Editing Back in Black (section)

==Background==
[[File:Grenoble79 01.jpg|thumbnail|[[Bon Scott]], the band's former vocalist, in December 1979.]]
Formed in 1973, AC/DC first broke into international markets in 1977 with their fourth album, ''[[Let There Be Rock]]'',<ref name="am">{{cite web|title= AC/DC – Artist Biography |publisher= [[AllMusic]] |access-date= 10 February 2015 |url= http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ac-dc-mn0000574772/biography}}</ref> and by 1979 they were poised for greater success with their sixth studio album, ''[[Highway to Hell]]''. Producer [[Robert John "Mutt" Lange]] helped to make the band's sound more catchy and accessible, and ''Highway to Hell'' became their first gold album in the United States, selling over 500,000 copies, while also peaking at number 17 on that country's pop charts and number eight in the United Kingdom.<ref name="am"/>

As the new decade approached, the group set off for the UK and France for the final leg of the [[Highway to Hell Tour]],{{sfn|Engleheart|Durieux|2008|p=287}} planning to begin recording their next album shortly after playing those dates. On 19 February 1980, vocalist [[Bon Scott]] went on a [[drinking binge]] in a London pub that caused him to lose consciousness, so a friend let him rest in the back of his [[Renault 5]] overnight. The next morning, Scott was found unresponsive and rushed to [[King's College Hospital]], where medical personnel pronounced him [[dead on arrival]]. The [[coroner]] ruled that [[pulmonary aspiration]] of vomit was the cause of Scott's death, but the official cause was listed on the death certificate as "acute [[Alcohol intoxication#Acute alcohol poisoning|alcoholic poisoning]]" and classified as "[[death by misadventure]]". Scott was cremated, and his ashes were inurned by his family at [[Fremantle Cemetery]] in [[Fremantle|Fremantle, Western Australia]].{{sfn|Engleheart|Durieux|2008|p=299}} The loss devastated the band, who considered breaking up, but friends and family (particularly Scott’s) persuaded them to carry on.{{sfn|Engleheart|Durieux|2008|p=297}}

After Scott's funeral on 1 March, the band immediately began auditions for a replacement frontman. At the advice of Lange, they brought in [[Geordie (band)|Geordie]] singer [[Brian Johnson]], who impressed the group.{{sfn|Engleheart|Durieux|2008|p=309}} The band begrudgingly worked through the rest of the list of applicants in the following days, and then brought Johnson back for a second rehearsal.{{sfn|Engleheart|Durieux|2008|p=317–18}} On 29 March, to Johnson's surprise, [[Malcolm Young]] called the singer to offer him the job.{{sfn|Engleheart|Durieux|2008|p=319–20}}