On this day, February 19, 1980, AC/DC's Bon Scott died.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Bon Scott


Scott performing with AC/DC in December 1979

Background information
Birth name: Ronald Belford Scott
Born: 9 July 1946; Forfar, Angus, Scotland
Died: 19 February 1980 (aged 33); East Dulwich, London, England
Website: bonscottofficial.com

Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980.

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Death


Bon Scott's grave


67 Overhill Road, East Dulwich, London, the site of Bon Scott's death

On 15 February 1980, Scott attended a session where Malcolm and Angus Young were working on the beginnings of two songs that would later be recorded on the Back in Black album: "Have a Drink On Me" and "Let Me Put My Love Into You", with Scott accompanying on drums rather than singing or writing lyrics. Young has also claimed Scott played drums on "Hells Bells" while AC/DC drummer Simon Wright has claimed Angus Young played him a demo of Scott playing drums on "Back in Black".

Days earlier, Scott had gone with Mick Cocks to visit their friends the French group Trust in the Scorpio Sound studio in London, where they recorded the album Répression; Scott was working on the English adaptation of texts by Bernie Bonvoisin for the English version of the album. During this visit, the musicians did a jam session of "Ride On". This improvised session was Scott's last recording.

Sometime during the late evening of 18 February and early morning of 19 February 1980, Scott passed out and died at the age of 33. He had just visited a London club called the Music Machine (currently known as KOKO). He was allegedly left to sleep in a Renault 5 owned by his friend Alistair Kinnear, at 67 Overhill Road in East Dulwich. Later that day, Kinnear found Scott unconscious and alerted the authorities. Scott was taken to King's College Hospital in Camberwell, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The official report of the coroner concluded that Scott had died of "acute alcohol poisoning" and classified it as "death by misadventure".

The chronology of events on 19 February, Kinnear's account of what happened, and when exactly Scott was found dead has been challenged by Jesse Fink's 2017 book Bon: The Last Highway, which quotes the late UFO guitarist Paul Chapman as having been informed early that morning by Scott's friend Joe Fury that Scott was dead. Kinnear said he found Scott in the evening. Chapman claims Scott and Fury were with him the previous evening of 18 February and that Scott left his apartment to buy heroin, never to return. In February 2023, in a post on Facebook, AC/DC photographer Robert Ellis confirmed Chapman's account of being informed of Scott's death on the morning of 19 February 1980 – supporting Fink's narrative.

Fink's book also claims Scott and Kinnear were not alone in East Dulwich but with a third person, Zena Kakoulli, who stayed over at Kinnear's apartment while Scott remained in the parked Renault. An updated edition of Fink's book released in 2018 produces new evidence that a fourth individual, Kakoulli's husband and rock musician Peter Perrett, was also with Scott, Kinnear and Kakoulli. Fink contends that pulmonary aspiration of vomit was the cause of Scott's death via a suspected heroin overdose.

As part of the funeral arrangements, Scott's body was embalmed by Desmond Henley; it was later cremated, and Scott's ashes were interred by his family at Fremantle Cemetery in Fremantle.

Shortly after Scott's death, the remaining members of AC/DC briefly considered disbanding; however, it was eventually decided that Scott would have wanted them to continue, and with the Scott family's encouragement, the band hired Brian Johnson as their new vocalist.

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Hat tip, WXCR, which I'm listening to (in 2024) via Radio Garden

Mon Feb 19, 2024: On this day, February 19, 1980, AC/DC's Bon Scott died.

[Botany]

1. Don't let people who are really drunk fall asleep on their own

N/t