t really imagine anyone else singing it.
I had the pleasure of watching him perform at Sheffield’s The Leadmill a few years back, and it might be the loudest that building has ever been. Even now, in his 60s, the singer completely refuses to hold back on how much he delivers on those stellar vocals. Regardless of whether he’s singing low or high, his voice through a microphone is like a tidal wave to a sailboat, completely unavoidable and impossible to ignore.
As a vocalist with such a dominant magnitude, it should come as no surprise that Elliott has pretty good taste in rock singers. For him, there are plenty of great examples of excellent vocalists in the world of rock, but he believes one of the best offerings came in the form of Brian Johnson on his debut album with AC/DC, Back In Black.
From the first song, Elliott said it was clear that Johnson wasn’t there to play, because you need to wait a fair bit of time before you actually get to hear him. There was a real suspense built up for listeners, as they waited to hear what the new AC/DC singer was like, and when that opening line “I’m rolling thunder, pouring rain” kicked in, they knew the band was in safe hands.
“The start of that album, ‘Hells Bells’, it took a long time before Brian opened his mouth,” said Elliott, “There was this big intro, and it was really clever how they built that song up, almost like the start of ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, where you’re waiting for the vocals to come in.”
He continued, “In that intro to ‘Hells Bells’ you’ve established the sound of the band, and then in comes this new singer and…wow! At the time, he made it cool again to sing high. And what he did on that record will go down in history as one of the best rock vocal performances by anybody. It truly is.”
When Bon Scott passed away in 1980, a lot of people thought it would be the end of AC/DC, for he was such a huge part of the band’s identity, and even AC/DC themselves weren’t sure whether they would carry on. They went into the studio to finish writing the music for Back In Black as a way to process their grief and honour their friend. When they heard how good it sounded, they knew they wanted to try to find a new singer, but who could possibly step into Scott’s shoes?
Further reading: From The Vault
Brian Johnson is the only man who could have done it. He wasn’t a singer trying to replicate what Scott did. Instead, he brought his own flair to the band and represented a new chapter for AC/DC, rather than a half-hearted version of the original. Perhaps the biggest sign of approval for Johnson doesn’t come from Joe Elliott, but from Bon Scott himself, as when he was alive, he got to watch him perform, and called him one of the greatest vocalists going.
“Malcolm remembered that Bon had once toured in a band through England,” recalled Angus Young, “And he was telling this story of this maniac he saw on stage one night rolling around on the floor, screaming his head off. He said ‘It was the best singer I saw in a long time’, and that was the band, it was Brian.”
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