Today marks the 35th anniversary of the death of Ronald Belford Scott.
Bon Scott was found dead in a Renault 5 owned by his friend Alistair Kinnear in the street outside 67 Overhill Road in East Dulwich, South London after a night of heavy drinking.
The official cause of death was “acute alcoholic poisoning” and classified “death by misadventure”.
Bon’s final resting place was Fremantle Cemetery in Western Australia.
AC/DC decided to continue on after Bon’s death and recruited former Geordie singer Brian Johnson. The first album ‘Back In Black’ was released just five months later as a tribute to Bon.
Bon Scott was the second AC/DC singer, replacing original singer Dave Evans who was sacked from the band after just one single (Can I Sit Next to You Girl).
Scott’s first band was The Spektors out of Perth in 1966. He was the drummer and occasional singer.
The Spektors became The Valentines with Scott sharing co-lead duties with Vince Lovegrove. Their song ‘Every Day I Have To Cry’ made the Top 5 in Perth.
After the break-up of The Valentines, Scott moved to Adelaide and joined Fraternity. The Fraternity line-up once also included John Swan (Swanee) and his brother Jimmy Barnes. Scott sang lead on the hit ‘Seasons of Change’.
In October 1974 a new Sydney band with a minor hit ‘Can I Sit Next To You Girl’ decided to dump their singer Dave Evans. Scott got the gig as lead singer of AC/DC and in the following weeks recorded the band’s debut album ‘High Voltage’ which was released 40 years ago this week.
The first hit with Bon Scott was ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ a rock cover of a 1935 blues song.
AC/DC’s final album with Bon Scott was ‘Highway To Hell’.
Bon’s final show with AC/DC was January 27, 1980 at the Gaurmont Theatre, Southampton, UK.
Bon Scott’s final concert setlist
Live Wire (from TNT, 1975)
Shot Down In Flames (from Highway To Hell, 1979)
Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be (from Let There Be Rock, 1977)
Sin City (from Powerage, 1978)
Walk All Over You (from Highway To Hell, 1979)
Bad Boy Boogie (from Let There Be Rock, 1977)
The Jack (from TNT, 1975)
Highway To Hell (from Highway To Hell, 1979)
Problem Child (from Dirty Deeds, 1976)
Girls Got Rhythm (from Highway To Hell, 1979)
High Voltage (from TNT, 1975)
Whole Lotta Rosie (from Let There Be Rock, 1977)
Rocker (from TNT, 1975)
TNT (from TNT, 1975)
Let There Be Rock (from Let There Be Rock, 1977)
Bon Scott recorded six studio albums and one live album with AC/DC
Bon Scott AC/DC catalogue
High Voltage (1975)
TNT (1975)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap (1976)
Let There Be Rock (1977)
Powerage (1978)
If You Want Blood (1978)
Highway To Hell (1979)
The final 24 hours in Bon’s life:
On Tuesday, February 19, Bon Scott went to tour manager Ian Jeffrey’s house
for dinner, leaving at about 6.30 pm to go to the Music Machine in London.
When the club closed up its bar at 3 am, Bon left with an old friend,
Alisdair Kinnear. Kinnear drove Bon back to his flat at Ashley Court but
upon arrival, he couldn’t move Bon. He was then left with the one
alternative of driving Bon back to his own pad in Dulwich. On arriving home,
however, he still couldn’t wake Bon. He tried to lift him out of the car,
but was unable to. He eventually decided to leave him in the car for the
night and went to bed.
Kinnear awoke early in the evening on the 20th, checked on Bon, and found
him unconscious in the car. He rushed him to King’s College Hospital, but
by then it was too late to save Bon’s life. Bon was pronounced dead on
arrival at the hospital. The autopsy was held on Friday, February 22. The
verdict was ‘Death by Misadventure – Acute Alcoholic Poisoning’. The coroner
reported that Bon’s stomach had been found to contain the equivalent of half
a bottle of whiskey at the moment of death. Sometime during the night Bon,
who had been lying in an awkward position with his neck twisted, had vomited
and choked to death.
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