Editing Bon Scott (section)

==Biography==

=== 1946–1964: early years ===
Ronald Belford Scott was born on 9 July 1946 at Fyfe Jamieson Maternity Hospital in [[Forfar]], Scotland, to Charles Belford "Chick" Scott (1917–1999) and Isabelle Cunningham "Isa" Mitchell (1917–2011). He grew up in [[Kirriemuir]] and was the Scotts' second child; their first was a boy born in 1943, Sandy, who died shortly after birth.<ref name="hell_aint"/> A third child, Derek, was born in 1949.<ref name="hell_aint"/> Chick and Isa ran the family bakery in Kirriemuir's Bank Street.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/past-times/1294129/forget-the-hearse-cause-ill-never-die-bon-scotts-death-rocks-kirriemuir-40-years-on/|title="Forget the hearse, cause I'll never die": Bon Scott's death rocks Kirriemuir 40 years on|first=Gayle|last=Ritchie|date=May 2020 }}</ref> The family emigrated from Scotland to Australia in 1952.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/acdc-back-plan-bon-scott-statue-kirriemuir-1575162|title=AC/DC back plan for Bon Scott statue in Kirriemuir|website=www.scotsman.com|date=15 May 2013 }}</ref>

The Scotts lived in the Melbourne suburb of [[Sunshine, Victoria]], and Scott attended nearby Sunshine Primary School.<ref name="hell_aint"/> The nickname "Bon" was acquired shortly after starting school; because there was another Ronald in the class, his classmates played on the phrase "Bonnie Scotland".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Staff|first=Legacy|date=19 February 2012|title=Bon Scott: Bonnie Prince of Hard Rock|url=https://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/bon-scott-bonnie-prince-of-hard-rock/|access-date=26 March 2021|website=Legacy.com|language=en-US}}</ref> A fourth child, Graeme, was born in 1953.<ref name="hell_aint"/>

In 1956, the family moved to [[Fremantle]], Western Australia. Scott joined the associated Fremantle Scots [[Pipe Band]], learning the drums.<ref name="hell_aint"/> He attended North Fremantle Primary School and later [[John Curtin College of the Arts]] until he dropped out at the age of 15. He subsequently worked as a farmhand and a crayfisherman, and was later a trainee weighing-machine mechanic.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Browne |first=Geoff |title=Cultural Advice |chapter=Scott, Ronald Belford (Bon) (1946–1980) |chapter-url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/scott-ronald-belford-bon-27533 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref> In 1963 he spent a short time in [[Fremantle Prison]]'s assessment centre and nine months at the Riverbank Juvenile Institution, relating to charges of giving a false name and address to the police, having escaped legal custody, having unlawful [[carnal knowledge]], and stealing {{convert|12|impgal|L}} of petrol.<ref name="hell_aint"/> He attempted to join the [[Australian Army]], but was rejected and deemed "socially maladjusted".{{sfn|Walker|1994|p=39}}

===1964–1970: The Spektors and The Valentines===
Scott's vocals were inspired by his idol, [[Little Richard]].<ref>{{cite web |author=bravewords.com |url=http://www.bravewords.com/news/132727 |title=AC/DC Guitarist Angus Young Remembers Bon Scott – "When I Think Back In Hindsight, He Was A Guy That I Always Knew Was Full Of Life" |publisher=Bravewords.com |access-date=16 September 2012 |archive-date=8 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708091937/http://www.bravewords.com/news/132727 |url-status=dead }}</ref> After working as a postman,<ref name="bonscott.com.au">{{cite web|url=http://www.bonscott.com.au/bonsstory.htm|title=Bon's story|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919082626/http://www.bonscott.com.au/bonsstory.htm|archive-date=19 September 2016}}</ref> bartender<ref name="bonscott.com.au"/> and truck packer,<ref name="bonscott.com.au"/> Scott started his first band, [[The Spektors]], in 1964 as drummer and occasional lead singer.{{sfn|Walker|1994|p=32}} In 1966, they merged with another local band, the Winstons, and formed [[The Valentines (rock band)|The Valentines]], in which Scott was co-lead singer with [[Vince Lovegrove]].<ref name="bonscott.com.au"/> The Valentines recorded several songs written by [[George Young (rock musician)|George Young]] of [[The Easybeats]]. "[[Every Day I Have to Cry (song)|Every Day I Have to Cry]]" (a song originally written and sung by [[Arthur Alexander]]) made the local [[record chart]].<ref name="hell_aint"/> In 1970, after gaining a place on the [[ARIA Charts|National Top 30]] with their single "Juliette", The Valentines disbanded due to artistic differences after a much-publicised drug scandal.<ref name="amg">{{cite web | url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p36405/biography | pure_url=yes}} | last = Ankeny |first = Jason | title = Bon Scott Biography |publisher=Allmusic |access-date =7 August 2008}}</ref>

===1970–1973: Fraternity and The Mount Lofty Rangers===
Scott moved to [[Adelaide]] in 1970 and joined the [[progressive rock]] group [[Fraternity (band)|Fraternity]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Organisation |first=Grape |title=Bon Scott |url=https://fraternitybandofficial.com.au/bon-scott/ |access-date=2 July 2022 |website=Fraternity |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref name="bonscott.com.au"/> Fraternity released the [[Gramophone record|LP]]s ''[[Livestock (Fraternity album)|Livestock]]'' and ''[[Flaming Galah]]'' before touring the UK in 1973, where they changed their name to Fang. During this time they played support slots for [[Status Quo (band)|Status Quo]] and [[Geordie (band)|Geordie]], whose front man [[Brian Johnson]] would eventually succeed Scott as the lead singer of AC/DC after his death.<ref name="hell_aint"/> During this time, on 24 January 1972, Scott married Irene Thornton.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bonscott.com.au/bon/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130403204308/http://www.bonscott.com.au/bon/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 April 2013|title=Bon's Story|publisher=Bon Scott fans|access-date=20 July 2014}}</ref>

In 1973, just after returning to Australia from the tour of the UK, Fraternity went on hiatus. Scott took a day job at the Wallaroo fertiliser plant and began singing with The Mount Lofty Rangers, a loose collective of musicians helmed by [[Peter Head]] (né Beagley) from [[Headband (band)|Headband]], who explained, "Headband and Fraternity were in the same management stable and we both split about the same time so the logical thing was to take members from both bands and create a new one&nbsp;... the purpose of the band was for songwriters to relate to each other and experiment with songs, so it was a hotbed of creativity".<ref>Smith, Michael 'A Little Bit Of Head Music' Drum Media, 28 January 1997</ref> Other ex-Fraternity members also played with the band as did [[Glenn Shorrock]] pre [[Little River Band]]. During this time, Head also helped Scott with his original compositions.

Vince Lovegrove said, "Bon would go to Peter's home after a day of (literally) shovelling shit, and show him musical ideas he had had during his day's work. Bon's knowledge of the guitar was limited, so Peter began teaching him how to bridge chords and construct a song. One of the songs from these sessions was a ballad called 'Clarissa', about a local Adelaide girl. Another was the country-tinged 'Bin Up in the Hills Too Long', which for me was a sign of things to come with Bon's lyrics; simple, clever, sardonic, tongue-in-cheek&nbsp;..."<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,,24677235-5006343,00.html|title=AC/DC's Vince Lovegrove recalls how he took on Bon Scott|last=Lovegrove|first=Vincent|date=22 November 2008|website=Adelaide Now|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205112025/http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0%2C%2C24677235-5006343%2C00.html|archive-date=5 December 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In return, Scott recorded vocals for Mount Lofty Rangers songs "Round & Round" and "Carey Gully".<ref>Coupe, Stuart, Bon Comes Round Again. In Press Magazine, 16 October 1996</ref> Head released these original recordings in 1996, also teaming up with producer Ted Yanni, another old friend of Scott's, to create an entirely new backing for ''[[Peter Head#Bon Scott and 'Round and Round and Round' EP|Round & Round & Round]]'' that more accurately reflected the original intentions Head had. Long out of print, and massively bootlegged, this EP finally got an official digital release in June 2010. Unrecorded original compositions of Scott's, "Been Up in the Hills Too Long" and "Clarissa" have been recorded by Head on his Peter Head & the Mount Lofty Rangers ''Lofty'' album, also released in digital format only in 2011.

About 11&nbsp;pm on 3 May 1974, at the [[Old Lion Hotel]] in [[North Adelaide]], during a rehearsal with the Mount Lofty Rangers, a very drunk, distressed and belligerent Scott had a raging argument with a member of the band. Scott stormed out of the venue, threw a bottle of [[Jack Daniel's]] to the ground, then sped off on his [[Suzuki GT550]] motorbike.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Scott suffered serious injuries from the ensuing motorcycle accident, spending three days in a coma and a further 18 days in hospital. During his recovery Vince Lovegrove and his wife gave Scott odd jobs, such as putting up posters and painting the office for their nascent booking/management agency. Shortly afterward, Lovegrove introduced him to AC/DC, who had been on the lookout for a new lead singer.<ref name="amg"/>

"There was a young, dinky little glam band from Sydney that we both loved called AC/DC&nbsp;... Before another AC/DC visit, George Young phoned me and said the band was looking for a new singer. I immediately told him that the best guy for the job was Bon. George responded by saying Bon's accident would not allow him to perform, and that maybe he was too old (9 years older than Angus at the time). Nevertheless, I had a meeting with Malcolm and Angus, and suggested Bon as their new singer. They asked me to bring him out to the Pooraka Hotel that night, and to come backstage after the show. When he watched the band, Bon was impressed, and he immediately wanted to join them, but thought they may be a bit too inexperienced and too young. After the show, backstage, Bon expressed his doubts about them being "able to rock". The two Young brothers told Bon he was "too old to rock". The upshot was that they had a jam session that night in the home of Bon's former mentor, Bruce Howe, and at the end of the session, at dawn, it was obvious that AC/DC had found a new singer. And Bon had found a new band."<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Fraternity later reformed and replaced Scott with [[Jimmy Barnes]].

===1974–1980: AC/DC===
{{Main|AC/DC#Bon Scott era (1974–1980)}}
[[File:ACDC-Hughes-long ago.jpg|thumb|Bon Scott (centre), performing with AC/DC at the [[Ulster Hall]] in 1979]]
Scott's wife, Irene Thornton, later wrote, "The first time Bon saw AC/DC was in August 1974. They came through Adelaide with the [[Lou Reed]] and [[Stevie Wright]] tour, and played their own show at the Pooraka Hotel{{nbsp}}... The first time I saw AC/DC was at the Pooraka Hotel in September. 'Get up there, Bon,' Vince kept saying. The band didn't have a singer that night; they were playing instrumental versions of old rock 'n' roll standards. The boys ripped through all these classic numbers and then finally, with enough pressure from Vince, Bon climbed onto the stage. I didn't realise that AC/DC had just sacked Dave Evans and they wanted Bon to replace him. Like Bon, the Youngs were Scottish, so there was an instant bond."<ref name=marriage>{{Cite web|url=https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/lifestyle/sa-weekend/my-marriage-to-acdc-frontman-bon-scott-and-why-we-split-by-irene-thornton/news-story/c0bab9ac2132231ebfb4cd07495fe161|title="My marriage to AC/DC frontman Bon Scott and why we split, by Irene Thornton" adelaidenow.com.au 20 September 2014|work=adelaidenow }}</ref>

Scott replaced Dave Evans as the lead singer of AC/DC on 24 October 1974,<ref name="bonscott.com.au"/> when it became obvious the band and Evans were heading in different directions, with Evans having personal clashes with band members and management.{{sfn|Stenning|2005|p=34}} Scott's appointment coincided with him working as a chauffeur for the band at the time until an audition promoted him to lead singer.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRT4AqM4f-Y&t=21ss |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/CRT4AqM4f-Y| archive-date=12 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Bon Scott Interview Paris 1979 |website=YouTube |date=16 June 2015 |access-date=20 November 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

With the Young brothers as lead and rhythm guitarists, session drummer [[Tony Currenti]] (see [[AC/DC line-ups]]) and George Young as a temporary bassist, AC/DC released ''[[High Voltage (1975 album)|High Voltage]]'', their first LP in Australia, in February 1975.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.acdc.com/us/music/high-voltage-0 |title=High Voltage |publisher=acdc.com |access-date=27 February 2014 |archive-date=8 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208160609/http://www.acdc.com/us/music/high-voltage-0 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Within a few months Currenti was replaced by [[Phil Rudd]] and [[Mark Evans (musician)|Mark Evans]] was hired as a permanent bassist, and AC/DC began recording their second album ''[[T.N.T. (album)|T.N.T.]]'', which was released in Australia in December 1975. The first AC/DC album to gain international distribution however was a compilation of tracks from the first two albums, also titled ''[[High Voltage (1976 album)|High Voltage]]'', which was released in May 1976. Another studio album, ''[[Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap]]'', was released in September of the same year, but only in Australia; the international version of the album was released in December with a different track listing. The album was not released in the US until March 1981.

In the following years, AC/DC gained further success with their albums ''[[Let There Be Rock]]'' and ''[[Powerage]]''. The 1978 release of ''Powerage'' marked the debut of bassist [[Cliff Williams]] (who had replaced Mark Evans), and with its harder [[riffs]], followed the blueprint set by ''Let There Be Rock''. Only one single was released from ''Powerage''—"[[Rock 'n' Roll Damnation]]"—which gave AC/DC their highest chart position at the time, reaching #24. An appearance at [[The Apollo, Glasgow]], during the ''Powerage'' tour was recorded and released as ''[[If You Want Blood You've Got It]]''.<ref name="popmatters">{{cite web |url = http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/a/acdc-reissues2.shtml |title = Epic Records AC/DC Re-issues: Second Wave |access-date =7 August 2008 |last = Christopher |first = Michael |date = 30 June 2003 |website=[[PopMatters]] }}</ref>

The band's sixth album, ''[[Highway to Hell]]'', was produced by [[Robert John "Mutt" Lange]] and was released in 1979. It became AC/DC's first LP to break the US top 100, eventually reaching #17, and it propelled AC/DC into the top ranks of hard-rock acts.<ref name="timeline">{{cite web |url = http://www.acdcrocks.com/us/music/releases/albums/highway_to_hell/ |title = Timeline |website = AC/DC official website |access-date = 7 May 2010 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090326004533/http://www.acdcrocks.com/us/music/releases/albums/highway_to_hell/ |archive-date = 26 March 2009 |df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="Bonfire">{{cite book |first = Murray |last = Engleheart |title = AC/DC: Bonfire |publisher=Eastwest Records America |location=New York |year=1997 |oclc=38208634}}</ref>

On 9 February 1980, AC/DC appeared on ''Aplauso TV'' (Spain) where they played "Beating Around the Bush", "[[Girls Got Rhythm]]", and "[[Highway to Hell (song)|Highway to Hell]]"; this would be Bon Scott's last appearance with AC/DC before his death.<ref>{{Citation |title=Tesoros de la tele – Aplauso |date=29 March 2023 |url=https://www.rtve.es/play/videos/tesoros-de-la-tele/aplauso/6841473/ |access-date=14 May 2023 |at=min. 34:00 |language=es}}</ref>