The search is on for more information about the real-life woman who inspired a classic AC/DC song.
“Whole Lotta Rosie” was the final track on the hard rockers’ 1977 album Let There Be Rock. The track was written about a larger Tasmanian woman, Rosie, who Bon Scott once spent one night with in Melbourne.
Her identity remained unknown for a very long time, with the character of Rosie becoming a thing of legend in AC/DC and rock music circles. That was until very recently, when AC/DC biographer Jesse Fink identified Rosie as Australian sex worker Rosemaree Garcia.
And now Fink has followed that up by writing a blog post asking for further information, as well as posting a picture of Rosemaree alongside a man named Graeme Fry.
The picture of the pair was taken in 1978 in Melbourne, and Fry’s nephew, Tim Briton, wants to know more. “Graeme was 21 when the photo was taken, and had been in Australia for about six months,” Briton says. “The photo was taken in the flat that Graeme and Rosie shared at the time. They were leaving Melbourne to go to Mildura that night.
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“Graeme would be really happy to hear from anyone else who remembers Rosie from that time. There were other people who were part of the same group of friends at the time – Wayne James, Terry Hagen, Kevin Shaligh.”
The blog also reveals that Rosemaree tragically died at the age of 22 in 1979. You can read Fink’s full blog post – which includes more information about the history behind the track – here. An updated version of the writer’s book, Bon: The Last Highway: The Untold Story of Bon Scott and AC/DC’s Back In Black, will be released later this month (pre-order here).
Rosemaree wasn’t just immortalised in music: Rosie has played a prominent role in AC/DC’s renowned set design, with a huge inflatable of the woman often appearing onstage when they sing “Whole Lotta Rosie.”
Check out “Whole Lotta Rosie” by AC/DC:
