One of the most famous and influential voices in Heavy Metal during the past decades, James Hetfield entered Rock history as the guitarist and vocalist of Metallica. Although the band started as a Thrash Metal focused group, they showed throughout their career that their influences were much broader.
He was lucky enough to have seen some of the greatest bands of all time perform both before and after achieving fame, one of them being AC/DC. Over the years, he spoke a lot about the band and gave his opinion on their late legendary vocalist Bon Scott.
What is James Hetfield’s opinion on AC/DC’s Bon Scott
James Hetfield has always been a huge fan of AC/DC, and in his opinion, Bon Scott is the fifth greatest vocalist of all time. He placed the late musician in that position when asked by Rolling Stone to name the best singers in history, ranking him behind only Chris Cornell, Rob Halford, Layne Staley and Ronnie James Dio.
Curiously, according to Hetfield, the first real concert he ever attended was Aerosmith, with AC/DC as the opening act back in 1978, when he was 15. At the time, the Aussie band was promoting their acclaimed album “Powerage” and had Bon Scott as their frontman.
“Music would speak my voice, and it connected on so many levels. It made perfect sense that I would want to express myself that way. It was all about Kiss and Aerosmith. The first concert I went to was Aerosmith and AC/DC at the Long Beach Arena,” James Hetfield said in an interview with Guitar World in 2009.
Thirteen years later, Metallica toured as the opening act for AC/DC on the Monsters of Rock tour. It was one of the last times the American band opened for other groups, as soon after they would release their groundbreaking album “The Black Album” (1991).
When Metallica played in Australia in 2025, James visited AC/DC Lane. He posted a photo on the band’s social media of the murals that pay tribute to the legendary singer. In his list of the greatest singers of all time, Scott ranked ahead of legendary names like Robert Plant, Johnny Cash, Steven Tyler and Freddie Mercury.
James Hetfield said AC/DC is one of his biggest influences and that he wanted to be Angus Young
Hetfield was deeply influenced by AC/DC, especially Malcolm Young, since he is a rhythm guitarist as well. However, when he was still a kid, he said that after seeing them at that first show, he told his brother he wanted to be like Angus. “I was a big Aerosmith fan. But I had no idea that AC/DC was that cool. I went with my older brother. I remember him pointing at Angus and saying: ‘That little guy running around was annoying!’ But I wanted to be that guy!” he said in an interview with Classic Rock in 2022.
Although many decades have passed, he continues to admire Angus a lot, especially for his endurance. “Angus Young is probably the guy that I definitely take my hat off for, that dude is insane. I don’t know, he must sweat gallons every show and he is like the size… He’s like a little dude, he’s an elf. (It makes everybody wonder) ‘Where’s that water coming from?’ How can you sweat your body weight? (laughs).”
He continued:
“(Despite that) he’s out there headbanging, rocking and he’s up there in age too. So that’s the person we’re kind of, I guess, seeing ‘How long can this guy go?’ He is the canary in the coal mine (laughs). I’ll tell you, out of the big four, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax, myself, Dave Mustaine and Tom Araya all had neck surgery from all this headbanging (over the years),” James Hetfield said in an interview with Joe Rogan in 2016 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
In his opinion, AC/DC is a better example of longevity than Bruce Springsteen and The Rolling Stones. “Everybody mentions The Rolling Stones. They could probably play until they’re 120. Lemmy (Kilmister from Moörhead) gave it all he had until the last breath. Bruce Springsteen, another guy I admire for his endurance. But Angus Young, that guy blows my mind. That guy sweats so much every night. I can’t believe his head is still on his body,” James Hetfield told Billboard in 2016.
Lars Ulrich said Bon Scott was the coolest singer ever
“Bon Scott was the coolest singer ever – the vocal delivery, the tongue-in-cheek double entendres and the magnetic personality. Those early AC/DC records – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Let There Be Rock, Powerage, Highway To Hell. They are just f*cking timeless,” he told Metal Hammer in 2022. He was lucky enough to see many incredible bands in Denmark while growing up, and AC/DC was one of them.
“I just think of how lucky I’ve been in the past, all the great shows I’ve seen. I saw Thin Lizzy multiple times between ’76 and ’80, incredible. Motörhead multiple times, ’79 to ’81 – insane. Also saw AC/DC open for Black Sabbath in 1976. I saw AC/DC headline in Copenhagen in ’77. Bon Scott was so great, you couldn’t take your eyes off him.”
“That was Bon in his heyday, with the tight jeans, the tennis shoes, the shirt off. I loved the way he would hold the mic with the cord rolled up two or three times. He would stand out there at the very edge of the stage when he wasn’t singing. (He would) stand over on Malcolm’s side and let Angus bounce around in front of him…,” he said in an interview with Classic Rock in 2022.
Since 1975, AC/DC have released 17 studio albums, 15 internationally and two exclusively in Australia. The American band, on the other hand, has released 11 studio albums. They sold an estimated 150 million records, around 50 million less than AC/DC.