Born in 1947 in Dunston, County Durham, England, Brian Johnson began his musical career in 1962, playing in several local bands during his formative years. His career began in the 1970s as the lead singer of Geordie, who had a few modest hits. However, it was evident that his life completely turned around in 1980 when he replaced Bon Scott on AC/DC and released their platinum-selling album “Back In Black.”
Johnson proved he was the ideal man for the job and helped grow AC/DC even more in the decades that followed. He disclosed the identities of his two idols, having witnessed other amazing vocalists perform during his career.
The 2 singers Brian Johnson listed as his heroes
Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)
Naturally, Led Zeppelin had a significant influence on every Hard Rock group to emerge in the 1970s, and Brian Johnson was greatly inspired by them. Strangely, he didn’t realize he could sing until he sang the band’s hit song “Rock and Roll” with a local band he played with. Johnson refers to Plant as one of his heroes for this reason, among others.
In 2022, he recounted the story during an interview with BBC Radio 2’s “Tracks Of My Years” program. He said, “At the time, people were all doing those Rod Stewart and David Bowie voices. They were getting all the gigs because they could copy the tunes. Bob Seger hadn’t really come out yet. But that was as close that I could get, which was what you wanted. Because if you could do covers for the clubs that’s what people wanted. They didn’t want to hear original songs.”
He added, “It was hard and (I was thinking) ‘what the hell can I sing?’. Then even though it was ‘Black Dog’ the first one I heard, I remember the guy started rehearsing. I could sing up there. I couldn’t believe it and I went ‘I can do this! This is great’. Se we started doing it.”
On Led Zeppelin’s fourth album, “Led Zeppelin IV,” “Rock and Roll” was released in 1971. Other well-known songs from that album included “Black Dog,” “The Battle of Evermore,” “Stairway to Heaven,” and “Going To California.”
Johnson and Plant have a close friendship. Johnson even had an interview with the frontman of Led Zeppelin for his TV show a few years back.
Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company)
Paul Rodgers, the lead vocalist for Free and Bad Company, was another performer Brian Johnson cited as one of his heroes. Over the years, the AC/DC vocalist saw the singer perform live numerous times, notably in the 1970s. They grew close to one another and even shared the stage a few times, one of which included Robert Plant.
When Rodgers celebrated his 50th anniversary in 2018, Johnson mentioned the singer in an official statement that was uploaded on his website.
“I can’t believe it was 50 years ago that I first heard Paul Rodgers velvet voice singing ‘The Hunter’. It became the Anthem for every Pub, Working Men’s Clubs and City Halls across the UK. Paul was the epitome of what every Rock singer should be. He had the looks, the moves and a soul voice that made everything swing. That’s not an art, it’s a gift.”
Brian continued, “He also wrote the coolest songs, from ‘All Right Now’, ‘My Brother Jake’, ‘Bad Company’, ‘Feel Like Making Love ‘, all still classics to this day. In 2017 in the theater in Oxford, I had the honor of singing with Paul and Robert Plant. That’s two heroes in one song, I get chills when I think of it. Paul’s voice is still in perfect shape and you have got to see him live.”
“I can see no better way of celebrating 50 years of Paul Rodgers than the live recording at The Royal Albert Hall. The spirit of Free lives on in Free Spirit, and Paul Rodgers is the embodiment of it all. Cheers Paul and never stop.”
In addition to becoming well-known as the leader of Free and Bad Company, Paul Rodgers has released numerous solo albums and was a member of the supergroup The Firm with Jimmy Page. The latest recent, which came out in 2023, is called Midnight Rose.
