While the loss of a lead singer often leads to disaster for most rock bands, AC/DC managed to defy the odds by finding even greater success with Brian Johnson after their original lead vocalist, Bon Scott, died in 1980. But it almost didn’t work out that way.
In a new interview, punk pioneer Iggy Pop reveals he was initially asked to take over for Scott. “They had a manager many years ago…and this guy said, ‘Are you interested in joining AC/DC?’” he recalls. “They were looking for a singer.”
While Pop says he was flattered by the invite, he had no choice but to turn it down. “I listened to their record,” he says. “I thought, I can’t fill that bill. I wasn’t like, ugh, I don’t like them. It was quite well made. They do careful work. But I’m not what they needed.”
Apparently, Pop’s connection to AC/DC goes beyond the rejected invitation. The 75-year-old icon says he once spent time with Scott. “I had some very wonderful encounter with Bon somewhere,” he says. “And we were both drunk and stoned.”