“Changed my world”: The artist who blew Brian Johnson’s mind
AC/DC must have been shaken to the core when Bon Scott passed away. Not only was he a great friend to all of the band, but he also had one of the most powerful and unique voices in rock. Following the release of records such as High Voltage and Let There Be Rock, AC/DC had worked out that they were going to persist in making good guitar music, and with Bon Scott, they had the perfect voice to back that sound up. Then, one day, he was gone.
While the band certainly mourned the loss of their friend, they also didn’t waste time sitting around and asking, “Why us?” Of course, that’s not what Scott would have wanted; he would have wanted them to continue making the best possible music imaginable, and that’s what they strove to do. Additionally, the band always used music as a form of escapism, so it made sense that they turned to it during these dark times.
After he died, they started working on what would become the Back in Black album, a record which both mourned their fallen singer and ushered in a new chapter for the band. But who was going to follow Scott on vocals? They were big shoes to fill, and anybody they looked for who was comparable to Scott would surely fall flat. The solution: Don’t look for anybody comparable to Scott.
The band instead got Brian Johnson onboard, someone whose vocal style was completely different from Scott’s. Johnson’s vocals were gritty, not as technically good but laced with the kind of attitude that suits rock ‘n’ roll to a tee. He was perfect for the turning point of an album and has been a pivotal member of the band ever since. He blew people’s minds the moment those initial screeching vocals kicked in, and he has continued to blow minds ever since.
Johnson knows a thing or two about the importance of delivering music that people aren’t used to or have heard before. Growing up, he immersed himself in rock music, constantly looking for the best new things that were elevating the genre. You could say that it was these boundary-pushing artists who helped him lean into his unique-sounding voice more, as he understood that rock music was all about stepping outside the realm of convention. He listened to plenty of artists that inspired him, but one which really stood out was Jimi Hendrix.
We talk about pushing boundaries in music; nobody was doing it more than Hendrix. He would write underrated poetry for his lyrics, play guitar like a man possessed and perform on stage as if he were a wild animal. This energy would seep into his studio albums, and it means every record of his sounds like you’re hearing a different branch of music for the first time. This is what happened when Johnson first listened to the Are You Experienced? album, which he admitted, “changed my world”.
He also said during an interview with Sting how much of a mind-blowing artist Hendrix was and that he had an influence on both of them: “There was one musician who blew both our minds, back in Newcastle when we were young, and that was Jimi Hendrix.”
