AC/DC Nearly Fired Bon Scott After Heroin Overdose, According to Former Bassist
A revealing piece of information has been uncovered in the new book, 'The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC.' In an interview for the book, former AC/DC bassist Mark Evans claims that legendary vocalist Bon Scott was nearly fired from the band after a 1975 heroin overdose, , according to The Australian.
Bon Scott is undoubtedly one of the greatest frontmen of all time, but it's no secret that the icon struggled with addiction leading up to his tragic death at age 33 in 1980. 'The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC,' a new biography focused heavily on guitarists Angus and Malcolm Young. The book was written by author Jesse Fink, who discovered the Bon Scott overdose story while interviewing Mark Evans for the biography.
In 1975, the same year in which AC/DC released the classic 'High Voltage' and 'T.N.T.' albums in Australia, Scott apparently overdosed on heroin, which nearly cost him his job, along with his life. "There were some doubts about Bon at that stage," Evans says. "He'd had a problem or he'd had an OD very early on. It was just a dabble ... Bon just made a bad decision. It was only one bad decision. From what I was led to believe and came to believe, it was a very, very isolated incident."
"There was a moment of madness," Evans says about the prospect of firing Scott. "That's all I can put it down to. There was disquiet. I have to put this into perspective here: in any decision like that I had absolutely f--k-all influence. It was just something that filtered through the band: that things weren't looking good [for Bon]. There was mention of another singer. But it never got to that point."
Of course, AC/DC would get a new singer in 1980 following Scott's death. Brian Johnson joined the band and recorded 'Back in Black' that year, and has since remained the frontman of AC/DC.
'The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC' promises to be near-300 pages of essential AC/DC history. For more information on the book, click here.