In a video uploaded by the official Bon Scott YouTube frontman Sammy Hagar shares his personal memories of legendary AC/DC singer Bon Scott and his general praise for AC/DC.
Hagar said (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net), “I heard AC/DC on the radio before I ever knew any of the guys, and I just remember hearing Problem Child….I just loved that song. I just thought it was just the coolest song. It was just so edgy and just the way he sang. I became an AC/DC fan instantly.”
Recalling his first time seeing the band perform, Hagar said, “I just left a band called Montrose, which was this early ’70s metal, hard rock band. And when I went solo, [Montrose leader] Ronnie Montrose went and did an instrumental thing…and AC/DC opened up for him in our hometown of San Jose, California. And I went to see AC/DC…and they killed it. I’m just going, ‘Oh, my God.'”
He continued, “I went to see AC/DC, and, of course, I was talking to Ronnie, but Angus [Young, AC/DC guitarist] got on Bon‘s back, and he went through the audience. I mean, they just ruined it [for Ronnie]. It was a small place, about 2,000 people, and Ronnie was getting ready to go on. I said, ‘Ronnie, you want me to come out and sing Bad Motor Scooter or Rock Candy or something with you? ‘Cause, dude, you’re gonna have a hard time.’ And he just… It was horrible. I had to leave in the middle of his show. It was embarrassing.”
“AC/DC did that to everyone,” Hagar added. “Anytime they opened for someone, you were in trouble. Later on in Van Halen, when everybody had already made it in big time, we used to get offered festivals with AC/DC, and they did it one time before I was in the band in Europe. And we always said, ‘No, no, no. We don’t even wanna be on a show with AC/DC. I’ll pay money to go see AC/DC, but we don’t wanna be before them. We don’t wanna be after them.'”
Speaking about Scott‘s abilities as a vocalist, Hagar stated, “I was a Bon Scott fan. I mean, when I first heard his voice, like I said, as a singer, I’m going, ‘This guy’s cool. I like the way he sings. He’s giving it all.’ He was always on the edge of his voice cracking. It was just ready, just one more step, and he would lose it. It’s like a car driving on the edge in a race and just almost losing it in every turn, and that’s how you win a race. So, I really liked that about him.”
Drawing parallels between himself and AC/DC‘s current singer Brian Johnson, who replaced Scott in 1980 after the singer’s untimely passing, the vocalist said, “You can’t mention AC/DC without talking about Brian. Like who I am, the second singer in Van Halen, the same kind of thing. There’s always that stigma. And Brian was great. Brian, he pulled it off, the same way I pulled it off in Van Halen. Some people can pull it off in that thing. But you ask anyone, they’re gonna say, ‘Well, if Bon wouldn’t have died…’ He checked out too early, because he was AC/DC, man. That early stuff is just so badass. It’s just so relentless. It’s so just in the pocket, and he’s just screaming his guts out, screaming his lungs out over the top of that. That is rock and roll.”
As for his favorite AC/DC album, the Red Rocker decalred, “Highway To Hell was just… You gotta say it was their greatest record. I don’t care who you are. You must know that that is a masterpiece of rock and roll. Highway To Hell, there’s just no better fricking rock and roll song on the planet. That might be one of the greatest songs, greatest rock and roll songs, ever written — lyrically, musically, everything. That’s what was so good about [Scott]. I mean, his lyrics fit so good with that music, because that music is rude and nasty and just relentless, and the lyrics have edge.”
Back in April 2020, in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Sammy Hagar and his CIRCLE bandmates Michael Anthony, Jason Bonham and Vic Johnson teamed up via the Internet to record a cover of AC/DC‘s Bon Scott-era classic Whole Lotta Rosie. Check out video of the performance below.
Ronald Belford “Bon” Scott was born in Forfar, Scotland on July 9, 1946. He spent his childhood in nearby Kirriemuir, Scotland where the Scott family had a bakery, until 1952 when the family emigrated to Australia. Bon‘s earliest music experience was in the Fremantle Pipe Band, playing the drums. In primary school he adopted the nickname “Bon” as a reference to Bonnie Scotland, and also because there was another Ronald in the class. His first band The Spektors, later The Valentines, played mostly popular cover songs of the day with Scott sharing vocal duties with Vince Lovegrove. After The Valentines disbanded, Scott joined Fraternity, a progressive-rock band that won Go-Set magazine’s “Next Big Band” award, appeared on national TV and toured the U.K., eventually sharing a 1973 bill with Geordie, featuring Brian Johnson.
After leaving Fraternity and suffering some personal setbacks, Scott was hired as the singer in up-and-coming Sydney band AC/DC. He immediately injected the swagger, voice and lyrics that the band was searching for and history was made over the course of six years and six studio albums (1974-1979). On February 19, 1980, Scott was found dead in a car outside of his home in London.
In 2003, he was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as a member of AC/DC and in 2004 Classic Rock magazine named Bon the number one frontman of all time, beating out fellow luminaries like Freddie Mercury, Mick Jagger and Robert Plant.
Several landmarks have been established in the 21st century to honor Scott‘s music and legacy, including statues in Kirriemuir, Scotland and Fremantle, Western Australia, that are natural gathering spots for fans to pay their respects.
One Response
In my opinion, I find it impossible for anyone, of any age, not to love AC/DC.