His first and only solo single, "I Can't Forget You Now", he released also as a member of Geordie in January 1976 on the Red Bus label. He and other members of the band went on to form Geordie. From 1970, Johnson played with cabaret/club band the Jasper Hart Band, performing songs from the musical Hair as well as soft-rock/pop songs of the time. Johnson's first band was the Gobi Desert Canoe Club. He also served in the Territorial Army with the Parachute Regiment in Germany for two years. When he was young, Johnson performed in various shows with the Scouts, appeared in a play which aired on television, and joined a local church choir. His Italian mother, Esther ( née De Luca), was from Frascati. His English father, Alan, was a coal miner and sergeant major in the British Army's Durham Light Infantry who died in 1996. Johnson was born on 5 October 1947 in Dunston, then in County Durham. In July 2014, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Music by Northumbria University in the city of Newcastle in recognition of his significant contribution to the music industry. Johnson is known for his distinctive singing voice and strong Geordie accent. 36 on their list of 50 key events in rock music history. The Guardian ranked the successful transition to Johnson at No. His first album with AC/DC, Back in Black, became the second-best-selling album of all time, according to most estimates. AC/DC guitarists and founders Angus and Malcolm Young initially reached out to Brian remembering when Bon had been impressed with him after seeing him perform with Geordie. Following the death of Bon Scott on 19 February 1980, Johnson was asked to audition for AC/DC. After a few hit singles, including UK Top 10 "All Because of You" (1973), the band split up in 1978.
Johnson was one of the founding members of the rock band Geordie formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1971. In September 2020, AC/DC officially confirmed that Johnson along with fellow band-mates Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams had returned in August 2018 to record the band's 2020 album, Power Up.
In March 2016, he temporarily stepped away from the band during the Rock or Bust World Tour due to hearing problems. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. Testify is by no means a great album, but that powerful voice and magnetic personality that won over so many fans are absolutely present as Johnson delivers a solid first effort.Brian Francis Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. Pegging Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins to pen the lead single "As Long as You Love Me" was a stroke of genius, aligning Johnson squarely with the school of rock where his strengths lie. Or maybe it's that he takes his rock very seriously, attacking classic rock tropes with a hearty Jack Black-esque zeal that is ultimately charming. In those moments, he exudes a refreshing freewheeling charm that harks back to the '70s heyday of Meat Loaf and Kiss, seeming to take himself less seriously than so many other Idol alums vying for pop relevance. Front-loaded with two of the heaviest (and best) cuts, "Sailing Away" and "Save Me," the album also dishes out a handful of ballads and bluesy numbers but is at its best when Johnson lends his formidable chops to the type of over the top stadium thumpers that connected with fans on Idol. Knocked out in a furious three weeks with producer Howard Benson, who is responsible for mainstream acts as disparate as My Chemical Romance and Rascal Flatts, Testify dials up the rock theatrics for a riffy, vaguely Southern-leaning romp that is surprisingly fun and entertaining. While it's hard for the public to know how much control a new Idol winner actually has over his/her first proper release, the album does seem to line up with Johnson's pre-Idol roots as the metal-loving lead singer of Asheville hard rockers Elijah Hooker, who released their own debut just prior to Johnson's emergence on the show. Hot off the momentum from his 2014 American Idol crown, North Carolina rocker Caleb Johnson takes a victory lap with his debut album, Testify.