A new Bon Scott mural has been unveiled in Melbourne’s AC/DC Lane, giving AC/DC fans another permanent place to pay tribute to one of Australian rock’s most iconic frontmen.
The mural, painted by Melbourne artist Era, is based on exclusive commemorative artwork by Reg Mombassa, the award-winning artist and Mental As Anything co-founder whose warped, unmistakably Australian visual style has become part of the country’s cultural bloodstream.
The work was revealed in AC/DC Lane on Friday, ahead of what would have been Scott’s 80th birthday on 9 July. Reg Mombassa was also on site for the unveiling, bringing together two Australian cultural figures whose work has left very different, but equally permanent, marks on the national imagination.
The reveal was originally scheduled for 1pm, but fog-related flight delays into Melbourne pushed the media moment back until after 2pm, with Mombassa arriving in the laneway later in the afternoon.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece also attended the reveal, marking the moment with a devil-horns salute in front of the new mural.
It gave the event the kind of strange, perfect Melbourne energy the tribute deserved — part civic ceremony, part rock pilgrimage, part laneway chaos.
“Fifty years ago, Bon Scott and AC/DC made Aussie rock history when they rolled down Swanston Street on the back of a flatbed truck – bagpipes in tow – for their iconic ‘It’s A Long Way To The Top’ music video,” Reece said.
“This moment sparked a surge of cultural energy that still reverberates today. Melbourne is the undisputed home of live music in Australia, and AC/DC is part of our city’s DNA.
“Era’s new Reg Mombassa-inspired Bon Scott mural is a fitting tribute to two Antipodean cultural icons – and you couldn’t find a better home for it than here in AC/DC Lane.”
Scott’s family also backed the tribute, saying Mombassa’s involvement made the moment especially meaningful.
“The Scott family have been fans of Reg Mombassa’s artwork (and music) for many years,” the family said. “His visual style is an iconic piece of Australian culture. To have him create a special piece commemorating Bon’s 80th birthday is an honour and a thrill.”
The same artwork is also launching as exclusive Reg Mombassa x Bon Scott 80 commemorative merchandise for Australian fans, tying the mural into a wider celebration of Scott’s legacy.
More than four decades after his death, the former AC/DC vocalist still occupies a strange and powerful place in Australian music culture: part rock god, part street-corner ghost, part patron saint of every singer who ever made danger sound fun.
And in Melbourne, where AC/DC once turned a flatbed truck on Swanston Street into one of the most enduring images in Australian rock, the new mural feels less like nostalgia than a reminder.
Some legends do not fade. They just get painted bigger.
PHOTOS: Bon Scott Mural Unveiled In AC/DC Lane As Melbourne Pays Tribute To AC/DC Legend
MORE IN Music
