Derek Scott, brother of the late AC/DC frontman Bon Scott, has given his first and last interview on the life and death of the Australian hard rock band frontman in the documentary On The Brink.
Bon Scott died of alcohol poisoning
Bon Scott, whose real name was Ronald Belford Scott, died in London in March 1980 at the age of 33. The cause of death was given as acute alcohol poisoning and a subsequent accident. Scott reportedly choked on his vomit. Some doubted this explanation and attributed the singer’s death to a heroin overdose, while others suspected abstruse conspiracy theories surrounding his death.
Brother Derek Scott: Much of what has been reported about Bon is “bullshit”
The film ‘On the Brink’ follows the life of Scott and aired Monday (9 May) on ABC Australia. Derek Scott was won for the documentary and, according to “Loudwire”, explains that many things that have been reported about his brother are “bullshit”.
Bon Scott drank out of boredom
Scott comments on the musician’s alcohol problems: “He got bored very quickly. That was the biggest problem.” He goes on to say that Bon Scott would always start drinking when he got bored. He would never have thought about the next day and lived according to the motto “Tomorrow is a new day”.
Derek Scott also recalls the shocking phone call from the now deceased AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young, who was then tasked with educating the Scott family about death. “My mom was like, ‘Oh, Ron’s calling me to wish me a happy birthday,’ which he often did,” the musician’s brother said. He continues, “Malcolm didn’t have time for a big explanation because it was already on the radio and he didn’t want them to hear it on the radio. So he just said, ‘Ron died’.”
“let me out of here”
In the preview of the documentary, Scott explains why he has always avoided discussing his brother’s death. “Everyone is interested and that’s fantastic, but leave me out of it. People kept saying, ‘You’re Bon’s brother’ and started asking me questions. I just thought: this is not my life.”
You can view the documentation here:
The current AC/DC album “Power Up” was released in November 2020, you can read our review here.