Bon Scott‘s brother has spoken publicly about the late AC/DC frontman’s death for the first time.
Derek Scott was interviewed for Australian Story: On The Brink – Bon Scott, a TV documentary broadcast last night (May 9) on the ABC network in Australia.
In a preview clip, Derek says that many stories written about his brother, who died in 1980, are “bullsh*t.”
In the documentary, Derek Scott says that his family had been concerned about Bon‘s lifestyle, saying, “He did get bored very quickly. That was the biggest problem. When he got bored, he drank. He never worried about tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day.”
Scott recalled the moment the family heard about Bon‘s death, in a call from AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young. “[Mum] thought, ‘Oh, Ron’s ringing me to say happy birthday,’ which he often did the next day because of the time difference. Malcolm didn‘t have time to explain because it was hitting the airwaves and he didn’t want them to hear it on the radio. So he just said, ‘Ron died.’”
Scott‘s lifestyle was most dangerous during periods of downtime between recording and touring, as Derek says: “That‘s when he would start taking risks, doing wild things. On days when he was bored, there was no future, there was only now. He didn‘t give a bugger about whether he lived or died the next day. He’d try anything — magic mushrooms, marij*ana, alcohol — and he would take risks on his motorbike.”
