BON SCOTT Statue Unveiling In Kirriemuir Pushed Back To Next Year

According to TheCourier.co.uk, the unveiling of the Bon Scott statue, which is planned for the center of his hometown of Kirriemuir, Scotland, has been delayed until 2015.

The statue was originally supposed to be revealed at this year's edition of BonFest — the annual event celebrates the life and music of the late AC/DC frontman, who died in 1980 — but Graham Galloway of organizers DD8 Music said major Angus Council plans to redevelop the statue’s surroundings will push the project back by some time.

He said: "We have made the decision to push the unveiling of the statue back to next year's Bonfest, which will take place in May 2015.

"Artist John McKenna has now started work on the statue after a public vote confirmed the final design will include bagpipes over Bon's shoulder.

"We had hoped to be ready for this year's Bonfest in August (15-17),but as the statue is now part of the major renovations to Kirriemuir's town centre, the final installation date has been somewhat taken out of our hands."

The Pulse Of Radio reported last year that AC/DC gave its endorsement to a campaign to get a statue of Bon Scott erected in Kirriemuir. The band posted an item about the project on its official web site and pointed to the site of DD8 Music, organizers of the campaign, where fans can donate to the project's fundraising drive.

DD8 Music's Graham Calloway said he didn't speak with anyone from the band before they promoted the campaign on their website.

Guitarist Malcolm Young told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that Scott's spirit has always stayed with the group. "He's always there," he said. "He never left the band. That's just the way that we are. You know, we're very tight as a unit. It's the reality of it all. You just never forget. There's so many stories with Bon, and it creeps in every day. And if it's not one of the band, it's a fan."

Individual members of the group past and present have offered their support previously, with former bassist Mark Evans saying in 2012, "It's so amazing that Bon is getting honored like this, especially since Scotland is such an important place in the history of AC/DC. Bon already had a street named after him in Kirriemuir and now this!"

The statue would be the second of Scott, who was born in Kirriemuir in 1946 but moved with his family to Australia in 1952. An Australian statue honoring Scott has already been on display since February 2008 (see photo above).

The singer died in 1980 at the age of 33 from alcohol poisoning. He sang on AC/DC's first six studio albums, including "High Voltage", "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", "Let There Be Rock" and "Highway To Hell".