Bon Scott‘s YouTube channel has been posting both rare footage and birthday tributes from fellow rockers in honor of what would have been the late AC/DC singer’s 80th birthday (July 9th).
This follows a merch campaign for his 80th birthday that began earlier this year ,as well as a similar program of eulogies and archival footage for his 75th birthday.
Messages from rockers, both generational peers and those he inspired, include Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, and Helmet’s Page Hamilton. Halford, in particular, offers a touching and eloquent eulogy, while Elliott shares a tale from the road, having toured with Def Leppard as support on AC/DC’s Highway to Hell tour.
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The archival footage posted includes deeper cut moments like a 1971 live performance of their song “Raglan’s Folly” by Bon’s band Fraternity . The tune is reminiscent of early Genesis, with Scott playing a recorder alongside a substantially more melodic vocal than he would be known for in the straight-ahead hard rock of AC/DC.
Among the archival videos are also a number of rare interviews from the early days of AC/DC’s rise to international fame including a short interview from the band’s first UK jaunt in the wake of the release of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap in 1976.
AC/DC will be kicking off the next North American leg of their continuingPWR/UP tour this Saturday, July 11th, running through September 29th, with The Pretty Reckless as support (get tickets here). We named the outing one of our 10 must-see summer hard rock and metal tours. Alongside the tour, the band will also have unique pop-ups in each city with plenty of unique merch, food, and experiences.
Watch the messages from Rob Halford and Joe Elliott as well as the archival performance of “Raglan’s Folly” by Fraternity and the AC/DC interview on Countdown from 1976 below. More clips are available at the Bon Scott YouTube page.