Ronald Belford Scott was born in Kirriemuir – his stage name was an abbreviation of the expression "Bonnie Scotland." The second son of Chick and Isa Scott, he arrived in Australia with his family in 1952, and attended the Sunshine Primary School, Melbourne where he learned the recorder. His first public appearance was in fact playing a recorder duet in a school concert at North Fremantle Town Hall. He tried keyboards at home, but had no enthusiasm for them, then settled on the drums, he also learned the bagpipes, but it was as a vocalist he will always be remembered.
As a youth, Bon had some minor trouble with the law, ending up in a boy's home, and having no meaningful qualifications his life would have amounted to nothing if he had not thrown himself into music. His first band was the Spektors, who played the Perth circuit in 1965, later merging with the Winztons to form the Valentines in 1966.

The first record Bon performed on was "Every Day I Have To Cry"/"I Can't Dance With You," which was released by the Valentines in May 1967. He received his first writing credit for "Getting Better," which was released in August 1969 as the B Side of "Nick Nack Paddy Whack," the children's nursery rhyme/song, which went down like a lead balloon.
Like their releases, the band was not successful, and fell on hard times before breaking up in August 1970. Bon was then asked by Bruce Howe the leader of Fraternity, to join his band, which he did. In January 1972, Bon married Irene Thornton, a native born Australian, and the two travelled to the UK with Fraternity where they spent eighteen disappointing months. Their first gig was played at a venue called the Speakeasy; it was not a success, and worse was to come. At some point they changed their name to Fang before playing their last ever concert at Windsor in August 1972 and making their way back to Adelaide piecemeal.
Back in his adopted homeland, Bon was involved in a terrible road crash after riding off on his motorbike drunk. He was lucky to survive, spending three days in a coma, but it wasn't just his bike that had crashed, and by the time he auditioned for the Young brothers on the recommendation of ex-Valentine Vince Lovegrove, his marriage was effectively over.

Bon turned up for the audition with the idea of becoming the band's drummer, but he was to replace vocalist Dave Evans, who was not up to scratch. It was a fortuitous substitution, and although the new line up was not an overnight success, after they played their first gig with Bon at Brighton-le-Sands Masonic Hall, the new AC/DC never looked back.
Their debut album was High Voltage, and their first UK performance was at a public house in Hammersmith; there were ten people in the audience; by their second performance, the place was packed. AC/DC went on to become one of the biggest rock bands in the world, but sadly Bon never lived to receive the adulation he deserved. He died in London on February 19, 1980, in classic rock star fashion, literally drinking himself to death. His body was repatriated, and after cremation his ashes were interned at Fremantle Cemetery.

In 1976, AC/DC released a tongue-in-cheek song called "Ain't No Fun (Waiting Round To Be A Millionaire)" which was inspired by a letter Bon wrote to Irene shortly after joining the band. In a PS to his brother Graeme he asked if he could send him $50. Twenty-six years after his death, Bon's shaving mirror was sold for AUD $12,540, approximately $9,.200 in American money.

There are two excellent books about the life of Bon Scott: the dedicated biography by Clinton Walker, Highway to Hell: The Life and Death of AC/DC Legend Bon Scott, and Paul Stenning's AC/DC: Two Sides to Every Glory: The Complete Biography, although in his book, Stenning gives Bon's date of birth erroneously as September 7, 1946. The correct date is engraved on the plaque that was unveiled in the town of his birth on May 6, 2006 on what was designated Bon Scott Memorial Day, two months before his sixtieth birthday. (thanks, Alexander Baron - London, England, for all above)

The last person who saw Bon Scott alive was Alistair Kinnear, another musician and a friend of Bon's on and off girlfriend. It was thought that Kinnear disappeared or even didn't exist, but he was contacted and interviewed in 2005 by a fan magazine. He had moved to Costa del Sol (Spain) where he started working as a musician. Kinnear stated that he found out after the fact that Scott was suffering from liver damage which may have contributed to his death.
Scott died in Alistair Kinnear's car, but not in the back as usually stated. According to Kinnear, he was in the passenger seat which was reclined back. Kinnear also didn't see evidence of vomit when he brought Scott to the hospital. He was under the assumption Scott died of alcohol poisoning. (thanks, Nighthawk - Marble Falls, AR)