Brian Johnson - AC/DC the story and success

Brian Johnson was always a special character in the music world. Without Johnson there would not be any AC/DC and vice versa. I am a huge Brian Johnson fan and thought to share some glimpse about him in this blog. Brian is one of the living legends that I admire most and I don't think there will be any other AC/DC style band that will match his abilities as a singer and performer on stage. Johnson was born in Dunston, Gateshead, North East England. He is of partial Italian descent and is the oldest of four siblings. His father, Alan, was a sergeant major in the British Army's Durham Light Infantry and a coal miner, he died during AC/DC's Ballbreaker World Tour. Johnson's mother, Esther, was Italian from Frascati. When he was young, Johnson performed in various shows with the Scouts, and appeared in a play which aired on television, and joined a local church choir.

Following Bon Scott's death, the remaining members of the band briefly considered quitting. They eventually concluded, however, that Scott would have wanted AC/DC to continue. Various candidates were considered for his replacement, including ex-Back Street Crawler vocalist Terry Slesser and Slade's Noddy Holder, who declined, before selecting Johnson. AC/DC guitarist and co-founder Angus Young later recalled, "I remember the first time I had ever heard Brian's (Johnson) name was from Bon. Bon had mentioned that he had been in England once touring with a band and he had mentioned that Brian had been in a band called Geordie and Bon had said 'Brian Johnson, he was a great rock and roll singer in the style of Little Richard.' And that was Bon's big idol, Little Richard. I think when he saw Brian at that time, to Bon it was 'Well he's a guy that knows what rock and roll is all about.' He mentioned that to us in Australia. I suppose when we decided to continue, Brian was the first name that Malcolm and myself came up with, so we said we should see if we can find him."

When someone fetched him to meet them, Malcolm recalls that Johnson, "had tears in his eyes. He was as sad about Bon as we were. Anyway, we said, Do you want to give it a go? And he said, 'I do Whole Lotta Rosie with Geordie,' and off he went. We went, fucking hell, this guy is cutting the mustard. Anything else you know? 'Nutbush City Limits?' OK, we can knock that out, and he sang that great too. It put a little smile on our faces – for the first time since Bon. So we just started working with him then." Within days, Johnson was in the band, the news being made official,
amusingly enough, on 1 April. A week after that he was sent a plane ticket to the Bahamas (their management's idea, for tax purposes) where he joined the Youngs, bassist Cliff Williams, drummer Phil Rudd and Highway to Hell producer Mutt Lange in Compass Point Studios. The result was the album Back in Black, which was released in July that year. It was a worldwide success and went on to become the second best-selling album of all time. Their next album, For Those About to Rock We Salute You in 1981, also sold well. The raw, self-produced albums Flick of the Switch and Fly on the Wall were not as commercially successful as the previous two albums with Johnson. Who Made Who, released in 1986, was the soundtrack for the horror film Maximum Overdrive and brought back AC/DC's mainstream popularity. In 1986, Johnson appeared returned to Tyneside in the controversial music video for "You Shook Me All Night Long", and the video received significant airplay on MTV.

Brian Johnson's Life

Johnson married his first wife, Carol, in 1968, and they have two daughters: Joanne (born 1968), and Kala (born 1973). They divorced during the writing of The Razors Edge album. He is married to Brenda, and lives in Sarasota, Florida.

He is an avid supporter of Football League Championship football club Newcastle United and was asked to make a substantial investment in the club around 1981/82 after being invited to meet the board by club legend Jackie Milburn.

On 9 July 2014, Johnson was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Music by Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne in recognition of his significant contribution to the music industry. In October 2014, Johnson became a supporter of the Yorkshire Dementia Charity based in the village of Topcliffe.

Health problems

Brian's Health Issues

In September 2009, Johnson was diagnosed with Barrett syndrome. This caused AC/DC to cancel several shows on their 2010 tour in support of Black Ice; however, doctors were able to successfully prevent the disease from developing into cancer. According to The Sunday Times Rich List of British millionaires from the world of music, Johnson was worth £50 million in 2011.