‘Back in Black’: The AC/DC anthem that sealed Bon Scott’s immortality
Too many rock stars have died too early. Bon Scott was one of these rock stars to whom we had to say goodbye before it was his time. The man was the personification of hard rock, who lived the life as well as added to it. This meant that he had an unhealthy lifestyle that was overshadowed by drink and drugs. This is, unfortunately, nothing new as, too often, because of the substances embedded within the foundation of rock, people who take part in the genre become addicted and damage their health.
In February 1980, Bon Scott passed away as a result of acute alcohol poisoning. It shook the world by storm as AC/DC had well and truly cemented themselves as one of the best hard rock bands of all time, and as they were at their peak, Scott, who was such a driving factor behind that success, passed away.
Once the band had mourned, they were left with the tricky situation of whether they should continue making music or not. They decided to keep going with AC/DC but then had the tricky job of replacing Bon Scott, somebody who couldn’t be replaced because of his energy and impactful voice. They decided to get someone with their own style rather than just someone who sounded like Scott. It marked a turning point for AC/DC.
Brian Johnson took up singing duties. The band became aware of Johnson because of Bon Scott, who had told everyone how good a rock and roll singer he was while still alive. “I remember the first time I had ever heard Brian’s name was from Bon,” recalled Angus Young.
He continued: “Bon had mentioned that he had been in England once touring with a band, and he had mentioned that Brian had been in a band called Geordie, and Bon had said ‘Brian Johnson, he was a great rock and roll singer in the style of Little Richard’. And that was Bon’s big idol, Little Richard.”
When they started making music together for the first time after Scott’s death, they wanted to make an album that welcomed this new era of the band and paid homage to Bon Scott. This came in the form of the album Back In Black, which had a completely black cover to mourn Scott. In creating the titular song, however, rather than just being mournful, the band announced his immortality. The entire track is a testament to the former singer, saying that while he might be physically dead, spiritually, he will never die as he will always exist within the music of AC/DC.
This can clearly be seen in lines such as “Forget the hearse cos I’ll never die” and Johnson’s reference to having “Nine lives”. The new singer said he was nervous when writing the lyrics for the song as they were some of the first he wrote for the band, but in conveying this message in a rock-heavy way, he nailed it.
Funnily enough, Johnson admitted that he simply wrote, “Whatever came into my head,” and in the process, absolutely nailed making a song that mourned Scott but wasn’t sad in doing so. The perfect reflection.
