Back in Black
is the seventh
studio album
by Australian
Rock band
released on
July,25 1980,
by Albert Productions
and
Atlantic Records.
It was the band's
first album
to feature
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,
Bon 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
The Band
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 August,21st 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.
BACKGROUND
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 February,9th 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
March,1st
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 March,29th
to Johnson's surprise,
Malcolm Young
called the singer to
offer him the job
ONE COULD JUST IMAGINE
(BON SCOTT VOCALS WITH AI)
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