Remember When Iggy Pop Nearly Joined AC/DC in 1980, Following Death of Bon Scott?

Shortly after the death of frontman Bon Scott in February 1980, and before the band recruited former Geordie singer Brian Johnson, Iggy Pop briefly considered joining AC/DC. “They had a manager many years ago when I hadn’t reformed The Stooges, I hadn’t moved to England, and this guy said, ‘Are you interested in joining AC/DC?’” recalled Pop. “They were looking for a singer.”

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Pop ultimately decided against joining AC/DC because he didn’t think he would be convincing as their frontman. “I listened to their record, I thought, ‘I can’t fit that bill,’” said Pop. “I wasn’t, like, ‘Ugh, I don’t like them.’ [The album] was quite well-made. They do careful work, but I’m not what they needed.”

He later recounted crossing paths with Scott before the AC/DC singer’s death, but doesn’t remember the details of their meeting since they were both inebriated. “I had some wonderful encounter with Bon somewhere, and we were both drunk and stoned,” shared Pop. “I see pictures sometimes. I go, I don’t remember, but that’s me with Bon. I loved what he did.”

A month after Scott’s death, AC/DC also connected with Johnson, who initially passed on the offer to audition for the band.

Founding AC/DC members Angus and Malcolm Young remembered that Scott had been impressed by Johnson’s vocals in Geordie. When a cassette of Johnson performing with Gerodie was sent to the band’s manager, Peter Mensch, from a fan in Chicago, they asked him to audition.

[RELATED: Remember When: Brian Johnson Recorded a Commercial for Hoover Vacuums the Same Day He Auditioned for AC/DC]

At first, Johnson didn’t know which band he was auditioning for and declined. When he got a call back and learned the band was AC/DC, he turned it down again since he was uncertain about replacing Scott.

“I’ve already been bitten by the music bug in Geordie, and three years in Geordie and I came away with not a penny in m​e pocket,” recalled Johnson in a 2021 interview. “I said, ‘They’re a great band, but I’m 32, and I’m past my sell-by date. They’ll not be interested. It’ll be a waste of a trip.”

Johnson eventually agreed to come in for the audition and visited the band at Vanilla Studios in London, impressing them with his renditions of the band’s 1977 song “Whole Lotta Rosie” and Tina Turner’s “Nutbush City Limits.”

That day, Johnson had another gig. He had been called in earlier by Monty Python music producer Andre Jacquemin to sing a Hoover vacuum cleaner commercial and went over to the studio in London to record it after auditioning for AC/DC.

A month later, AC/DC announced their new vocalist in a press release dated April 15, 1980. “Atlantic recording group AC/DC has announced that Brian Johnson has joined the group as their new lead singer,” read a portion of the release. “The news comes after the considerable speculation which followed the tragic and untimely death in February of original AC/DC lead singer/lyricist Bon Scott.”

Photo: Clayton Call/Redferns