A great vocalist can be made of a few things: powerful vocals, great stage presence, and a remarkable style. For AC /DC frontman Brian Johnson , his most iconic accessory is undoubtedly his beret.
In an interview with Planet Rock UK , the singer recounts how the accessory became part of his career. “The hat thing started, I’ll never forget it, I used to play in men’s clubs in the northeast of England, and we really rocked,” Brian recalls. “It was a great little rock band called Georgie , and I used to sweat because they didn’t have air conditioning. And in the winter, especially, the clubs would be packed and they had full heating because it was freezing outside. And I’d always sweat, and my hair, all the sweat would get in my eyes and sting. And my brother Maurice was there one night; he was sitting there. And he’d just gotten a sports car, and he bought, God bless him, he bought one of those sports car caps. You know, they’re little caps. And we were halfway through the set, and I was sitting there having a beer with him, and he said, ‘Your eyes are red!’ I said, ‘I know, it’s all the sweat.’” He said, 'Yes, put that on.' And I said, 'Oh, I'll try.' And I put it on, because in the north of England, everyone wore a cap, you know, after the War and all that, it was a sort of uniform for the Geordies and Yorkshiremen and people like that.”
“And I wore it in the second half [of the set] and I said, ‘This is wonderful! It’s brilliant!’ I said, ‘I’m going to buy one of those!’ And he said, ‘You can have that. I’m not going to wear it.’ So I kept it. And then people started remembering, ‘Oh, it’s a good band. The singer who wears the cap. Him!’” he recounts. “And then, immediately, we had instant recognition with things like that. And we have performances, we have shows. ‘We want that group. What are they called? You know, the singer wears the cap!’ Oh, right. Georgie! And it stuck. And I think it’s just part of us now.”
Check out the interview below: