AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott passed away unexpectedly on February 19, 1980, leaving the band’s future uncertain. With the encouragement of friends and family, Angus and Malcolm Young began a brief search for a new vocalist, quickly choosing former Geordie frontman Brian Johnson (a singer whom Bon admired). Brian was working on a British Leyland assembly line, roofing cars, when he got the call from the band.
No foolin’: Brian Johnson was announced as AC/DC’s new vocalist on April 1, 1980.
Finding the perfect bell for opening track “Hells Bells” was no easy task. Attempts to record existing church bells resulted in flocks of birds scattering every time a bell was rung. A foundry in Leicestershire created a 2000-pound bronze bell for the band, recorded by a mobile studio owned by Ronnie Lane of The Rolling Stones.
In 1993, Army pilot Michael Durant was located after a crash in Mogadishu, Somalia after search teams played “Hells Bells,” his favorite song, from the rescue aircraft. (The events were later dramatized in the 2001 film Black Hawk Down.)
“Hells Bells” was used as the entrance theme to San Diego Padres pitcher and Baseball Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman from 1998 to 2010. It was one of the first times a rock song accompanied a pitcher as they approached the mound.
Listen closely during the intro to “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution” and you’ll hear Brian Johnson light a cigarette and take a drag off of it before starting his vocal.
The album’s all-black cover was a tribute to Bon Scott. At the insistence of Atlantic Records, their label at the time, the band allowed the text to be bordered in grey
Back In Black is far and away AC/DC’s best-selling album. It has sold a reported total of 50 million copies around the world—only Michael Jackson’s Thriller has sold more.
The song “Back In Black” was included on VH1’s list of the greatest hard rock songs of all time (ranking at No. 2), No. 187 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and No. 29 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
93-9X Celebrates 40 years of Back In Black
