One of SPIN'S Best Music Memoirs of 2022!Brian Johnson's memoir from growing up in a small town to starting his own band to ultimately replacing Bon Scott, the lead singer of one of the world biggest rock acts, AC/DC. They would record their first album together, the iconicBack in Black, which would become the biggest selling rock album of all time.Brian Johnson was born to a steelworker and WWII veteran father and an Italian mother, growing up in New Castle Upon Tyne, England, a working-class town. He was musically inclined and sang with the church choir. By the early '70s he performed with the glam rock band Geordie, and they had a couple hits, but it was tough going. So tough that by 1976, they disbanded and Brian turned to a blue-collar life.Then 1980 changed everything. Bon Scott, the lead singer and lyricist of the Australian rock band AC/DC died at 33. The band auditioned singers, among them Johnson, whom Scott himself had seen perform and raved about. Within days, Johnson was in a studio with the band, working with founding members Angus and Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams, and Phil Rudd, along with producer Mutt Lange.When the album,Back in Black, was released in July-a mere three months after Johnson had joined the band-it exploded, going on to sell 50 million copies worldwide, and triggering a years-long worldwide tour.It has been declared "e;the biggest selling hard rock album ever made"e; and "e;the best-selling heavy-metal album in history."e;The band toured the world for a full year to support the album, changing the face of rock music-and Brian Johnson's life-forever.
