Bon Scott

Best remembered as the original frontman of the legendary hard rock band <a href="spotify:artist:711MCceyCBcFnzjGY4Q7Un">AC/DC</a>, singer Bon Scott was born Ronald Belford Scott in Kirriemuir, Scotland on July 9, 1946. As a child he began performing in his father's pipe band, and following the family's relocation to Australia in 1952 he quit school at age 15, later playing in a local rock outfit called the Spektors. By 1967, Scott had joined the Melbourne-based group <a href="spotify:artist:6gO9O0Iss2ipZuskVnmA9a">the Valentines</a>, making his recorded debut with the single "Everyday I Have to Cry"; the band soon emerged as one of the most popular on the Aussie circuit, in mid-1969 issuing an EP, My Old Man's a Groovy Old Man. A drug bust destroyed <a href="spotify:artist:6gO9O0Iss2ipZuskVnmA9a">the Valentines</a>' public image, however, and after cracking the national Top 30 with their 1970 single "Juliette," the band dissolved; Scott soon joined the Sydney blues-rock unit <a href="spotify:artist:5ni5xInnnn7IRxv2rjM91W">Fraternity</a>, issuing the LP Livestock in 1971. Flaming Galah followed a year later; in 1973, however, Scott was involved in a motorcycle accident which left him comatose for several months, during which time <a href="spotify:artist:5ni5xInnnn7IRxv2rjM91W">Fraternity</a> disbanded. After recovering, he worked a series of odd jobs before recording a demo as a member of the short-lived Mount Lofty Rangers; finally, in 1974, Scott joined <a href="spotify:artist:711MCceyCBcFnzjGY4Q7Un">AC/DC</a>, recording the group's debut LP High Voltage a year later. <a href="spotify:artist:711MCceyCBcFnzjGY4Q7Un">AC/DC</a>'s ascent to international stardom culminated in 1979 when their LP Highway to Hell reached the U.S. Top 20; however, on February 19, 1980 Scott died in the wake of an all-night drinking binge, with the surviving members of the band tapping new vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:0TJOVQKoS7sbGVn8RkkvPI">Brian Johnson</a> to record the classic Back in Black just a few months later. The 1997 <a href="spotify:artist:711MCceyCBcFnzjGY4Q7Un">AC/DC</a> box set, Bonfire, celebrated Scott's contributions to their legacy. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi