Unfortunately, many artists who deserve the spotlight stay in the shadows instead as the music world moves too fast, and the new trends are set in very short time intervals. Whether alive or dead, there are probably thousands of names we should know more about.
Their excellent works with a band or as solo artists sadly go completely unnoticed by the masses, or they don’t get the recognition they actually deserve. There are also some musicians who receive the attention they are entitled to posthumously. They are simply not appreciated for the work they created during their lifetime, but the generations that follow do justice to those late artists.
According to AC/DC’s late founding member Malcolm Young, his bandmate Bon Scott, who was behind the band’s classic albums like ‘Highway to Hell’ and ‘Let There Be Rock,’ was also among the names who had been underappreciated during their lifetimes, as he disclosed to Metal CD in a 1992 interview.
Considering rock music history, we can count many leads, such as Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Freddie Mercury, and many others, who have been immortalized by the mainstream media. Yet, the same cannot be said for the late AC/DC singer Bon Scott. Hardcore fans of the band or avid music lovers certainly give him credit for his unique contributions to the band, but it’s a pity that he doesn’t receive the global recognition he deserves. Apparently, Malcolm Young also shared the same idea.
“After ‘Highway to Hell,’ some of the critics started to realize that Bon did have a talent,” the guitarist said about how people began noticing Scott’s singing skills toward the end of his career. “Then, when he died, everyone was suddenly saying what a great performer he’d been.”
So, Malcolm implied that Bon Scott’s vocals were not appreciated enough when he was alive, and his fame rapidly increased after his death. The musician noted, “And these were the same guys that two years before had been saying we’d do much better with a singer that didn’t scream all the time. They were saying we should ditch Bon and get someone like David Coverdale!”
However, Young would want Scott to receive the recognition he deserved during his lifetime and career with the band. The late rocker shared his biggest remorse about Bon, saying, “What hurt me more than anything was that Bon never got the recognition due to him when he was alive.”
Although his efforts went unnoticed while he was performing with AC/DC, the Bon Scott era of the band remains special for many rock music fans all around the world. His charismatic presence on the stage, whiskey-soaked voice, and natural talent for singing elevated AC/DC to another level. The late singer’s legacy lies in a collection of great albums that are essential pieces of the hard rock genre.
