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Back in Black
Back in Black is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC, released on 25 July 1980, by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It was the band's first album to feature Brian Johnson as lead singer, following the death of their previous vocalist Bon Scott. After the commercial breakthrough of their 1979 album Highway to Hell, AC/DC was planning to record a follow-up, but in February 1980, Scott died from alcohol poisoning after a drinking binge. The remaining members of the group considered disbanding, but ultimately chose to continue on and recruited Johnson, who had previously been the vocalist for Geordie.
The album was composed by Johnson and brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, and recorded over seven weeks in the Bahamas from April to May 1980 with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who had also produced Highway to Hell. Following its completion, the group mixed Back in Black at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. The album's all-black cover was designed as a "sign of mourning" for Scott.
Back in Black was an unprecedented commercial and critical success. It has sold an estimated 50 million copies worldwide, making it the second-best-selling album in music history. AC/DC supported the album with a yearlong world tour that cemented them among the most popular music acts of the early 1980s. It has since been included on numerous "greatest albums" lists. On 21 August 2024, the album was certified 27× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), making it the third best-selling album in the United States and the best-selling album that never reached the top spot on the American charts.
Formed in 1973, AC/DC first broke into international markets in 1977 with their fourth album, Let There Be Rock, and by 1979 they were poised for greater success with their sixth studio album, Highway to Hell. Producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange helped to make the band's sound more catchy and accessible, and Highway to Hell became their first gold album in the United States, selling over 500,000 copies, while also peaking at number 17 on that country's pop charts and number eight in the United Kingdom.
As the new decade approached, the group set off for the UK and France for the final leg of the Highway to Hell Tour, planning to begin recording their next album shortly after playing those dates. On 19 February 1980, vocalist Bon Scott went on a drinking binge in a London pub that caused him to lose consciousness, so a friend let him rest in the back of his Renault 5 overnight. The next morning, Scott was found unresponsive and rushed to King's College Hospital, where medical personnel pronounced him dead on arrival. The coroner ruled that pulmonary aspiration of vomit was the cause of Scott's death, but the official cause was listed on the death certificate as "acute alcoholic poisoning" and classified as "death by misadventure". Scott was cremated, and his ashes were inurned by his family at Fremantle Cemetery in Fremantle, Western Australia. The loss devastated the band, who considered breaking up, but friends and family (particularly Scott’s) persuaded them to carry on.
After Scott's funeral on 1 March, the band immediately began auditions for a replacement frontman. At the advice of Lange, they brought in Geordie singer Brian Johnson, who impressed the group. The band begrudgingly worked through the rest of the list of applicants in the following days, and then brought Johnson back for a second rehearsal. On 29 March, to Johnson's surprise, Malcolm Young called the singer to offer him the job.
As AC/DC commenced writing new material for the followup to Highway to Hell, vocalist Bon Scott, who began his career as a drummer with The Spektors, played the drums on demo recordings of "Let Me Put My Love into You" and "Have a Drink on Me". In a 2021 interview with Paste, Angus Young claimed this was the full extent of Scott's contributions to Back in Black (though, at this point, he said the demos on which Scott played drums were of "Hells Bells" and "Have a Drink on Me").
Three weeks of rehearsals for Back in Black were scheduled at London's E-Zee Hire Studios, but the rehearsals were cut to one week when an opening came up at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, in the Bahamas. Although the band had wanted to record their next effort in the UK, there were no studios available, and the Bahamas presented a nice tax advantage, so Back in Black was recorded at Compass Point from mid-April to May 1980 with producer "Mutt" Lange. Johnson recalled that "It was hardly any kind of studio, we were in these little concrete cells, comfy mind, you had a bed and a chair. And this big old black lady ran the whole place. Oh, she was fearsome, she ruled that place with a rod of iron. We had to lock the doors at night because she'd warned us about these Haitians who'd come down at night and rob the place. So she bought us all these six-foot fishing spears to keep at the fucking door! It was a bit of a stretch from Newcastle, I can tell you."
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Back in Black
Back in Black is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC, released on 25 July 1980, by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It was the band's first album to feature Brian Johnson as lead singer, following the death of their previous vocalist Bon Scott. After the commercial breakthrough of their 1979 album Highway to Hell, AC/DC was planning to record a follow-up, but in February 1980, Scott died from alcohol poisoning after a drinking binge. The remaining members of the group considered disbanding, but ultimately chose to continue on and recruited Johnson, who had previously been the vocalist for Geordie.
The album was composed by Johnson and brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, and recorded over seven weeks in the Bahamas from April to May 1980 with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who had also produced Highway to Hell. Following its completion, the group mixed Back in Black at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. The album's all-black cover was designed as a "sign of mourning" for Scott.
Back in Black was an unprecedented commercial and critical success. It has sold an estimated 50 million copies worldwide, making it the second-best-selling album in music history. AC/DC supported the album with a yearlong world tour that cemented them among the most popular music acts of the early 1980s. It has since been included on numerous "greatest albums" lists. On 21 August 2024, the album was certified 27× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), making it the third best-selling album in the United States and the best-selling album that never reached the top spot on the American charts.
Formed in 1973, AC/DC first broke into international markets in 1977 with their fourth album, Let There Be Rock, and by 1979 they were poised for greater success with their sixth studio album, Highway to Hell. Producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange helped to make the band's sound more catchy and accessible, and Highway to Hell became their first gold album in the United States, selling over 500,000 copies, while also peaking at number 17 on that country's pop charts and number eight in the United Kingdom.
As the new decade approached, the group set off for the UK and France for the final leg of the Highway to Hell Tour, planning to begin recording their next album shortly after playing those dates. On 19 February 1980, vocalist Bon Scott went on a drinking binge in a London pub that caused him to lose consciousness, so a friend let him rest in the back of his Renault 5 overnight. The next morning, Scott was found unresponsive and rushed to King's College Hospital, where medical personnel pronounced him dead on arrival. The coroner ruled that pulmonary aspiration of vomit was the cause of Scott's death, but the official cause was listed on the death certificate as "acute alcoholic poisoning" and classified as "death by misadventure". Scott was cremated, and his ashes were inurned by his family at Fremantle Cemetery in Fremantle, Western Australia. The loss devastated the band, who considered breaking up, but friends and family (particularly Scott’s) persuaded them to carry on.
After Scott's funeral on 1 March, the band immediately began auditions for a replacement frontman. At the advice of Lange, they brought in Geordie singer Brian Johnson, who impressed the group. The band begrudgingly worked through the rest of the list of applicants in the following days, and then brought Johnson back for a second rehearsal. On 29 March, to Johnson's surprise, Malcolm Young called the singer to offer him the job.
As AC/DC commenced writing new material for the followup to Highway to Hell, vocalist Bon Scott, who began his career as a drummer with The Spektors, played the drums on demo recordings of "Let Me Put My Love into You" and "Have a Drink on Me". In a 2021 interview with Paste, Angus Young claimed this was the full extent of Scott's contributions to Back in Black (though, at this point, he said the demos on which Scott played drums were of "Hells Bells" and "Have a Drink on Me").
Three weeks of rehearsals for Back in Black were scheduled at London's E-Zee Hire Studios, but the rehearsals were cut to one week when an opening came up at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, in the Bahamas. Although the band had wanted to record their next effort in the UK, there were no studios available, and the Bahamas presented a nice tax advantage, so Back in Black was recorded at Compass Point from mid-April to May 1980 with producer "Mutt" Lange. Johnson recalled that "It was hardly any kind of studio, we were in these little concrete cells, comfy mind, you had a bed and a chair. And this big old black lady ran the whole place. Oh, she was fearsome, she ruled that place with a rod of iron. We had to lock the doors at night because she'd warned us about these Haitians who'd come down at night and rob the place. So she bought us all these six-foot fishing spears to keep at the fucking door! It was a bit of a stretch from Newcastle, I can tell you."