Legendary AC/DC frontman Bon Scott died in 1980, and the band recruited Brian Johnson as his successor. Their next album, “Back In Black,” went on to become one of the biggest selling records of any genre.
For years, rumors have persisted that Scott wrote some of the lyrics for the record. Author Jesse Fink explored the validity of these claims in his book, “Bon: The Last Highway.”
Fink’s research led him to Miami and to the home of Holly X — a part-time girlfriend and confidante of Scott. Fink strongly believes Holly could have been Bon’s muse for AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long,” a track credited to Angus and Malcolm Young, as well as Johnson.
“She had the sightless eyes … working double time on the seduction line,” Johnson sings. “When Holly told me her horse was called ‘Doubletime,’” Fink explained previously to Web Is Jericho. “What the f—? I was just stunned.”
Holly later took Fink to the Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort in Miami and showed him an area by the pool where Bon told her she had chartreuse eyes. “According to Holly, the lyric was originally ‘chartreuse eyes,’” Fink said.
Another of Scott’s ex-girlfriends, Silver Smith, said she saw lines from the same song in one of Scott’s letters in 1976, and that on the night of his death, Scott had just finished lyrics for not just the record’s biggest hit song but the entire album. “I went into writing (‘Bon: The Last Highway’) certainly with a suspicion and a hunch that Bon had been involved (in ‘Back in Black’)”, Fink said. “But Holly’s story in particular, and Silver’s revelation about the lyrics to ‘You Shook Me All Night Long,’ those were game-changers and should be for anyone who is interested in the story of the ‘Back in Black’ album. I think Bon deserves the credit and acknowledgement that’s been a long time coming.”
Johnson is set to release his autobiography later this month, “The Lives of Brian.” A page from presumably an advance edition of the book contains a photo of Brian’s handwritten response to these rumors.
“Let’s put some ‘Back in Black’ rumors to bed, shall we?” Johnson wrote. “The conspiracy theorists are legion. The truth is it was me at the end of the pen writing on a legal pad, with nothing more than a title given by Malcolm and Angus. That’s what happened, that’s the truth, now live with it.”
The synopsis for “The Lives of Brian” reads: “Brian Johnson’s memoir from growing up in a small town to starting his own band to ultimately replacing Bon Scott, the lead singer of one of the world biggest rock acts, AC/DC. They would record their first album together, the iconic Back in Black, which would become the biggest selling rock album of all time.”
“Brian Johnson was born to a steelworker and WWII veteran father and an Italian mother, growing up in New Castle Upon Tyne, England, a working-class town. He was musically inclined and sang with the church choir. By the early ’70s he performed with the glam rock band Geordie, and they had a couple hits, but it was tough going. So tough that by 1976, they disbanded and Brian turned to a blue-collar life.”
“Then 1980 changed everything. Bon Scott, the lead singer and lyricist of the Australian rock band AC/DC died at 33. The band auditioned singers, among them Johnson, whom Scott himself had seen perform and raved about. Within days, Johnson was in a studio with the band, working with founding members Angus and Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams, and Phil Rudd, along with producer Mutt Lange.”
“When the album, Back in Black, was released in July—a mere three months after Johnson had joined the band—it exploded, going on to sell 50 million copies worldwide, and triggering a years-long worldwide tour. It has been declared ‘the biggest selling hard rock album ever made’ and ‘the best-selling heavy-metal album in history.’”
“The band toured the world for a full year to support the album, changing the face of rock music—and Brian Johnson’s life—forever.”
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