Brian Johnson is a rock musician and former vocalist for the British band Geordie. He gained real fame thanks to his participation in the legendary Australian rock band AC / DC, of which he was a soloist from 1980 to 2016.
early years
The future musician was born on October 5, 1947 in Dunston, a suburb of Newcastle (Great Britain). His family lived in a small house near the railroad. Brian's father, Alan Johnson, was a military man. Mom - Esther Johnson, originally from Italy.
From early childhood, Brian had a good voice and sang in the church choir. At the age of fifteen, Brian leaves school to become a turner. He goes to college and creates his own group called "The Gobi Desert Canoe Club".
In 1964, Brian Johnson served in the army. The future rocker serves in Germany for two years, then works as a draftsman for three months.
In 1971 Johnson and two friends formed the Buffalo band, and a year later renamed USA. In the spring of 1972 the band signed a contract with the London recording studio "Red Bus Records" and again changed the name of the group to "Geordie". The musicians move to London and their group is active in concert, performing with such bands as Sweet, Slade, and T. Rex. Despite their creative activity, the group did not gain popularity among rock listeners and did not become commercially successful. In 1976, after releasing three albums, Geordie split up.
Musical career at AC / DC
Brian Johnson, desperate, decides to stop making music altogether and goes to work in a car service for four whole years. In the early 1980s, Brian realizes that his life without music and rock and roll is absolutely meaningless. He finds former Geordie musicians and, reunited, they start playing in local clubs again.
During this time, Johnson heard the AC / DC band. In February 1980, AC / DC vocalist Bon Scott died of excessive alcohol intoxication. Musicians "AC / DC" were initially going to disband the group, but then decided that Bon Scott would not mind the continued existence of the band. Then they began to look for candidates for the vacant vocalist position. Famous vocalists came to audition: Moxy Buzz Sheerman, Noddy Holder from Slade and Terry Slesser from Back Street Crawler.
According to one of the recommendations, Brian Johnson was invited to audition, who immediately liked the group. The musician performed two songs - one from the AC / DC repertoire "Whole Lotta Rosie", the second - Tina Turner's "Nutbush City Limits". After a second audition, Johnson was accepted into the group as the new vocalist. An interesting fact is that Brian was the last to learn about enrollment in the group. This happened on April 1, 1980.
His candidacy was approved for several reasons - his vocal abilities were similar to "Bon's", he knew how to "get" the audience, the late Bon Scott during his lifetime showed interest in the musical work of "Geordie" more than once.
In the summer of 1980, the legendary AC / DC album was released with a new vocalist Brian Johnson called Back In Black. The album was a record commercial success in the history of the group (and remains so to this day). Also, this disc became one of the most significant in the entire history of rock music.
The band began working on this album before Bon Scott's death. After the arrival of Brian Johnson, the entire record was reworked. The main hits of the album were songs: "Hells Bells", "Have a Drink on Me", and the main track "Back In Black". In memory of Bon Scott, the album cover was black. Today, this disc is considered the third best-selling in the history of music.
In the following years, the group released nine more albums with vocalist Brian Johnson. The most successful of these were: "Fly on the Wall" (1985); Blow Up Your Video (1988); The Razor's Edge (1990); Stiff Upper Lip (2000); Black Ice (2008); Rock or Bust (2014).
Disease
In the spring of 2016, doctors recommended Brian Johnson to stop his concert activity, as this threatened the musician with complete hearing loss. Therefore, the group "AC / DC" had to cancel their tours in America and Europe. The band's last performance took place on February 28, 2016 in Kansas City. On April 20, 2016 Johnson officially announced his departure from the AC / DC group. Soon it became known that Axl Rose (vocalist of the group "Guns N 'Roses") would take the vacant place of soloist on the tour.
Personal life
Brian Johnson has been married twice. The first time he married a girl named Carol in 1968. The second wife, Brenda, gave birth to the musician two daughters: Joanne and Kalu.
Brian is known as a passionate sports car and auto racing fan. He even won a Daytona competition once. The musician also visits all the matches of his favorite football club Newcastle United.
Brian Johnson financially supports the Sporting Memories Network, an English charity that helps older people with dementia.
Brian lives in America (Florida). He is the owner of a car shop and a beer bar, sometimes flies to his homeland in England. A characteristic feature of Johnson's style is the eight-piece cap, in which he performs both on stage and wears it in everyday life. This headdress was suggested to be worn by the musician's brother, so that during the performance, sweat would not flood his eyes. Since then, this detail has become an integral part of Brian's appearance.
