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Bon Scott

Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was a Scottish-born Australian singer and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980.[1]

Bon Scott
Scott performing with AC/DC in December 1979
Background information
Birth nameRonald Belford Scott
Born(1946-07-09)9 July 1946
Forfar, Angus, Scotland
Died19 February 1980(1980-02-19) (aged 33)
East Dulwich, London, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Years active1964–1980
Formerly of
Spouse(s)
Irene Thornton
(m. 1972; div. 1977)
Websitebonscottofficial.com

Born in Forfar in Angus, Scotland, Scott spent his early years in Kirriemuir. He moved to Australia with his family in 1952 at the age of six, living in Melbourne for four years before settling in Fremantle, Western Australia.[1]

With AC/DC Scott performed on the band's first seven albums: High Voltage (1975, Australian only release), T.N.T. (1975, Australian only release), High Voltage (1976, first international release), Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976, not released until 1981 in the United States), Let There Be Rock (1977), Powerage (1978), Highway to Hell (1979).

Scott formed his first band, The Spektors, in 1964 and became the band's drummer and occasional lead vocalist. He performed in several other bands, including The Valentines and Fraternity, before replacing original AC/DC lead singer Dave Evans in 1974.[1] AC/DC's popularity grew throughout the 1970s, initially in Australia, and then internationally. Their 1979 album Highway to Hell reached the top 20 in the United States, and was their commercial breakthrough. However, on 19 February 1980, Scott died after a night out in London with former musician and alleged drug dealer Alistair Kinnear. AC/DC briefly considered disbanding, but the group recruited vocalist Brian Johnson of the British glam rock band Geordie. AC/DC's subsequent album, Back in Black, was released only five months later, and was a tribute to Scott. It went on to become at one point the second-best-selling album of all time.[1]

In the July 2004 issue of Classic Rock, Scott was ranked number one in a list of the "100 Greatest Frontmen of All Time".[2] Hit Parader ranked Scott as fifth on their 2006 list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Vocalists of all time.[3]

Biography Edit

1946–1964: early years Edit

Ronald Belford Scott was born on 9 July 1946 at Fyfe Jamieson Maternity Hospital in Forfar, Scotland, to Charles Belford "Chick" Scott (1917–1999) and Isabelle Cunningham "Isa" Mitchell (1917–2011). He grew up in Kirriemuir and was the Scotts' second child; their first was a boy, Sandy, who died shortly after birth.[1] A third child, Derek, was born in 1949.[1] Chick and Isa ran the family bakery in Kirriemuir's Bank Street.[4] The family emigrated from Scotland to Australia in 1952.[5]

The Scotts lived in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine, Victoria, and Scott attended nearby Sunshine Primary School.[1] The nickname "Bon" was acquired shortly after starting school; because there was another Ronald in the class, his classmates played on the phrase "Bonnie Scotland".[6] A fourth child, Graeme, was born in 1953.[1]

In 1956, the family moved to Fremantle, Western Australia. Scott joined the associated Fremantle Scots Pipe Band, learning the drums.[1] He attended North Fremantle Primary School and later John Curtin College of the Arts until he dropped out at the age of 15. He subsequently worked as a farmhand and a crayfisherman, and was later a trainee weighing-machine mechanic.[7] In 1963 he spent a short time in Fremantle Prison's assessment centre and nine months at the Riverbank Juvenile Institution, relating to charges of giving a false name and address to the police, having escaped legal custody, having unlawful carnal knowledge, and stealing 12 imperial gallons (55 L) of petrol.[1] He attempted to join the Australian Army, but was rejected and deemed "socially maladjusted".[8]

1964–1970: The Spektors and The Valentines Edit

Scott's vocals were inspired by his idol, Little Richard.[9] After working as a postman,[10] bartender[10] and truck packer,[10] Scott started his first band, The Spektors, in 1964 as drummer and occasional lead singer.[11] In 1966 they merged with another local band, the Winstons, and formed The Valentines, in which Scott was co-lead singer with Vince Lovegrove.[10] The Valentines recorded several songs written by George Young of The Easybeats. "Every Day I Have to Cry" (a song originally written and sung by Arthur Alexander) made the local record chart.[1] In 1970, after gaining a place on the National Top 30 with their single "Juliette", The Valentines disbanded due to artistic differences after a much-publicised drug scandal.[12]

1970–1973: Fraternity and The Mount Lofty Rangers Edit

Scott moved to Adelaide in 1970 and joined the progressive rock group Fraternity.[13][10] Fraternity released the LPs Livestock and Flaming Galah before touring the UK in 1973, where they changed their name to Fang. During this time they played support slots for Status Quo and Geordie, whose front man Brian Johnson would eventually succeed Scott as the lead singer of AC/DC after his death.[1] During this time, on 24 January 1972, Scott married Irene Thornton.[14]

In 1973, just after returning to Australia from the tour of the UK, Fraternity went on hiatus. Scott took a day job at the Wallaroo fertiliser plant and began singing with The Mount Lofty Rangers, a loose collective of musicians helmed by Peter Head (né Beagley) from Headband, who explained, "Headband and Fraternity were in the same management stable and we both split about the same time so the logical thing was to take members from both bands and create a new one ... the purpose of the band was for songwriters to relate to each other and experiment with songs, so it was a hotbed of creativity".[15] Other ex-Fraternity members also played with the band as did Glenn Shorrock pre Little River Band. During this time, Head also helped Scott with his original compositions.

Vince Lovegrove said, "Bon would go to Peter's home after a day of (literally) shovelling shit, and show him musical ideas he had had during his day's work. Bon's knowledge of the guitar was limited, so Peter began teaching him how to bridge chords and construct a song. One of the songs from these sessions was a ballad called 'Clarissa', about a local Adelaide girl. Another was the country-tinged 'Bin Up in the Hills Too Long', which for me was a sign of things to come with Bon's lyrics; simple, clever, sardonic, tongue-in-cheek ..."[16]

In return, Scott recorded vocals for Mount Lofty Rangers songs "Round & Round" and "Carey Gully".[17] Head released these original recordings in 1996, also teaming up with producer Ted Yanni, another old friend of Scott's, to create an entirely new backing for Round & Round & Round that more accurately reflected the original intentions Head had. Long out of print, and massively bootlegged, this EP finally got an official digital release in June 2010. Unrecorded original compositions of Scott's, "Been Up in the Hills Too Long" and "Clarissa" have been recorded by Head on his Peter Head & the Mount Lofty Rangers Lofty album, also released in digital format only in 2011.

About 11 pm on 3 May 1974, at the Old Lion Hotel in North Adelaide, during a rehearsal with the Mount Lofty Rangers, a very drunk, distressed and belligerent Scott had a raging argument with a member of the band. Scott stormed out of the venue, threw a bottle of Jack Daniel's on to the ground, then sped off on his Suzuki GT550 motorbike.[16] Scott suffered serious injuries from the ensuing motorcycle accident, spending three days in a coma and a further 18 days in hospital. Vince Lovegrove and his wife, by then running a booking/management agency, gave Scott odd jobs, such as putting up posters and painting the office during his recovery, and shortly after introduced him to AC/DC who were on the lookout for a new lead singer.[12]

"There was a young, dinky little glam band from Sydney that we both loved called AC/DC ... Before another AC/DC visit, George Young phoned me and said the band was looking for a new singer. I immediately told him that the best guy for the job was Bon. George responded by saying Bon's accident would not allow him to perform, and that maybe he was too old (9 years older than Angus at the time). Nevertheless I had a meeting with Malcolm and Angus, and suggested Bon as their new singer. They asked me to bring him out to the Pooraka Hotel that night, and to come backstage after the show. When he watched the band, Bon was impressed, and he immediately wanted to join them, but thought they may be a bit too inexperienced and too young. After the show, backstage, Bon expressed his doubts about them being "able to rock". The two Young brothers told Bon he was "too old to rock". The upshot was that they had a jam session that night in the home of Bon's former mentor, Bruce Howe, and at the end of the session, at dawn, it was obvious that AC/DC had found a new singer. And Bon had found a new band."[16]

Fraternity later reformed and replaced Scott with Jimmy Barnes.

1974–1980: AC/DC Edit

 
Bon Scott (centre), performing with AC/DC at the Ulster Hall in 1979

Scott's wife, Irene Thornton, later wrote, "The first time Bon saw AC/DC was in August 1974. They came through Adelaide with the Lou Reed and Stevie Wright tour, and played their own show at the Pooraka Hotel ... The first time I saw AC/DC was at the Pooraka Hotel in September. 'Get up there, Bon,' Vince kept saying. The band didn't have a singer that night; they were playing instrumental versions of old rock 'n' roll standards. The boys ripped through all these classic numbers and then finally, with enough pressure from Vince, Bon climbed onto the stage. I didn't realise that AC/DC had just sacked Dave Evans and they wanted Bon to replace him. Like Bon, the Youngs were Scottish, so there was an instant bond."[18]

Scott replaced Dave Evans as the lead singer of AC/DC on 24 October 1974,[10] when it became obvious the band and Evans were heading in different directions, with Evans having personal clashes with band members and management.[19] Scott's appointment coincided with him working as a chauffeur for the band at the time until an audition promoted him to lead singer.[20]

With the Young brothers as lead and rhythm guitarists, session drummer Tony Currenti (see AC/DC line-ups) and George Young as a temporary bassist, AC/DC released High Voltage, their first LP in Australia, in February 1975.[21] Within a few months Currenti was replaced by Phil Rudd and Mark Evans was hired as a permanent bassist, and AC/DC began recording their second album T.N.T., which was released in Australia in December 1975. The first AC/DC album to gain international distribution however was a compilation of tracks from the first two albums, also entitled High Voltage, which was released in May 1976. Another studio album, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, was released in September of the same year, but only in Australia; the international version of the album was released in December with a different track listing. The album was not released in the US until March 1981.

In the following years, AC/DC gained further success with their albums Let There Be Rock and Powerage. The 1978 release of Powerage marked the debut of bassist Cliff Williams (who had replaced Mark Evans), and with its harder riffs, followed the blueprint set by Let There Be Rock. Only one single was released from Powerage—"Rock 'n' Roll Damnation"—which gave AC/DC their highest chart position at the time, reaching #24. An appearance at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow during the Powerage tour was recorded and released as If You Want Blood You've Got It.[22]

The band's sixth album, Highway To Hell, was produced by Robert "Mutt" Lange and was released in 1979. It became AC/DC's first LP to break the US top 100, eventually reaching #17, and it propelled AC/DC into the top ranks of hard-rock acts.[23][24]

On 9 February 1980; AC/DC appeared on Aplauso TV (Spain) where they played "Beating Around the Bush", "Girls Got Rhythm", and "Highway to Hell", this would be Bon Scott's last appearance with AC/DC before his death.[25]

Marriage and alleged children Edit

Scott met Irene Thornton, from Adelaide, in 1971 while he was the lead singer for Fraternity. They married in 1972.[26] After two years of marriage, they separated before divorcing in 1977 but remained friends until his death.[27]

Michael Browning, who managed AC/DC in their early years, stated in his book on managing AC/DC, Dog Eat Dog, that he visited Scott in hospital in Melbourne in 1975 after Scott had overdosed on drugs. Browning claimed "Bon was bragging to me the last time he was in that hospital he was visiting two separate girls, both unknown to each other, who were both giving birth to his kids at the same time. So there's at least two of Bon Scott's children out there, or at least two I can vouch for."[28]

However, no DNA tests have ever been conducted on people claiming to be the progeny of Scott and they have not been recognised in any way by the Bon Scott Estate.[citation needed]

Death Edit

 
Bon Scott's grave
 
67 Overhill Road, East Dulwich, London, the site of Bon Scott's death

On 15 February 1980, Scott attended a session where Malcolm and Angus Young were working on the beginnings of two songs that would later be recorded on the Back in Black album: "Have a Drink On Me" and "Let Me Put My Love Into You", with Scott accompanying on drums rather than singing or writing lyrics.[1] Young has also claimed Scott played drums on "Hells Bells"[29] while AC/DC drummer Simon Wright has claimed Angus Young played him a demo of Scott playing drums on "Back in Black".[30]

Days earlier, Scott had gone with Mick Cocks to visit their friends the French group Trust in the Scorpio Sound studio in London, where they recorded the album Répression; Scott was working on the English adaptation of texts by Bernie Bonvoisin for the English version of the album. During this visit, the musicians did a jam session of "Ride On". This improvised session was Scott's last recording.[31][32]

Sometime during the late evening of 18 February and early morning of 19 February 1980, Scott passed out and died at the age of 33. He had just visited a London club called the Music Machine (currently known as KOKO). He was allegedly left to sleep in a Renault 5 owned by his friend Alistair Kinnear, at 67 Overhill Road in East Dulwich.[33] Later that day, Kinnear found Scott, lifeless, and alerted the authorities. Scott was taken to King's College Hospital in Camberwell, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The official report of the coroner concluded that Scott had died of "acute alcohol poisoning" and classified it as "death by misadventure".[34][35]

The chronology of events on 19 February, Kinnear's account of what happened, and when exactly Scott was found dead has been challenged by Jesse Fink's 2017 book Bon: The Last Highway, which quotes the late UFO guitarist Paul Chapman as having been informed early that morning by Scott's friend Joe Fury that Scott was dead. Kinnear said he found Scott in the evening. Chapman claims Scott and Fury were with him the previous evening of 18 February and that Scott left his apartment to buy heroin, never to return. In February 2023, in a post on Facebook, AC/DC photographer Robert Ellis confirmed Chapman's account of being informed of Scott's death on the morning of 19 February 1980 – supporting Fink's narrative.[36]

Fink's book also claims Scott and Kinnear were not alone in East Dulwich but with a third person, Zena Kakoulli, who stayed over at Kinnear's apartment while Scott remained in the parked Renault. An updated edition of Fink's book released in 2018 produces new evidence that a fourth individual, Kakoulli's husband and rock musician Peter Perrett, was also with Scott, Kinnear and Kakoulli.[37] Fink contends that pulmonary aspiration of vomit was the cause of Scott's death via a suspected heroin overdose.[38]

As part of the funeral arrangements, Scott's body was embalmed by Desmond Henley;[39] it was later cremated, and Scott's ashes were interred by his family at Fremantle Cemetery in Fremantle.[40]

Shortly after Scott's death, the remaining members of AC/DC briefly considered disbanding; however, it was eventually decided that Scott would have wanted them to continue, and with the Scott family's encouragement, the band hired Brian Johnson as their new vocalist.[41]

Lyrics controversy Edit

Five months after Scott's death, AC/DC finished the work they began with Scott and released Back in Black as a tribute to him. The issue of whether Scott's lyrics were used, uncredited, on the album remains an enduring topic of debate. In Fink's Bon: The Last Highway, he produces interview quotes from Angus Young admitting that Scott's lyrics were at least partly used and from Vince Lovegrove that Scott's family receives royalties for Back in Black. Scott's girlfriends Silver Smith (who died in 2016) and "Holly X" (a pseudonym) both claim Scott wrote the song "You Shook Me All Night Long".[42]

In his 2022 memoir The Lives of Brian, Brian Johnson stated the following: "I should probably take this opportunity to put some of the rumours about the writing of the Back In Black lyrics to bed. The conspiracy theories are legion – usually started by people who think they know what happened but weren't there. That includes one journalist in Australia who claimed that Bon Scott had already scribbled most of the words to the album in one of his notebooks before he died. But no – it was me at the end of the pen, writing every night and every morning, with only the title to work with. That's what happened. That's the truth and I really hope that settles it."[citation needed]

Johnson's comments, however, are directly contradicted by AC/DC guitarist Angus Young, as quoted in Fink's Bon: The Last Highway. In a 1991 interview with Kerrang! magazine, Young was asked by journalist Paul Elliott: "Who wrote the lyrics on [‘Given The Dog A Bone’] and the others on Back in Black? Bon, or Brian, or both?" Young replied: "Bon wrote a little of the stuff."[43]

Legacy Edit

Landmarks Edit

Australia Edit

 
Statue of Bon Scott, Fremantle, Western Australia

His grave site has become a cultural landmark; more than 28 years after Scott's death, the National Trust of Australia declared his grave important enough to be included on the list of classified heritage places.[40][44] It is reportedly the most visited grave in Australia.[45] On 7 July 2006, to mark his 60th birthday, the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board completed refurbishments on the Bon Scott Grave Area. This consisted of a Bon Scott Arch and Memorial Entrance gate off Carrington Street in the north-west corner of Fremantle Cemetery.[46] On 9 July 2006, sixty years to the day from Scott's birth, the bronze plaque was stolen from the site.[47]

A bronze statue of Scott was unveiled at Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour in Western Australia on 24 February 2008.[48] The statue portrays Scott atop a Marshall amplifier.

ACDC Lane is a street in the central business district of Melbourne. It was renamed on 1 October 2004 as a tribute to AC/DC. The trademark lightning bolt or slash ("/") used to separate the AC and the DC in the band's name contravened the naming policy of the Office of the Registrar of Geographic Names, so the punctuation was omitted on the street sign. Melbourne's Lord Mayor John So launched ACDC Lane with the words, "As the song says, there is a highway to hell, but this is a laneway to heaven. Let us rock". Bagpipers then played "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)". Those were all songs from Bon Scott era. The lane contains a rock 'n' roll nightclub called the Cherry Bar.

Scotland Edit

On 6 May 2006, the town of Kirriemuir in Scotland held a service and unveiled a Caithness stone slab commemorating the singer.[49] A message was read from a long-time friend and fellow member of the Valentines, Vince Lovegrove, in which he said:

The thing I loved most about Bon Scott, was his almost unique self honesty. What you saw was what you got, he was a real person and as honest as the day is long. To my mind he was the street poet of my generations and of the generations that followed.[50]

A life-sized bronze statue of Scott was unveiled by former AC/DC bass player Mark Evans in Bellies Brae Car Park in Kirriemuir on 30 April 2016, during the 10th anniversary of the Bonfest music festival. Kirriemuir hosts an annual festival known as "Bonfest" as a tribute to Bon Scott and AC/DC. It was originally held in July on the weekend closest to his birthday but moved to May because of other events in the local area during July. The statue was commissioned by local community group DD8 Music and created by John McKenna.[51]

Posthumous releases Edit

AC/DC released a box set entitled Bonfire as a tribute to Scott on 18 November 1997. It contains four albums; a remastered version of Back in Black; a "rarities" album with alternate takes, outtakes, and stray live cuts, Volts; and two live albums, Live from the Atlantic Studios and Let There Be Rock: The Movie. Live from the Atlantic Studios was recorded on 7 December 1977 at the Atlantic Studios in New York City. Let There Be Rock: The Movie is a double album which was recorded on 9 December 1979 at the Pavillon de Paris in Paris, and was the soundtrack of the motion picture, AC/DC: Let There Be Rock.[52]

Accolades, awards and tributes Edit

AC/DC's seventh studio album Back In Black was released as a dedication and tribute to Scott. In 2003, Scott was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of AC/DC[53] with his nephews present to accept the honour in his place.[54]

In 2003, Scott's final studio album with AC/DC, 1979's Highway to Hell ranked 199 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[55] In 2004, the song "Highway to Hell" that Scott co-wrote with Malcolm and Angus Young ranked 254 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[56]

In the July 2004 issue of UK magazine Classic Rock, Scott was rated as number one in a list of the "100 Greatest Frontmen", ahead of Freddie Mercury and Robert Plant.[2][page needed]

The French rock band Trust wrote their hit song "Ton dernier acte" ("Your Last Act") in memory of Scott in 1980. German hard rock band Kingdom Come wrote and recorded a song titled "Bon Scott" for their album, Ain't Crying for the Moon, as a tribute to the former AC/DC frontman. Romanian hard rock group Iris recorded the song "Ultimul mic dejun al lui Bon" ("Bon's Last Breakfast") as a tribute to Scott, released on their 1997 album Lună plină.

Many artists perform live covers of songs that Scott wrote with AC/DC as a tribute to him. On 19 February 2005, the 25th anniversary of Scott's death, thrash metal band Megadeth performed a cover of "Problem Child" as a tribute. Singer and guitarist Dave Mustaine talked about how much Scott had influenced him. Hard rock band Guns N' Roses frequently perform "Whole Lotta Rosie" in concert and covered it in 1987. AC/DC performed their song "Ride On" only one time in 2001 as a tribute to Scott.[57]

Literature Edit

Scott is the subject of several books including two biographies: Clinton Walker's Highway to Hell (1994 and updated in 2015) and Jesse Fink's Bon: The Last Highway (2017 and updated in 2018 and 2022). Fink's book claims that Scott died from a lethal combination of alcohol and heroin, while Walker backs the coroner's finding of alcohol poisoning. The controversial point that he and Walker both agree on is that many of Scott's lyrics were co-opted, uncredited, into Back in Black. Other books about Scott include Irene Thornton's memoir My Bon Scott (2014, retitled outside Australia as Have a Drink on Me), the variously authored tribute book Live Wire (2015), and J.P. Quinton's "historical fiction" Bad Boy Boogie (2016). Scott's time in the pre-AC/DC Australian band Fraternity is documented in Victor Marshall's Fraternity: Pub Rock Pioneers (2021).

Awards Edit

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2005 Bon Scott Hall of Fame inductee

References Edit

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  2. ^ a b "The 100 Greatest Frontmen". Classic Rock (July 2004).
  3. ^ . Up the Downstair. 2 December 2006. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
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  7. ^ Browne, Geoff. "Scott, Ronald Belford (Bon) (1946–1980)". Cultural Advice. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
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  9. ^ bravewords.com. . Bravewords.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  10. ^ a b c d e f . Archived from the original on 19 September 2016.
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  12. ^ a b Ankeny, Jason. "Bon Scott Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
  13. ^ Organisation, Grape. "Bon Scott". Fraternity. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  14. ^ "Bon's Story". Bon Scott fans. Archived from the original on 3 April 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  15. ^ Smith, Michael 'A Little Bit Of Head Music' Drum Media, 28 January 1997
  16. ^ a b c Lovegrove, Vincent (22 November 2008). . Adelaide Now. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008.
  17. ^ Coupe, Stuart, Bon Comes Round Again. In Press Magazine, 16 October 1996
  18. ^ ""My marriage to AC/DC frontman Bon Scott and why we split, by Irene Thornton" adelaidenow.com.au 20 September 2014".
  19. ^ (Stenning 2005, p. 34)
  20. ^ "Bon Scott Interview Paris 1979". YouTube. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
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  29. ^ Lanham, Tom (22 February 2021). "AC/DC's Angus Young: Striking Another Chord". Paste.
  30. ^ Mascord, Steve (1 May 2023). "Bon Scott demoed 'Back in Black' – the song later dedicated to him – according to Simon Wright". Hot Metal.
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Further reading Edit

  • Engleheart, Murray (2007). AC/DC Maximum Rock & Roll: The Ultimate Story of the World's Greatest Rock-and-Roll Band. It Books. ISBN 978-0732283834..
  • Fink, Jesse (2017). Bon: The Last Highway, The Untold Story of Bon Scott and AC/DC's Back In Black. Penguin Random House Australia. ISBN 978-0-85798-892-8..
  • Fink, Jesse (2018). Bon: The Last Highway, The Untold Story of Bon Scott and AC/DC's Back In Black (updated ed.). Penguin Random House Australia. ISBN 978-0-85798-893-5..
  • Fink, Jesse (2022). Bon: The Last Highway, The Untold Story of Bon Scott and AC/DC's Back In Black (updated ed.). ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-77041-496-9..
  • Marshall, Victor (2021). Fraternity: Pub Rock Pioneers. Melbourne, Australia: Brolga Publishing. ISBN 978-1920785109.
  • Prato, Greg (2020). A Rockin' Rollin' Man: Bon Scott Remembered. self-published. ISBN 978-1-65198-063-7..
  • Stenning, Paul (2005). AC/DC – Two Sides to Every Glory. Chrome Dreams. ISBN 978-1-84240-308-2..
  • Walker, Clinton (1994). Highway to Hell: The Life and Times of AC/DC Legend Bon Scott. Verse Chorus Press. ISBN 978-0-283-06263-6..
  • Wall, Mick (2012). Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be. Orion. ISBN 978-1409115342..

External links Edit

  • Official website
  • AC/DC at Curlie

scott, ronald, belford, scott, july, 1946, february, 1980, scottish, born, australian, singer, songwriter, lead, vocalist, lyricist, hard, rock, band, from, 1974, until, death, 1980, scott, performing, with, december, 1979background, informationbirth, namerona. Ronald Belford Bon Scott 9 July 1946 19 February 1980 was a Scottish born Australian singer and songwriter He was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC DC from 1974 until his death in 1980 1 Bon ScottScott performing with AC DC in December 1979Background informationBirth nameRonald Belford ScottBorn 1946 07 09 9 July 1946Forfar Angus ScotlandDied19 February 1980 1980 02 19 aged 33 East Dulwich London EnglandGenresRock and roll blues rock hard rockOccupation s Singer songwriterYears active1964 1980Formerly ofAC DC Fraternity The Valentines The SpektorsSpouse s Irene Thornton m 1972 div 1977 wbr Websitebonscottofficial wbr com Born in Forfar in Angus Scotland Scott spent his early years in Kirriemuir He moved to Australia with his family in 1952 at the age of six living in Melbourne for four years before settling in Fremantle Western Australia 1 With AC DC Scott performed on the band s first seven albums High Voltage 1975 Australian only release T N T 1975 Australian only release High Voltage 1976 first international release Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap 1976 not released until 1981 in the United States Let There Be Rock 1977 Powerage 1978 Highway to Hell 1979 Scott formed his first band The Spektors in 1964 and became the band s drummer and occasional lead vocalist He performed in several other bands including The Valentines and Fraternity before replacing original AC DC lead singer Dave Evans in 1974 1 AC DC s popularity grew throughout the 1970s initially in Australia and then internationally Their 1979 album Highway to Hell reached the top 20 in the United States and was their commercial breakthrough However on 19 February 1980 Scott died after a night out in London with former musician and alleged drug dealer Alistair Kinnear AC DC briefly considered disbanding but the group recruited vocalist Brian Johnson of the British glam rock band Geordie AC DC s subsequent album Back in Black was released only five months later and was a tribute to Scott It went on to become at one point the second best selling album of all time 1 In the July 2004 issue of Classic Rock Scott was ranked number one in a list of the 100 Greatest Frontmen of All Time 2 Hit Parader ranked Scott as fifth on their 2006 list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Vocalists of all time 3 Contents 1 Biography 1 1 1946 1964 early years 1 2 1964 1970 The Spektors and The Valentines 1 3 1970 1973 Fraternity and The Mount Lofty Rangers 1 4 1974 1980 AC DC 2 Marriage and alleged children 3 Death 4 Lyrics controversy 5 Legacy 5 1 Landmarks 5 1 1 Australia 5 1 2 Scotland 5 2 Posthumous releases 5 3 Accolades awards and tributes 5 4 Literature 6 Awards 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External linksBiography Edit1946 1964 early years Edit Ronald Belford Scott was born on 9 July 1946 at Fyfe Jamieson Maternity Hospital in Forfar Scotland to Charles Belford Chick Scott 1917 1999 and Isabelle Cunningham Isa Mitchell 1917 2011 He grew up in Kirriemuir and was the Scotts second child their first was a boy Sandy who died shortly after birth 1 A third child Derek was born in 1949 1 Chick and Isa ran the family bakery in Kirriemuir s Bank Street 4 The family emigrated from Scotland to Australia in 1952 5 The Scotts lived in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine Victoria and Scott attended nearby Sunshine Primary School 1 The nickname Bon was acquired shortly after starting school because there was another Ronald in the class his classmates played on the phrase Bonnie Scotland 6 A fourth child Graeme was born in 1953 1 In 1956 the family moved to Fremantle Western Australia Scott joined the associated Fremantle Scots Pipe Band learning the drums 1 He attended North Fremantle Primary School and later John Curtin College of the Arts until he dropped out at the age of 15 He subsequently worked as a farmhand and a crayfisherman and was later a trainee weighing machine mechanic 7 In 1963 he spent a short time in Fremantle Prison s assessment centre and nine months at the Riverbank Juvenile Institution relating to charges of giving a false name and address to the police having escaped legal custody having unlawful carnal knowledge and stealing 12 imperial gallons 55 L of petrol 1 He attempted to join the Australian Army but was rejected and deemed socially maladjusted 8 1964 1970 The Spektors and The Valentines Edit Scott s vocals were inspired by his idol Little Richard 9 After working as a postman 10 bartender 10 and truck packer 10 Scott started his first band The Spektors in 1964 as drummer and occasional lead singer 11 In 1966 they merged with another local band the Winstons and formed The Valentines in which Scott was co lead singer with Vince Lovegrove 10 The Valentines recorded several songs written by George Young of The Easybeats Every Day I Have to Cry a song originally written and sung by Arthur Alexander made the local record chart 1 In 1970 after gaining a place on the National Top 30 with their single Juliette The Valentines disbanded due to artistic differences after a much publicised drug scandal 12 1970 1973 Fraternity and The Mount Lofty Rangers Edit Scott moved to Adelaide in 1970 and joined the progressive rock group Fraternity 13 10 Fraternity released the LPs Livestock and Flaming Galah before touring the UK in 1973 where they changed their name to Fang During this time they played support slots for Status Quo and Geordie whose front man Brian Johnson would eventually succeed Scott as the lead singer of AC DC after his death 1 During this time on 24 January 1972 Scott married Irene Thornton 14 In 1973 just after returning to Australia from the tour of the UK Fraternity went on hiatus Scott took a day job at the Wallaroo fertiliser plant and began singing with The Mount Lofty Rangers a loose collective of musicians helmed by Peter Head ne Beagley from Headband who explained Headband and Fraternity were in the same management stable and we both split about the same time so the logical thing was to take members from both bands and create a new one the purpose of the band was for songwriters to relate to each other and experiment with songs so it was a hotbed of creativity 15 Other ex Fraternity members also played with the band as did Glenn Shorrock pre Little River Band During this time Head also helped Scott with his original compositions Vince Lovegrove said Bon would go to Peter s home after a day of literally shovelling shit and show him musical ideas he had had during his day s work Bon s knowledge of the guitar was limited so Peter began teaching him how to bridge chords and construct a song One of the songs from these sessions was a ballad called Clarissa about a local Adelaide girl Another was the country tinged Bin Up in the Hills Too Long which for me was a sign of things to come with Bon s lyrics simple clever sardonic tongue in cheek 16 In return Scott recorded vocals for Mount Lofty Rangers songs Round amp Round and Carey Gully 17 Head released these original recordings in 1996 also teaming up with producer Ted Yanni another old friend of Scott s to create an entirely new backing for Round amp Round amp Round that more accurately reflected the original intentions Head had Long out of print and massively bootlegged this EP finally got an official digital release in June 2010 Unrecorded original compositions of Scott s Been Up in the Hills Too Long and Clarissa have been recorded by Head on his Peter Head amp the Mount Lofty Rangers Lofty album also released in digital format only in 2011 About 11 pm on 3 May 1974 at the Old Lion Hotel in North Adelaide during a rehearsal with the Mount Lofty Rangers a very drunk distressed and belligerent Scott had a raging argument with a member of the band Scott stormed out of the venue threw a bottle of Jack Daniel s on to the ground then sped off on his Suzuki GT550 motorbike 16 Scott suffered serious injuries from the ensuing motorcycle accident spending three days in a coma and a further 18 days in hospital Vince Lovegrove and his wife by then running a booking management agency gave Scott odd jobs such as putting up posters and painting the office during his recovery and shortly after introduced him to AC DC who were on the lookout for a new lead singer 12 There was a young dinky little glam band from Sydney that we both loved called AC DC Before another AC DC visit George Young phoned me and said the band was looking for a new singer I immediately told him that the best guy for the job was Bon George responded by saying Bon s accident would not allow him to perform and that maybe he was too old 9 years older than Angus at the time Nevertheless I had a meeting with Malcolm and Angus and suggested Bon as their new singer They asked me to bring him out to the Pooraka Hotel that night and to come backstage after the show When he watched the band Bon was impressed and he immediately wanted to join them but thought they may be a bit too inexperienced and too young After the show backstage Bon expressed his doubts about them being able to rock The two Young brothers told Bon he was too old to rock The upshot was that they had a jam session that night in the home of Bon s former mentor Bruce Howe and at the end of the session at dawn it was obvious that AC DC had found a new singer And Bon had found a new band 16 Fraternity later reformed and replaced Scott with Jimmy Barnes 1974 1980 AC DC Edit Main article AC DC Bon Scott era 1974 1980 nbsp Bon Scott centre performing with AC DC at the Ulster Hall in 1979Scott s wife Irene Thornton later wrote The first time Bon saw AC DC was in August 1974 They came through Adelaide with the Lou Reed and Stevie Wright tour and played their own show at the Pooraka Hotel The first time I saw AC DC was at the Pooraka Hotel in September Get up there Bon Vince kept saying The band didn t have a singer that night they were playing instrumental versions of old rock n roll standards The boys ripped through all these classic numbers and then finally with enough pressure from Vince Bon climbed onto the stage I didn t realise that AC DC had just sacked Dave Evans and they wanted Bon to replace him Like Bon the Youngs were Scottish so there was an instant bond 18 Scott replaced Dave Evans as the lead singer of AC DC on 24 October 1974 10 when it became obvious the band and Evans were heading in different directions with Evans having personal clashes with band members and management 19 Scott s appointment coincided with him working as a chauffeur for the band at the time until an audition promoted him to lead singer 20 With the Young brothers as lead and rhythm guitarists session drummer Tony Currenti see AC DC line ups and George Young as a temporary bassist AC DC released High Voltage their first LP in Australia in February 1975 21 Within a few months Currenti was replaced by Phil Rudd and Mark Evans was hired as a permanent bassist and AC DC began recording their second album T N T which was released in Australia in December 1975 The first AC DC album to gain international distribution however was a compilation of tracks from the first two albums also entitled High Voltage which was released in May 1976 Another studio album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was released in September of the same year but only in Australia the international version of the album was released in December with a different track listing The album was not released in the US until March 1981 In the following years AC DC gained further success with their albums Let There Be Rock and Powerage The 1978 release of Powerage marked the debut of bassist Cliff Williams who had replaced Mark Evans and with its harder riffs followed the blueprint set by Let There Be Rock Only one single was released from Powerage Rock n Roll Damnation which gave AC DC their highest chart position at the time reaching 24 An appearance at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow during the Powerage tour was recorded and released as If You Want Blood You ve Got It 22 The band s sixth album Highway To Hell was produced by Robert Mutt Lange and was released in 1979 It became AC DC s first LP to break the US top 100 eventually reaching 17 and it propelled AC DC into the top ranks of hard rock acts 23 24 On 9 February 1980 AC DC appeared on Aplauso TV Spain where they played Beating Around the Bush Girls Got Rhythm and Highway to Hell this would be Bon Scott s last appearance with AC DC before his death 25 Marriage and alleged children EditScott met Irene Thornton from Adelaide in 1971 while he was the lead singer for Fraternity They married in 1972 26 After two years of marriage they separated before divorcing in 1977 but remained friends until his death 27 Michael Browning who managed AC DC in their early years stated in his book on managing AC DC Dog Eat Dog that he visited Scott in hospital in Melbourne in 1975 after Scott had overdosed on drugs Browning claimed Bon was bragging to me the last time he was in that hospital he was visiting two separate girls both unknown to each other who were both giving birth to his kids at the same time So there s at least two of Bon Scott s children out there or at least two I can vouch for 28 However no DNA tests have ever been conducted on people claiming to be the progeny of Scott and they have not been recognised in any way by the Bon Scott Estate citation needed Death Edit nbsp Bon Scott s grave nbsp 67 Overhill Road East Dulwich London the site of Bon Scott s deathOn 15 February 1980 Scott attended a session where Malcolm and Angus Young were working on the beginnings of two songs that would later be recorded on the Back in Black album Have a Drink On Me and Let Me Put My Love Into You with Scott accompanying on drums rather than singing or writing lyrics 1 Young has also claimed Scott played drums on Hells Bells 29 while AC DC drummer Simon Wright has claimed Angus Young played him a demo of Scott playing drums on Back in Black 30 Days earlier Scott had gone with Mick Cocks to visit their friends the French group Trust in the Scorpio Sound studio in London where they recorded the album Repression Scott was working on the English adaptation of texts by Bernie Bonvoisin for the English version of the album During this visit the musicians did a jam session of Ride On This improvised session was Scott s last recording 31 32 Sometime during the late evening of 18 February and early morning of 19 February 1980 Scott passed out and died at the age of 33 He had just visited a London club called the Music Machine currently known as KOKO He was allegedly left to sleep in a Renault 5 owned by his friend Alistair Kinnear at 67 Overhill Road in East Dulwich 33 Later that day Kinnear found Scott lifeless and alerted the authorities Scott was taken to King s College Hospital in Camberwell where he was pronounced dead on arrival The official report of the coroner concluded that Scott had died of acute alcohol poisoning and classified it as death by misadventure 34 35 The chronology of events on 19 February Kinnear s account of what happened and when exactly Scott was found dead has been challenged by Jesse Fink s 2017 book Bon The Last Highway which quotes the late UFO guitarist Paul Chapman as having been informed early that morning by Scott s friend Joe Fury that Scott was dead Kinnear said he found Scott in the evening Chapman claims Scott and Fury were with him the previous evening of 18 February and that Scott left his apartment to buy heroin never to return In February 2023 in a post on Facebook AC DC photographer Robert Ellis confirmed Chapman s account of being informed of Scott s death on the morning of 19 February 1980 supporting Fink s narrative 36 Fink s book also claims Scott and Kinnear were not alone in East Dulwich but with a third person Zena Kakoulli who stayed over at Kinnear s apartment while Scott remained in the parked Renault An updated edition of Fink s book released in 2018 produces new evidence that a fourth individual Kakoulli s husband and rock musician Peter Perrett was also with Scott Kinnear and Kakoulli 37 Fink contends that pulmonary aspiration of vomit was the cause of Scott s death via a suspected heroin overdose 38 As part of the funeral arrangements Scott s body was embalmed by Desmond Henley 39 it was later cremated and Scott s ashes were interred by his family at Fremantle Cemetery in Fremantle 40 Shortly after Scott s death the remaining members of AC DC briefly considered disbanding however it was eventually decided that Scott would have wanted them to continue and with the Scott family s encouragement the band hired Brian Johnson as their new vocalist 41 Lyrics controversy EditFive months after Scott s death AC DC finished the work they began with Scott and released Back in Black as a tribute to him The issue of whether Scott s lyrics were used uncredited on the album remains an enduring topic of debate In Fink s Bon The Last Highway he produces interview quotes from Angus Young admitting that Scott s lyrics were at least partly used and from Vince Lovegrove that Scott s family receives royalties for Back in Black Scott s girlfriends Silver Smith who died in 2016 and Holly X a pseudonym both claim Scott wrote the song You Shook Me All Night Long 42 In his 2022 memoir The Lives of Brian Brian Johnson stated the following I should probably take this opportunity to put some of the rumours about the writing of the Back In Black lyrics to bed The conspiracy theories are legion usually started by people who think they know what happened but weren t there That includes one journalist in Australia who claimed that Bon Scott had already scribbled most of the words to the album in one of his notebooks before he died But no it was me at the end of the pen writing every night and every morning with only the title to work with That s what happened That s the truth and I really hope that settles it citation needed Johnson s comments however are directly contradicted by AC DC guitarist Angus Young as quoted in Fink s Bon The Last Highway In a 1991 interview with Kerrang magazine Young was asked by journalist Paul Elliott Who wrote the lyrics on Given The Dog A Bone and the others on Back in Black Bon or Brian or both Young replied Bon wrote a little of the stuff 43 Legacy EditLandmarks Edit Australia Edit nbsp Statue of Bon Scott Fremantle Western AustraliaHis grave site has become a cultural landmark more than 28 years after Scott s death the National Trust of Australia declared his grave important enough to be included on the list of classified heritage places 40 44 It is reportedly the most visited grave in Australia 45 On 7 July 2006 to mark his 60th birthday the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board completed refurbishments on the Bon Scott Grave Area This consisted of a Bon Scott Arch and Memorial Entrance gate off Carrington Street in the north west corner of Fremantle Cemetery 46 On 9 July 2006 sixty years to the day from Scott s birth the bronze plaque was stolen from the site 47 A bronze statue of Scott was unveiled at Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour in Western Australia on 24 February 2008 48 The statue portrays Scott atop a Marshall amplifier ACDC Lane is a street in the central business district of Melbourne It was renamed on 1 October 2004 as a tribute to AC DC The trademark lightning bolt or slash used to separate the AC and the DC in the band s name contravened the naming policy of the Office of the Registrar of Geographic Names so the punctuation was omitted on the street sign Melbourne s Lord Mayor John So launched ACDC Lane with the words As the song says there is a highway to hell but this is a laneway to heaven Let us rock Bagpipers then played It s a Long Way to the Top If You Wanna Rock n Roll Those were all songs from Bon Scott era The lane contains a rock n roll nightclub called the Cherry Bar Scotland Edit On 6 May 2006 the town of Kirriemuir in Scotland held a service and unveiled a Caithness stone slab commemorating the singer 49 A message was read from a long time friend and fellow member of the Valentines Vince Lovegrove in which he said The thing I loved most about Bon Scott was his almost unique self honesty What you saw was what you got he was a real person and as honest as the day is long To my mind he was the street poet of my generations and of the generations that followed 50 A life sized bronze statue of Scott was unveiled by former AC DC bass player Mark Evans in Bellies Brae Car Park in Kirriemuir on 30 April 2016 during the 10th anniversary of the Bonfest music festival Kirriemuir hosts an annual festival known as Bonfest as a tribute to Bon Scott and AC DC It was originally held in July on the weekend closest to his birthday but moved to May because of other events in the local area during July The statue was commissioned by local community group DD8 Music and created by John McKenna 51 Posthumous releases Edit AC DC released a box set entitled Bonfire as a tribute to Scott on 18 November 1997 It contains four albums a remastered version of Back in Black a rarities album with alternate takes outtakes and stray live cuts Volts and two live albums Live from the Atlantic Studios and Let There Be Rock The Movie Live from the Atlantic Studios was recorded on 7 December 1977 at the Atlantic Studios in New York City Let There Be Rock The Movie is a double album which was recorded on 9 December 1979 at the Pavillon de Paris in Paris and was the soundtrack of the motion picture AC DC Let There Be Rock 52 Accolades awards and tributes Edit AC DC s seventh studio album Back In Black was released as a dedication and tribute to Scott In 2003 Scott was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of AC DC 53 with his nephews present to accept the honour in his place 54 In 2003 Scott s final studio album with AC DC 1979 s Highway to Hell ranked 199 on Rolling Stone s The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 55 In 2004 the song Highway to Hell that Scott co wrote with Malcolm and Angus Young ranked 254 on Rolling Stone s The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time 56 In the July 2004 issue of UK magazine Classic Rock Scott was rated as number one in a list of the 100 Greatest Frontmen ahead of Freddie Mercury and Robert Plant 2 page needed The French rock band Trust wrote their hit song Ton dernier acte Your Last Act in memory of Scott in 1980 German hard rock band Kingdom Come wrote and recorded a song titled Bon Scott for their album Ain t Crying for the Moon as a tribute to the former AC DC frontman Romanian hard rock group Iris recorded the song Ultimul mic dejun al lui Bon Bon s Last Breakfast as a tribute to Scott released on their 1997 album Lună plină Many artists perform live covers of songs that Scott wrote with AC DC as a tribute to him On 19 February 2005 the 25th anniversary of Scott s death thrash metal band Megadeth performed a cover of Problem Child as a tribute Singer and guitarist Dave Mustaine talked about how much Scott had influenced him Hard rock band Guns N Roses frequently perform Whole Lotta Rosie in concert and covered it in 1987 AC DC performed their song Ride On only one time in 2001 as a tribute to Scott 57 Literature Edit Scott is the subject of several books including two biographies Clinton Walker s Highway to Hell 1994 and updated in 2015 and Jesse Fink s Bon The Last Highway 2017 and updated in 2018 and 2022 Fink s book claims that Scott died from a lethal combination of alcohol and heroin while Walker backs the coroner s finding of alcohol poisoning The controversial point that he and Walker both agree on is that many of Scott s lyrics were co opted uncredited into Back in Black Other books about Scott include Irene Thornton s memoir My Bon Scott 2014 retitled outside Australia as Have a Drink on Me the variously authored tribute book Live Wire 2015 and J P Quinton s historical fiction Bad Boy Boogie 2016 Scott s time in the pre AC DC Australian band Fraternity is documented in Victor Marshall s Fraternity Pub Rock Pioneers 2021 Awards EditYear Nominee work Award Result2005 Bon Scott Hall of Fame inducteeReferences Edit a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wall Mick 2012 AC DC Hell Ain t a Bad Place to Be London Orion Publishing group ISBN 9781409115359 a b The 100 Greatest Frontmen Classic Rock July 2004 Heavy Metal s All Time Top 100 Vocalists Up the Downstair 2 December 2006 Archived from the original on 24 March 2012 Retrieved 11 August 2016 Ritchie Gayle May 2020 Forget the hearse cause I ll never die Bon Scott s death rocks Kirriemuir 40 years on AC DC back plan for Bon Scott statue in Kirriemuir www scotsman com 15 May 2013 Staff Legacy 19 February 2012 Bon Scott Bonnie Prince of Hard Rock Legacy com Retrieved 26 March 2021 Browne Geoff Scott Ronald Belford Bon 1946 1980 Cultural Advice Canberra National Centre of Biography Australian National University Retrieved 26 March 2021 Walker 1994 p 39 bravewords com AC DC Guitarist Angus Young Remembers Bon Scott When I Think Back In Hindsight He Was A Guy That I Always Knew Was Full Of Life Bravewords com Archived from the original on 8 July 2011 Retrieved 16 September 2012 a b c d e f Bon s story Archived from the original on 19 September 2016 Walker 1994 p 32 a b Ankeny Jason Bon Scott Biography Allmusic Retrieved 7 August 2008 Organisation Grape Bon Scott Fraternity Retrieved 2 July 2022 Bon s Story Bon Scott fans Archived from the original on 3 April 2013 Retrieved 20 July 2014 Smith Michael A Little Bit Of Head Music Drum Media 28 January 1997 a b c Lovegrove Vincent 22 November 2008 AC DC s Vince Lovegrove recalls how he took on Bon Scott Adelaide Now Archived from the original on 5 December 2008 Coupe Stuart Bon Comes Round Again In Press Magazine 16 October 1996 My marriage to AC DC frontman Bon Scott and why we split by Irene Thornton adelaidenow com au 20 September 2014 Stenning 2005 p 34 Bon Scott Interview Paris 1979 YouTube Archived from the original on 12 December 2021 Retrieved 20 November 2017 High Voltage acdc com Retrieved 27 February 2014 Christopher Michael 30 June 2003 Epic Records AC DC Re issues Second Wave PopMatters Retrieved 7 August 2008 Timeline AC DC official website Archived from the original on 26 March 2009 Retrieved 7 May 2010 Engleheart Murray 1997 AC DC Bonfire New York Eastwest Records America OCLC 38208634 Tesoros de la tele Aplauso in Spanish 29 March 2023 min 34 00 retrieved 14 May 2023 Bon Scott Have a Drink On Me The Inside Story of Ac DC s Troubled Frontman Irene Thornton My Bon Scott via www booktopia com au AC DC s Bon Scott went to maternity ward where two women were having his children news com au 10 October 2014 Lanham Tom 22 February 2021 AC DC s Angus Young Striking Another Chord Paste Mascord Steve 1 May 2023 Bon Scott demoed Back in Black the song later dedicated to him according to Simon Wright Hot Metal Fink Jesse 7 November 2017 Bon The Last Highway The Untold Story of Bon Scott and AC DC s Back in Black ECW Press ISBN 9781773051130 Match Paris 19 February 2020 Bernie Bonvoisin Le jour ou mon ami Bon Scott est mort parismatch com Weather report Bonscott com au Archived from the original on 28 November 2016 Retrieved 11 August 2016 Jinman Richard 19 February 2005 25 years on AC DC fans recall how wild rocker met his end The Guardian UK Retrieved 7 August 2008 Photographic image of Bon Scott s death certificate JPG Farm4 static flickr com Retrieved 11 August 2016 The final mystery of Bon Scott jessefinkbooks com Australia 18 February 2023 Retrieved 25 March 2023 Jesse Fink 2018 Bon The Last Highway Penguin Random House Australia p xxiii xxiv ISBN 978 0 85798 893 5 Scott had choked on his own vomit in his sleep Back in Black 1980 2003 CD booklet In memoriam Desmond C Henley Internet Christopher Henley Limited 2008 2010 a b Bon s Highway leads to the National Trust Metropolitan Cemeteries Board 15 February 2006 Archived from the original on 16 November 2007 Retrieved 7 August 2008 Engleheart Murray Durieux Arnaud 2006 AC DC Maximum Rock amp Roll The Ultimate Story of the World s Greatest Rock amp Roll Band New York Harper Collins ISBN 9780061133916 Fink Jesse 2018 Bon The Last Highway Revised ed Penguin Books Australia ISBN 978 0857988935 Jesse Fink 2018 Bon The Last Highway Penguin Random House Australia p 318 ISBN 978 0 85798 893 5 Laurie Tiffany 15 February 2006 Grave News is Great News for Scott fans The West Australian AC DC agnostic celebrates the ultimate live wire Sydney Morning Herald 14 May 2008 Retrieved 14 May 2008 Bon s Story Archived from the original on 3 April 2013 Retrieved 10 February 2013 Bon Scott s Grave Plaque Stolen fasterlouder com 10 July 2006 Archived from the original on 25 April 2013 Retrieved 17 January 2013 Bon Scott statue to be unveiled in Perth news com au 22 February 2008 Archived from the original on 6 July 2011 Retrieved 22 February 2011 Town s tribute to AC DC front man BBC News 7 May 2006 Retrieved 7 August 2008 Kirriemuir salutes rock star legend The Courier 8 May 2006 Archived from the original on 19 July 2008 Retrieved 7 August 2008 AC DC singer s statue unveiled BBC News 1 May 2016 Boxsets AC DC discography Archived from the original on 28 July 2008 Retrieved 7 August 2008 AC DC Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Archived from the original on 17 January 2010 Retrieved 7 August 2008 AC DC accepts award Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions 2003 YouTube 28 October 2010 Archived from the original on 12 December 2021 Retrieved 11 August 2016 199 Highway to Hell Rolling Stone Archived from the original on 2 September 2011 Retrieved 24 June 2022 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Highway to Hell Rolling Stone Retrieved 24 June 2022 AC DC Ride On Stade De France Paris June 2001 retrieved 10 February 2022Further reading EditEngleheart Murray 2007 AC DC Maximum Rock amp Roll The Ultimate Story of the World s Greatest Rock and Roll Band It Books ISBN 978 0732283834 Fink Jesse 2017 Bon The Last Highway The Untold Story of Bon Scott and AC DC s Back In Black Penguin Random House Australia ISBN 978 0 85798 892 8 Fink Jesse 2018 Bon The Last Highway The Untold Story of Bon Scott and AC DC s Back In Black updated ed Penguin Random House Australia ISBN 978 0 85798 893 5 Fink Jesse 2022 Bon The Last Highway The Untold Story of Bon Scott and AC DC s Back In Black updated ed ECW Press ISBN 978 1 77041 496 9 Marshall Victor 2021 Fraternity Pub Rock Pioneers Melbourne Australia Brolga Publishing ISBN 978 1920785109 Prato Greg 2020 A Rockin Rollin Man Bon Scott Remembered self published ISBN 978 1 65198 063 7 Stenning Paul 2005 AC DC Two Sides to Every Glory Chrome Dreams ISBN 978 1 84240 308 2 Walker Clinton 1994 Highway to Hell The Life and Times of AC DC Legend Bon Scott Verse Chorus Press ISBN 978 0 283 06263 6 Wall Mick 2012 Hell Ain t a Bad Place to Be Orion ISBN 978 1409115342 External links Edit nbsp Biography portal nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bon Scott nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Bon Scott Official website AC DC at Curlie Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bon Scott amp oldid 1179322295, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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