The singer Bon Scott called the ultimate icon of rock and roll
Very few rock and roll frontmen throughout history have ever rivalled the credentials of AC/DC frontman Bon Scott – a man who lived and breathed rock and roll in every fibre of his being, and whose adoration for the hedonistic lifestyle of rock stardom eventually led to his tragic downfall.
According to his bandmates, though, he always maintained one rock icon as his musical polaris.
When AC/DC first emerged from the scorching sun of Sydney back in 1973, they arrived as the harbingers of hard rock revolution, heightening the rebellious nature of rock and roll into a wall of abrasive guitar distortion and wailing solos. They played louder, faster, and more desperately than any other outfit of the time, either in their native Australia or beyond. At their core, though, was the same pool of influences that had influenced the rock and roll realm since its very beginning.
In terms of rock music, all roads inevitably lead back to blues and R&B, particularly the progenitive sounds of black America circa-1950s. Throughout his rise to rockstar status and in the midst of his countless wild antics and spectacular performances, it was these old-school roots that Scott kept coming back to.
As his bandmate Angus Young told Rolling Stone in 2003, “Bon was a great fan of Little Richard, and he always said that for someone singing rock and roll, Little Richard was the icon.”
Scott was not alone in that particular viewpoint, either: Little Richard has always represented the gold standard of rock performance, hailed as a kind of demigod by everybody from Lemmy Kilmister to Jimi Hendrix – the latter of whom even played in Richard’s band for a time, before adopting his psychedelic personality.
Not only did Little Richard’s progenitive energy, flamboyant performance style and legendary output inspire Bon Scott to follow the same avenue of musical inspiration, but it continued to play a key role in the timeline of AC/DC, even after Scott’s untimely passing in February 1980.
When tasked with finding a vocalist to take on the irreplaceable role of their fallen frontman, the rest of the group seemed to look towards Scott’s obsession with Little Richard. “He told us a story about how he’d seen Brian [Johnson] in a club in London really belting out a Little Richard tune,” Young shared. “And he said it always stuck with him. So we thought, ‘Well, we gotta look up that guy first.’ And when we met Brian, he told us, ‘Yeah, I remember that show. I had appendicitis.’”
Johnson’s own raucous performance style aside, it must be noted that he wasn’t the band’s first choice for a replacement, having already contacted the likes of Noddy Holder, Iggy Pop, and Marc Storace before eventually landing on the Geordie Little Richard fan.
Regardless, that common point of connection between Johnson and Scott made him the most fitting person to step into his vacated shoes, ushering in an entirely new age for AC/DC, and one which has seen them continue their rock and roll domination for over 40 years.
