Brian Johnson Was Born on October 5, 1947

Brian Johnson was born on October 5, 1947. The former Geordie singer joined AC/DC in 1980, stepping into a band grieving Bon Scott and preparing to record again. His first album with the group, Back in Black, paired his lead vocals with songs he co-wrote alongside Angus and Malcolm Young. The title track captured that new partnership at the beginning of Johnson’s time in the band.

Johnson’s ambition to sing began long before that audition. Discussing his memoir with the Associated Press in 2022, he traced it to hearing Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” as a child. He worked as an apprentice engineer while pursuing music, then became Geordie’s singer when the group formed in 1972. The band signed to EMI, and “All Because of You” reached No. 6 on the UK singles chart in 1973.

That early success did not establish a lasting career. As Geordie’s fortunes declined, Johnson returned to fitting windscreens and repairing car roofs. He was running his own business when the opportunity to audition for AC/DC arose. In an interview with Scotland on Sunday, he recalled that a separate job recording a Hoover advertising jingle helped persuade him to make the trip to London. The jingle paid £350, a substantial sum for him at the time.

The audition began with “Nutbush City Limits,” Johnson recalled in the Associated Press interview, before moving into AC/DC material. He got the job, and the band announced him as its new singer in April 1980. There was little time to settle in. He had to learn how to work with the group while helping complete the record that would introduce him to its audience.

At Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas, producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange pushed Johnson’s voice into the upper register that became central to Back in Black. “I didn’t know I had it in me,” Johnson later told Scotland on Sunday. He also took on the lyrics. As he explained to Classic Rock, the band had song titles and musical ideas when he arrived, but needed him to find the words. The work included “You Shook Me All Night Long,” “Hells Bells” and the title track.

Writing at that pace could leave him stuck. During a 2020 Radio X interview with Kelly Jones, Johnson recalled struggling to begin “Hells Bells” after several days of writing. A tropical storm gave him something to work with. As the sky darkened and thunder sounded, Lange encouraged him to put his observations on paper. Johnson’s account connected the song’s threatening imagery to something he was watching happen outside. “It was basically a weather report which turned into a verse,” he said.

Back in Black was released in the United States and United Kingdom on July 25, 1980. Johnson’s contribution extended beyond singing an existing catalog: he shared writing credits with the Young brothers on the album that established his place in AC/DC.

Hearing problems interrupted that career in 2016, forcing him off the Rock or Bust tour. Johnson told Rolling Stone in 2020 that he had struggled to hear the guitars clearly and had relied on memory to get through performances. He spent years working with a specialist on equipment that could help him hear well enough to sing with the band again.

That work led to his return for Power Up, released November 13, 2020. Johnson recorded alongside Angus Young, Stevie Young, Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd, singing songs drawn from material Angus and Malcolm had written together. The album was dedicated to Malcolm, with Johnson back on lead vocals.