On This Day in 1981, AC/DC Scored Their First American No. 1 With an Album Inspired by Bon Scott and Roman Gladiators

On this day (December 26) in 1981, AC/DC landed their first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with For Those About to Rock (We Salute You). It spent three weeks at No. 1, making it the final chart-topping album of 1981 and the first of 1982. Additionally, it was their only chart-topping album for more than two decades. Their 2008 album Black Ice brought them their second No. 1 on the chart.

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AC/DC had just been through a pivotal moment in the band’s history. Their original vocalist, Bon Scott, died and was replaced by Brian Johnson. Their 1980 album, Back in Black, served as a tribute to Scott. It was also their most successful release to date, topping charts in multiple countries and earning multiple Platinum certifications.

[RELATED: On This Day in 1990, AC/DC Released an Album That Contained Their Biggest Hot 100 Hit Ever—a Nod to Their Working-Class Roots]

Despite coming off the success of Back in Black and the international tour supporting the album, the band wasn’t incredibly happy to be back in the studio. Their producer, Mutt Lange, made things worse. According to Louder Sound, Lange’s perfectionist approach bred tensions in the studio. For instance, they worked on getting the “right” drum sound for ten days. Then, Lange decided he was never going to find the right sound and scrapped the sessions. After trying multiple studios, the now-legendary producer chose to record the new album at the band’s rehearsal space–a cold, stone room. As a result, it would be their final album produced by Lange.

How Bon Scott and Roman Gladiators Influenced AC/DC’s first US No. 1

For Those About to Rock was AC/DC’s second album without Bon Scott. However, the late vocalist was still there in spirit. Angus Young got the idea for the album’s title track from a book Scott gave him before he died, according to Songfacts. That book was likely Those About to Die by Daniel Mannix.

Young wasn’t the only person to find inspiration in the book. Screenwriter David Franzoni found inspiration to pen the original screenplay for the Academy-Award-Winning film Gladiator (2000) in Those About to Die. More recently, the book inspired a TV drama of the same name.

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