Bagpipe world record smashed in tribute to late AC/DC singer Bon Scott

It occupies the rarified and niche status as one of the greatest bagpipe riffs in rock and roll, coined by a Scots emigre who never forgot his roots.

Now, hundreds of pipers have smashed a world record for the largest ever ensemble after paying tribute to Bon Scott, the Angus-born lead singer who shot to fame with AC/DC.

Some 374 pipers gathered in the Australian city of Melbourne to perform a rendition of the rock band’s hit track It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll), which features Scott’s inimitable bagpipe solo.

The world record was smashed by the pipers in Melbourne, with the city's lord mayor, Nicholas Reece, presenting the band leaders with the certificate. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images | Getty Images

Nearly 50 years to the day since Scott and his bandmates filmed the video for the song in the city, the successful record attempt was designed as a tribute to the band, who kick off the Australian leg of their world tour this week.

Some of those pipers who took part in the 1976 music video returned to Melbourne to play their part in the performance and reflect on Scott’s ground-breaking use of the instrument.

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They included Les Kenfield, a veteran member of the Rats of Tobruk pipe band, whose members accompanied Scott as he rode on a flat bed truck.

Bon Scott found fame as the frontman of AC/DC. Picture: Michael Putland/Getty Images | Michael Putland/Getty Images

“It was exciting,” Mr Kenfield said of the video’s production. “The music was blaring from the speakers and I’m sure it wasn’t announced, but once the music started we had a crowd of people following us down the footpath. And that’s when you kind of got the feeling that this was exciting.”

The experience, he said, was made possible by Scott, who invited the band members down to Melbourne’s Swanston Street to let rip while the cameras rolled.

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“He was a lovely character,” Mr Kenfield recalled. “We got to know him because he came down to our band practice hall a couple of times, he wanted a bit of extra tuition on the pipes, so we got to know him quite well. He got to have a bit of a social time with him after the video.”

A total of 374 pipers took part in the event. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images | Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Although AC/DC are often hailed as an Australian band, Scott was one of three founding members, alongside brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, to hail from Scotland.

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The singer, who died aged just 33 in 1980 from acute alcohol poisoning, was born in the Angus town of Kirriemuir, where his parents, Chick and Isa, ran a family bakery renowned for its gingerbread.

They emigrated to Melbourne when Scott was six before eventually settling in the port city of Fremantle. The young would-be musician celebrated his Scottish heritage by joining the local pipe band. Although his career would ultimately be defined by foot-to-the-floor rock and roll, the skirl of the pipes was never far away.

Mr Kenfield said he hoped the publicity surrounding the new world record encouraged future generations to take up the pipes.

“Piping is really a dying art, young kids don't really want to play, [whether] it's too difficult or [for] whatever reasons," he said. “We're getting old. In my band, if everyone over 70 resigned, there would be no band left.”