Brian Johnson
- For other uses, see Brian Johnson (disambiguation)
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Brian Johnson (born October 5 1947 in Dunston, Gateshead, England) is a singer and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist for Australian hard rock band AC/DC. He currently lives in Sarasota, Florida, USA.
Biography
Johnson's father was a Sergeant Major of the British Army's Durham Light Infantry; his mother came from Italy. Johnson credits his father for giving him his trademark shouting voice. Johnson's first marriage, which produced two children, ended in divorce shortly before he joined AC/DC in 1980.
Before AC/DC
Before AC/DC, Johnson had joined the Newcastle glam-rock band Geordie in 1972. After a number of hit singles, the band split up in 1978 but Johnson re-formed it in 1980. But just after a record contract had been signed, Johnson was asked to audition for AC/DC.
Joining AC/DC
Johnson joined AC/DC in 1980, after the death of the band's former lead singer Bon Scott.
Johnson got the job by singing the Ike and Tina Turner song "Nutbush City Limits," and AC/DC's own "Whole Lotta Rosie", which was recorded in 1977 with Bon Scott. He was the band's first choice. Unbeknownst to Johnson, a fan in Cleveland, Ohio had sent a Geordie album to AC/DC shortly after Bon Scott's death, urging them to consider him. And years earlier, Bon Scott himself had also praised Johnson's singing and energetic performance style to the rest of AC/DC after seeing Geordie play in 1972, while Scott was in the UK. (According to legend, this was the night Johnson was rushed to hospital after the show to have his appendix removed, which accounted for his writhing around on the stage.)
Johnson is credited with pushing the band in a more heavy metal direction, beginning with his first album with AC/DC, Back in Black, now regarded as a rock landmark and the second biggest selling album (worldwide) of all time. It and his subsequent albums with the group have made him one of the most recognized and emulated voices in rock music.
For ten years, Johnson co-wrote all of AC/DC's songs with the Young brothers until personal matters diverted him in 1990, when the band's album The Razor's Edge was being written.
Trademarks and style
Johnson's sartorial trademark is that he is seldom seen in public without a cap, pulled down above his eyes. Originally, he wore a flat cap, once regarded as a symbol of Tyneside, but in recent years, he has generally worn a baseball cap instead. Despite the headgear, he has a full head of hair.
His voice is known to have a unique grinding, razor sharp sound, though as he has aged, naturally, his range has reduced.
Helen of Troy musical
Johnson has worked on a musical entitled Helen of Troy for most of the past decade. He was inspired to write his own musical after seeing Cats and thinking it was "fuckin' shite, wrist-cuttingly bad." The topic of Helen of Troy was chosen by chance: "One day I was sitting through a boring musical and thought: 'I can do better than this.' I thumbed through the program and there was an advertisement for a bank with gold coins tumbling out of a wooden horse. That triggered the idea for Helen of Troy. It was as simple as that."
Songs from the musical, co-written with Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais (creators of the popular television series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, about Geordie builders in Germany), were given a public premiere on June 13, 2005, in New York, although the full show has yet to be performed; Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan and veteran actor Malcolm McDowell have indicated they will participate.
The show is also in development as a ballet, under the guidance of Robert de Warren, artistic director of the Sarasota Ballet and former head of the Northern Ballet in Leeds, England.
Earlier that year, Johnson appeared in an episode of the television series The Goddess Odyssey, in which he explored remote areas of Greece, looking for "shrines, temples, and paths of the woman whose face launched a thousand ships and whose passion led to the downfall of a civilization," entitled "Path of Helen of Troy". He described some of the research he had done for the musical, and played some of the music from it.
Trivia
- He made a cameo appearance in the film Goal!, directed by Danny Cannon, as a Geordie watching a Newcastle United match at a bar in Los Angeles (his name is misspelled "Bryan" in the credits).
- Johnson is the voice of the commander in the video game Call of Duty: Finest Hour.
See also
External links
- AC/DC profile page by Albert Music
- AC/DC profile page by Atlantic Records
- AC/DC profile page by Epic Records
- Brian Johnson Fan Club
- AC/DC Fan Page
