As we hit what would have been Bon Scott’s 80th birthday on Thursday, July 9, one has to wonder what the shirtless, gleefully irreverent singer of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll Damnation” and “Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap” might be like at that age.
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“Is there such a thing as a wild 80-year-old?” his rarely interviewed younger brother Derek Scott asks Billboard via Zoom from Perth, Australia. “I don’t think he would have changed.”
Forty-six years after his death on Feb. 19, 1980, from acute alcohol poisoning in London at the age of 33, Scott’s legacy and influence loom large. Born in Scotland and raised in Western Australia, Scott performed in other bands — most notably the Valentines and Fraternity before joining AC/DC as its second singer, replacing Dave Evans during the fall of 1974. He recorded six studio albums with the group, with his last, 1979’s Highway to Hell, an international breakthrough and AC/DC’s first top 20 Billboard 200 release in the United States.
