{"id":2034314,"date":"2026-07-09T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2034314"},"modified":"2026-07-09T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T03:00:00","slug":"i-dont-think-he-would-have-changed-bon-scotts-brother-talks-late-ac-dc-legend-on-his-80th-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2034314","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I Don\u2019t Think He Would Have Changed:\u2019 Bon Scott\u2019s Brother Talks Late AC\/DC Legend on His 80th Birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tAs we hit what would have been Bon Scott\u2019s 80th birthday on Thursday, July 9, one has to wonder what the shirtless, gleefully irreverent singer of AC\/DC\u2019s \u201cHighway to Hell,\u201d\u00a0\u201cRock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Damnation\u201d and \u201cDirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap\u201d might be like at that age.<\/p>\n
See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t\u201cIs there such a thing as a wild 80-year-old?\u201d his rarely interviewed younger brother Derek Scott asks Billboard<\/em> via Zoom from Perth, Australia. \u201cI don\u2019t think he would have changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n\tForty-six years after his death on Feb. 19, 1980, from acute alcohol poisoning in London at the age of 33, Scott\u2019s legacy and influence loom large. Born in Scotland and raised in Western Australia, Scott performed in other bands \u2014 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\u2019s Highway to Hell<\/em>, an international breakthrough and AC\/DC\u2019s first top 20 Billboard 200 release in the United States.<\/p>\n
\n\tEven now, on its Power Up<\/em> world tour \u2014 returning to North America on July 11 in Charlotte, N.C. \u2014\u00a0more than half of the current AC\/DC\u2019s set hails from Scott\u2019s era with the band.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhen Bon was asked, \u2018Are you AC or DC?\u2019 his answer was, \u2018I\u2019m the lightning bolt in the middle,\u201d AC\/DC co-founder and guitarist Angus Young says in a special birthday message provided to the Bon Scott Estate. \u201cIn my mind he was, and always will be the lightning bolt in the middle. He gifted us with great rock \u2018n\u2019 roll lyrics delivered in an impish manner, and was determined to show us all, it is a \u2018long way to the top if you wanna rock \u2018n\u2019 roll\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tJudas Priest\u2019s Rob Halford says in his own birthday message that, \u201cBon had a rare gift \u2014 he made people feel alive. His voice carried mischief, grit, humor and honesty\u2026And that authenticity continues to resonate across generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDerek Scott, 77, adds that his brother \u2014 who cared for him when he was younger because both of their parents worked \u2014 \u201cwas totally different to anybody else, even in the band. Those guys (in AC\/DC) will say he was always a little bit different. It was his attitude; he knew where he wanted to go, and he did it. I don\u2019t know how he got there. It was a lot of work\u2026Overnight success always takes a lot of years. It was good to see him get the results he finally wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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\n\t\tHigh Voltage\t<\/h2>\n
\n\tScott\u2019s birthday has become an annual rite of celebration during recent years, and this year\u2019s 80th has an even greater sense of occasion.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Estate, in partnership with Australia\u2019s Sonic Rights Management and New York-based Jacksonic Sound and Vision, is bulking up the Bon Scott YouTube channel with more footage \u2014 including Fraternity performances from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) program GTK<\/em> and new birthday wishes from Young, Halford, Def Leppard\u2019s Joe Elliott, Pearl Jam\u2019s Mike McCready, Anthrax\u2019s Scott Ian and others.<\/p>\n
\n\tMeanwhile, the third annual Bon Scott Birthday Bash concert is taking place July 9 at the Cutting Room in New York City, with guest vocalists including Living Colour\u2019s Corey Glover, American Idol <\/em>finalist Constantine Maroulis, Trixter\u2019s Steve Brown, Peter Shaw of Trans-Siberian Orchestra and others. On the same day the elite German microphone manufacturer Neumann will release a Bon Scott Edition of the mic Scott used while recording at Albert Studios in Sydney, marking the first time the company has branded one of its products.<\/p>\n
\n\tScotland\u2019s annual Bonfest took place during early May in Scott\u2019s early home of Kirriemuir and has already announced its 2027 return next April 30-May 2. And on July 16 the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will honor Scott during an AC\/DC Fan Day that includes artifact displays, film screenings and archival footage, educational presentations and a trivia contest.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe amount of interest that remains with Bon after all this time, it\u2019s staggering,\u201d says Jacksonic founder John Jackson, who previously worked with AC\/DC\u2019s catalog during his tenure with Sony\u2019s Legacy Recordings. \u201cYou reach out to any of these companies and they just immediately want to get on board with doing something with his name and likeness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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\n\t\tProblem Child\t<\/h2>\n
\n\tThe Scott estate wasn\u2019t always quite so dialed-in, however.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe died without a will, and while appropriate financial arrangements were made after his death, other matters were left unattended according to Sonic Rights\u2019 Damian Rinaldi, who\u00a0co-manages the estate with Jackson and the Scott family. \u201cHe was such an icon, and yet there was no business structure around his rights, which was amazing to me,\u201d Rinaldi explains. \u201cThe estate was not in order up until 2020. That\u2019s when I started talking to the family and said I really do feel like they need someone who understands the industry and can help navigate it.\u201d The Scotts were ultimately motivated by \u201cbad actors,\u201d including one company that was posing as the official Scott estate and releasing recordings it claimed featured Scott singing on them.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe family could either get upset about the fact people they didn\u2019t know were ripping off the estate, or they could actually do something about it and help the fans at the same time,\u201d says Rinaldi, who worked with AC\/DC during the \u201870s at the Australian music company J. Albert & Son (now Alberts). \u201cWe were starting from scratch \u2014 what it is you\u2019re trying to identify, the rights and where they sit, who owns the pre-AC\/DC copyrights. It\u2019s come a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDerek Scott notes that, \u201cI think as a family we didn\u2019t want to exploit (Bon) in any way. We didn\u2019t want to be the ones hanging off his coattails all the time\u2026plus, we never had the knowledge of how to go about it for 40-odd years. We didn\u2019t have a clue.\u201d A catalyst, he adds, came when his son Daniel moved back to Perth after living in London and Brazil. (A younger brother, Graham, resides in Asia but has just tacit involvement with the estate.) \u201cMy two older sons weren\u2019t as interested in getting involved, but (Daniel) had a big interest in it, and it was good,\u201d Derek says. \u201cIf he hadn\u2019t come back the way he did, it wouldn\u2019t have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tOne of the estate\u2019s earliest endeavors was the first authorized documentary, On the Brink<\/em>, that aired during 2022 as part of ABC\u2019s Australian Stories<\/em> series. The estate has also partnered with a variety of manufacturers, including Knucklebonz, Funko Pop and Super 7 for figures and statues, and Copa and Dixxon for apparel. Australian artist Reg Mombassa, meanwhile, has created a special Scott image for a variety of products, and it\u2019s also the source for a mural painted by artist Era at the beginning of AC\/DC Lane in Melbourne. Separately, the Perth Mint has pressed commemorative gold and silver bars featuring the Bon Scott logo and bespoke packaging.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cPeople think we\u2019re motivated by money and things like that. Nothing can be further from the truth,\u201d says Daniel Scott, who serves as one of the estate\u2019s officers. \u201cObviously the relationships evolved over time with Damian, who could drag us kicking and screaming into modern times, and then John with the creative side of things. I guess you\u2019d say that after a long period of nothing from the estate, everything is aligned, which is great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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\n\t\tHell Ain\u2019t A Bad Place To Be\t<\/h2>\n
\n\tAll of the parties acknowledge a warm and supportive relationship with the AC\/DC camp. \u201cEverything we do gets run by Angus and the AC\/DC brain trust. That\u2019s a very important relationship,\u201d Jackson says. Daniel Scott adds that, \u201cAngus and Malcolm (Young), when he was alive, have always been extremely welcoming and fantastic over the years, and we have a communication and let them know what they\u2019re up to.\u201d The estate principals add that deference is why we\u2019re unlikely to see a Bon Scott biopic come before a similar project from AC\/DC.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAC\/DC very much take the view that they\u2019re still ongoing, and biopics are probably for those who are looking back after they finished,\u201d Rinaldi notes, to which Daniel Scott adds, \u201cIf AC\/DC\u2019s plans aren\u2019t to do sorting such as that, neither are ours. We\u2019re quite happy with how we\u2019re going at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe warm feelings extend to Brian Johnson, who replaced Bon Scott in 1980. \u201cBrian\u2019s fantastic,\u201d Derek Scott says. \u201cHe\u2019s jovial and fits in. It was very fortunate to have him come on board. He\u2019s done a fantastic job. We\u2019ve always got a lot of time for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRinaldi, meanwhile, observes that, \u201cThe story of Bon wouldn\u2019t be the same if it wasn\u2019t for Brian. Bon took the band up to the point of being huge and we lost him, and then Brian was able to take the baton and take it further. If it wasn\u2019t for Brian we might not still be remembering Bon in the way we do today \u2014 and if it wasn\u2019t for Bon, Brian wouldn\u2019t have had the opportunity to do what he did. There\u2019s massive mutual respect, which is something we foster. We love people loving Bon, but we love Brian as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAs the 80th birthday celebration gets underway, Derek Scott says he still has \u201cmixed\u201d emotions of pride in his brother\u2019s accomplishments and sadness that he\u2019s not around. Ultimately, he says, \u201cit\u2019s still great. It\u2019s always good to hear his music and the old songs. Of course they bring back memories, but things move on. He wasn\u2019t good at sports or school. He put his whole heart into the music and\u2026here we are with it, still listening today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/bon-scott-mural-press-2026-bon-scott-estate-cr-lucinda-goodwin.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard As we hit what would have been Bon Scott\u2019s 80th birthday on Thursday, July 9, one has to wonder what the shirtless, gleefully irreverent singer of AC\/DC\u2019s \u201cHighway to Hell,\u201d\u00a0\u201cRock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Damnation\u201d and \u201cDirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap\u201d might be like at that age. Explore AC\/DC Bon Scott […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2034314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2034314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2034314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2034314\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2034314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2034314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2034314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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