Over the years, people have often talked about whether Bon Scott, the famous lead singer of AC/DC, wrote lyrics for the band’s hit album Back in Black before he died on February 19, 1980, at the age of 33. While this has never been confirmed, there’s a rumor that Scott’s family receives money from the album’s sales. With that said, AC/DC might go on a farewell tour next year.
In an interview with Booked on Rock, Jesse Fink, who wrote Bon: The Last Highway: The Untold Story of Bon Scott and AC/DC’s Back In Black, discussed whether Scott’s family gets royalties even though he is not listed as a co-writer for any songs on the album.
Fink talked about Vince Lovegrove, who was a former bandmate of Scott’s in a band called the Valentines in the 1960s. After his music career, Lovegrove became a journalist and wrote a tribute to Scott for a newspaper on the 25th anniversary of his death. In that tribute, he claimed that the Bon Scott Estate, which includes Scott’s brothers and their children, received royalties from Back in Black.
Fink mentioned that Lovegrove had connections to Scott’s family, including his mother, and that this wasn’t the first time he said the family was getting money from the album. Lovegrove also wrote about it on his blog before he sadly passed away in a car accident in 2012.
“Vince sort of after his musical career, became a journalist,” Fink said (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar). “And he wrote a tribute to Bon on the 25th anniversary of Bon’s death for a West Australian newspaper. And in that story, he wrote that the Bon Scott Estate, which at the time was [Scott’s] brothers and the children of the brothers, were receiving a royalty for the ‘Back in Black’ album.”
However, Fink also referred to a statement on the Official Bon Scott Website that seemed to deny Lovegrove’s claims. The website said that the estate does not receive royalties “for songs” from Back in Black, but it doesn’t clearly say they don’t get any money at all. Fink expressed uncertainty because the estate has never replied to his questions.
“And Vince Lovegrove had access to the brothers. He had access to Bon’s mother at the time. It wasn’t the first time that he claimed that Bon’s family were getting royalties for ‘Back in Black.’ He also wrote about it on his personal blog. And then Lovegrove was killed in a car accident in 2012.”
“On the website, they say that the Estate does not receive any royalties for songs on ‘Back and Black,’” Fink continues. “Now, the keywords there are ‘for songs.’ It’s not sort of flat-out saying that they don’t get a payment. But it’s saying that they don’t get royalties for songs. So, I can’t answer that to the satisfaction that I would like, because the Estate has never responded to me.”
Currently, Back in Black is known as the fourth best-selling album ever, with 31.1 million certified copies sold worldwide.
