Claim: Bon Scott replaced Dave Evans as the lead singer of AC/DC.

Ronald Belford `` Bon '' Scott -LRB- 9 July 1946 -- 19 February 1980 -RRB- was an Australian rock musician , best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980 .   Scott was born in Forfar , Scotland , and raised in Kirriemuir , before moving to Melbourne with his family in 1952 at the age of six . They lived in the suburb of Sunshine for four years before moving to Fremantle . Scott formed his first band , The Spektors , in 1964 and became the band 's drummer and occasional lead vocalist . He performed in several other bands including The Valentines and Fraternity before replacing Dave Evans as the lead singer of AC/DC in 1974 .   AC/DC 's popularity grew throughout the 1970s , initially in Australia , and then internationally . Their 1979 album Highway to Hell reached the top twenty in the United States , and the band seemed on the verge of a commercial breakthrough . However , on 19 February 1980 , Scott died after a night out in London . AC/DC briefly considered disbanding , but the group recruited vocalist Brian Johnson of the British glam rock band Geordie . AC/DC 's subsequent album , Back in Black , was released only five months later , and was a tribute to Scott . It went on to become the second best-selling album in history .   In the July 2004 issue of Classic Rock , Scott was rated as number one in a list of the `` 100 Greatest Frontmen Of All Time '' ahead of Freddie Mercury and Robert Plant . Hit Parader ranked Scott as fifth on their 2006 list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Vocalists of all time .