It’s rare to successfully replace the founding member of a band, especially the lead singer, and especially one who’s died tragically. Brian Johnson happened to do that with AC/DC. In 1980, Bon Scott, the lead singer and lyricist of the Australian rock band AC/DC died at 33 of alcohol poisoning. After toying with the idea of disbanding, they decided to forge ahead. One of the performers they called was Johnson, whom Scott himself had seen perform and raved about. Johnson was a fan of the band and was happy to audition in April, and was stunned when they actually chose him. The album was released in July—a mere three months after Johnson had joined the band. It was a monster, going on to sell 50 million copies worldwide. The band toured the world for a full year to support the album, changing the face of rock music—and Brian Johnson’s life—forever.