Brian Johnson Was ‘Heartbroken’ When AC/DC’s Most Successful Album Came Out — This Is Why

Almost everyone has heard Brian Johnson’s powerful voice on “Back in Black” at least once. However, he once recalled feeling “heartbroken” after a former bandmate told him his singing was too high and that it “wasn’t gonna fly.”

By the time Brian joined AC/DC after Bon Scott’s untimely death, he was over 30 with plenty of musical experience. Still, stepping into Bon Scott’s shoes and making music with the legendary Australian rock band was a huge challenge for him.

In 2021, Johnson shared how he felt nervous when he arrived at producer John “Mutt” Lange’s studio in the Bahamas to record “Back in Black,” especially when he was asked to write lyrics for some of the riffs the Young brothers had been working on. He recalled, “Malcolm and Angus [Young] came to me and said, ‘Hey, by the way, can you write lyrics?’ And I went, ‘Well, I’ll give it a shot.’ The first night, they handed me a yellow legal pad, a pen, and a little cassette player. They said, ‘Well, this song is just a basic track.’”

The song was “You Shook Me All Night Long,” and they gave him the title, which Johnson thought was a bit long. He added, “I remember just sitting there thinking, ‘What have I got to lose? At least I have a week’s holiday in the Bahamas.’ I wrote it down in about 20 minutes, and that was it. The next day, I took it to them, and they said, ‘Sing what you’ve written.'”

To fit AC/DC’s style, Johnson had to adjust his singing, and he remembered Mutt Lange encouraging him to sing higher on “Back in Black.” He recalled, “I never knew I could sustain notes like that. It was Mutt Lange who said, ‘Sing it higher. I’ve heard you do it.’ I thought, ‘Well, I’ll give it a try.’ Once I did, it was like being freed from a straitjacket—when I realized I could do it, I was amazed! I just wanted to keep doing it, but Mutt had to pull us back down. It was incredible to discover that at 32, I could still push myself. I thought I’d be past it by then, and I didn’t think I’d ever get a chance to be in a rock band at that age, but the songs kept getting better.”

When the album was released, Johnson recalled feeling “heartbroken” again after a former bandmate criticized his singing. “I didn’t have a record player at home, so I took it to a friend’s house—the guitarist from my old band Geordie, who had one. We played ‘Hells Bells,’ and after a few bars, he said, ‘No, that’s never gonna fly. Let’s go have a pint.’ He said, ‘You’re singing way too high. That’s not you.'” Johnson laughed and said, “I was heartbroken. I just thought, ‘Oh, Jesus.’ So, I went to the pub and drowned my sorrows. He said, ‘Never mind.’ But in the end, everything turned out great. I can’t believe it’s been 40 years since we did that, and we’re still able to perform those songs on stage. That’s the amazing part.”