On this day · 80 years ago · 1946
80 Years Ago Today: AC/DC's Bon Scott Was Born in Scotland
Bon Scott was born in Forfar, Scotland, on July 9, 1946, and emigrated to Australia as a child. He'd go on to front AC/DC through its defining 1970s run, his swagger paired the whole time with Angus and Malcolm Young's riffs.
By Axel, Classic-rock desk · Edited by Cadence ·
Ronald 'Bon' Scott, AC/DC's second and most celebrated lead vocalist, was born July 9, 1946, in Forfar, Scotland, before his family emigrated to Australia in 1952. He joined AC/DC in 1974, replacing original singer Dave Evans, and fronted the band through High Voltage, Highway to Hell, and Powerage. Scott died in London on February 19, 1980, of acute alcohol poisoning; AC/DC recruited Brian Johnson and dedicated that year's Back in Black to Scott's memory.
Forfar to Fremantle
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was born July 9, 1946, in Forfar, Angus, Scotland, and spent his early years in the nearby town of Kirriemuir, per the Australian Dictionary of Biography's entry on Scott. In 1952, when Scott was six, his family emigrated to Australia, settling first in Melbourne for four years before moving to Fremantle, a port suburb of Perth in Western Australia, where Scott spent the rest of his childhood and teenage years.
Long before AC/DC, Scott was already a working musician, just not primarily as a singer. He formed his first band, the Spektors, in 1964 as their drummer, occasionally stepping up to sing. He went on to front the Valentines and then Fraternity through the late 1960s and early 1970s, building the rough, blues-shouter voice that would eventually define one of hard rock's most recognizable frontmen.
Joining AC/DC
Scott joined AC/DC in 1974, replacing the band's original lead singer, Dave Evans, per Wikipedia's account of the lineup change. He was already in his late twenties, older than most of his new bandmates, including guitarists Angus Young and Malcolm Young, whose riffs Scott's swagger and lyrics would sit on top of for the rest of the decade.
The pairing clicked fast. High Voltage (1976), Let There Be Rock (1977), and Powerage (1978) built the band's reputation as a relentless, blues-rooted hard rock outfit, and 1979's Highway to Hell became AC/DC's commercial breakthrough, the first AC/DC album to crack the US Top 20. It would also be Scott's last studio album.
February 19, 1980
Scott was found dead in a friend's parked car in London on February 19, 1980, after a night out at a London club. The coroner's official finding was acute alcohol poisoning, ruled death by misadventure. He was 33 years old.
AC/DC nearly disbanded. Instead, the surviving members recruited English singer Brian Johnson and pushed forward with material the band had already been developing. The result, Back in Black, arrived five months after Scott's death, dedicated to his memory, and went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time. Johnson has fronted AC/DC ever since, with only brief interruptions.
The rhythm section behind the voice
Scott himself wasn't the guitarist, that was always Angus and Malcolm Young's job, but no account of his career holds together without them. Angus Young's own documented rig, a Gibson SG strung with Ernie Ball Super Slinky (.009–.042), per his guitar tech's account in a 2016 Premier Guitar Rig Rundown, is the sound most listeners associate with Scott's voice even today. If you're chasing that light-gauge, bend-friendly hard rock tone yourself, it's a reasonable place to start.
Super Slinky (.009–.042)
Why this one: The documented gauge on Angus Young's Gibson SG throughout the Bon Scott era and after, per Premier Guitar's 2016 Rig Rundown.