Bon Scott
AC/DC fans have succeeded in raising £45,000 to erect a statue of the late Bon Scott, the band’s singer before Brian Johnson, in his Scottish hometown.
The statue, by John McKenna, will be erected in a car park on Bellies Brae, a road leading out of Kirriemuir, north of Dundee. The crowdfunding appeal by DD8Music has in fact raised almost £50,000, and the extra money will go towards a memorial garden – designed by students from Dundee and Angus College – for the singer.
The statue depicts Scott, in sleeveless denim jacket and very tight trousers, clutching a set of bagpipes – the instrument he played on the group’s song It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock’n’Roll). McKenna previously designed the Jock Stein Memorial at Celtic Park in Glasgow.
Scott’s statue is set to be unveiled next April, at the annual Bonfest held in the town, celebrating the life of the singer. Scott fronted AC/DC from 1974 until his death from acute alcohol poisoning in London in February 1980, aged 33.
The Kirriemuir statue will make Scott – so far as the Guardian can tell – the first hard rock singer to have two statues in his honour. In 2008, a lifesize bronze statue of him was erected in Fremantle, Western Australia. His family emigrated from Scotland to Australia in 1952.