Alistair Kinnear was the last person to see Bon Scott alive. For
years, even AC/DC's most revered biographers have thought he doesn't
exist. Now, in a world exclusive for Metal Hammer and Classic Rock
Presents... AC/DC, Alistair recalls what really happened on that night.

In February 2005, The Guardian published a feature called 25 years on.
AC/DC fans recall how wild rocker met his end' in which writer Richard
Jinman quoted AC/DC biographer Clinton Walker as saying of Bon Scott's
friend Alistair Kinnear: "No-one spoke to him before or after the
event [Scott's death]. He just doesn't seem to exist" The article also
stated that "Walker believes Alistair Kinnear was a name adopted by
one of Bon Scott's associates who did not want to be identified."

Well We've found Alistair Kinnear, and in his own words he tells what
really went down on February 19, 1980....

"In late 1978 I met Silver Smith, with whom I moved to a flat in
Kensington. She was a sometime girlfriend of Bon Scott. Bon came to
stay with us for two weeks, and he and I became friends. Silver
returned to Australia for a year, and I moved to Overhill Road in East
Dulwich. On the night of 18 February 1980, Zena Kakoulli, manager of
the Only ones, and wife of bandleader Peter Perrett, invited me to the
inaugural gig of her sister's band at the Music Machine in Camden Town
(renamed Camden Palace in 1982). "I phoned Silver, who was once again
living in London, to see if she wanted to come along, but she'd made
other arrangements for the evening. However, she suggested that Bon
might be interested, as he had phoned her earlier looking for
something to do. I gave him a call, and he was agreeable, and I picked
him up at his flat on Ashley court in Westminster.

"It was a great party, and Bon and I both drank far too much, both at
the free bar backstage and at the upstairs bar as well; however I did
not see him take any drugs that evening. At the end of the party I
offered to drive him home. As we approached his flat, I realised that
Bon had drifted into unconsciousness. I left him in my car and rang
his doorbell, but his current live-in girlfriend didn't answer. I took
Bon's keys and let myself into the flat, but no-one was at home. I was
unable to wake Bon, so I rang Silver for advice. She said that he
passed out quite frequently, and that it was best just to leave him to
sleep it off.

"I then drove to my flat on Overhill Road and tried to lift him out of
the car, but he was too heavy for me to carry in my intoxicated state,
so I put the front passenger seat back so that he could lie flat,
covered him with a blanket, left a note with my address and phone
number on it, and staggered upstairs to bed. It must have been 4 or
5am by that time, and I slept until about 11. when I was awakened by a
friend, Leslie Loads. I was so hungover that I asked Leslie to do me a
favour of checking on Bon. He did so, and returned to tell me my car
was empty, so I went back to sleep, assuming that Bon had awoken and
taken a taxi home. At about 7:30 that evening I went down to my car
intending to pay a visit to my girlfriend who was in hospital, and was
shocked to find Bon still lying flat in the front seat, obviously in a
very bad way, and not breathing. I immediately drove hime to King's
College Hospital, wher Bon was pronounced dead on arrival. The Lambeth
coroner's report cited acute alchol poisoning, and death by misadventure.

"It has since been speculated that Bon choked on his own vomit, but I
can neither confirm nor deny this, and his death certificate says
nothing about it. There was no vomit in the car and contrary to other
reports I've read, he was not wrapped around the gearstick when I
found him. I made a statement to the police at the hospital, and later
spoke to the Evening Standard, relating everything I knew at the time.

"The next day Silver came around to see me. She told me for the first
time that Bon had been receiving treatment for liver damage, but had
missed several doctor's appointments. I wish that I had known this at
the time.

"I truly regret Bon's death. Hindsight being 20/20, I would've driven
him to the hospital when he first passed out, but in those days of
excess, unconsciousness was commonplace and seemed no cause for real
alarm.

"It has been implied that I mysteriously 'disappeared', but in fact I
have been living on the Costa del Sol for 22 years, still working as a
musician, and am in touch with most of my old friends in England and
in other parts of the world, so I am not hiding from anyone. What I'd
like to pass on from this unfortunate experience is the idea that we
should all take better care of our friends, and err on the side of
caution when we don't know all the facts."

The above text is copyright Metal Hammer and Classic Rock Present AC/DC
Special 2005.

http://www.bonscott....

Fuck Alistair.

And what about that cunt who said Kinnear's car was empty? What gives?

He probably never looked inside. The seat was down, so you would'nt see anyone in the car, unless you'd take a closer look, which the guy probably never did.
Overall just very, very unfortunate. Shit like that happens all the time to people, getting waisted, passing out in a car, on the floor or wherever. I know I've slept in quite a few places I wasn't supposed to, in various physical states when I was younger. 99,9 percent of those who do that just wake up with a terrible hangover, but sometimes it goes wrong. Bon was in the wrong place, at the wrong time and in the wrong physical condition. But who knows, maybe he would have died anyway the next day, being sober.

ahh hang on, I overlooked that front seat bit... sorry.

Yep, spot on.

Too right DP. He deserved all the success and the millions of fans screaming for him, but alas, he never got it.

I would LOVE to have seen Bon live with the boys. That would be my first 10 stops if I had a time-machine....

Thanks for that, Landslide, and good comment you made too!

I'm definitely with you on that one, bonlives! I suppose, to be fair, AK did his best under the circumstances, considering he was pissed himself! I suppose, though, I would have rung someone else to come and help carry Bon into his flat. What does everyone else think?

I always thought that Silver was his wife. I obviously read that wrong somewhere.............

Hi Landslide, no she was that Heroin addict sheila who bon got caught up with, from 1976 to about 1978 or 1979, then she broke the relationship off with him, and it broke his heart! Silly Cow!

Yeah, you've got a good point there, Landslide!

Posted By: ToiletWallPoetIs it even possible logistically for a drunk person to carry another person up stairs? Who knows what would have happened, maybe he couldn't even make it to the front door with Bon, maybe he drops Bon right on his head and cracks his skull open. I'm sure this guy has felt a lot of guilt over the years and the last thing he needs is thousands of angry fans piling on him.

He's now dead himself.

Posted By: Goulash

Posted By: ToiletWallPoetIs it even possible logistically for a drunk person to carry another person up stairs? Who knows what would have happened, maybe he couldn't even make it to the front door with Bon, maybe he drops Bon right on his head and cracks his skull open. I'm sure this guy has felt a lot of guilt over the years and the last thing he needs is thousands of angry fans piling on him.

He's now dead himself.

Yep. He was sailing and he went missing at sea in 2006. Never seen or heard from again.

He was declared dead after a certain amount of years had passed.

Posted By: Thankass

Posted By: soulstripper666the chapters in his last book about Bon's last days and hours are really, really interesting. Apparantly Kinnear accounts differ from time to time like he tried to cover something up, and most importantly: Fink uncovers the fact that there weren't only Bon and Kinnear in the car, there was another person who apparantly is still alive today.

Indeed. Zena Kakoulli should be tracked down to give an interview.

Yes and also Peter Perrett (of the band “the Only Ones” and Zena’s husband). In Finks updated edition of the book he also makes claims that Peter Perrett was in the car. There is also this bit of info from Classic Rock Magazine in regard to a book about the Only Ones.


“There’s an interesting Bon Scott connection. The night Bon Scott died, his drinking partner was one Alistair Kinnear. Kinnear had gotten himself and Scott into a club night at the Music Machine in Camden (now Koko). Bon Scott later died in Kinnear’s car and Kinnear fled the country, never fully giving his side of the story. In fact, Bon Scott biographer Clinton Walker concluded in 2007 that the name was most likely an alias and that no-one called ‘Alistair Kinnear’ had ever existed. Not only did he exist, he was a former lighting guy at the Roundhouse and, in 1972, the original guitarist in Peter Perrett’s band England’s Glory. Fellow band member John Newey remembers: “He was a bit of an acid casualty and pretty spaced out most of the time.” The night of Bon’s death, the person who got them both on the guest list at the Music Machine was… Zena“.

https://www.louderso...

To be fair, drunk driving in 1980 was a thing. It was wrong no doubt, but it wasn't as taboo as it is today.

Just like writing songs and brawling about having sex with under age girls were OK in '76 but not so today :-)

Posted By: ToiletWallPoet

It's pretty normal for people's stories to change over time, as human memory is a faulty thing. Think about how the stories the band have told over the years can differ in each retelling.

Well, I would certainly remember if I'd seen Bon covered in puke or not even after a long time. I can't remember exactly since it was a long time ago since I read the book, but it seemed apparent when I read it that he'd changed the story around to cover something up.

Posted By: ToiletWallPoetYou might think so, but people have completely fabricated memories from nothing and genuinely believed they were real. I think you'd be surprised if you could actually go back in time and find out just how much of your memories are incorrect.

I absolutely agree. But please read the parts in Fink's book regarding Bon's last hours, and tell me you don't think his differing versions of the account point at him trying to cover something up.