“AC/DC started calling me ‘Batgirl’. Every day I’d go into my dressing room and there’d be a little bat rubber ducky”: AC/DC threw Taylor Momsen a bat-themed birthday party, after she got bit halfway through a show

Brian Johnson of AC/DC and Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless playing live onstage — (Image credit: Don Arnold/WireImage | Mat Hayward/Getty Images)

AC/DC threw Taylor Momsen a bat-themed birthday party, after the Pretty Reckless singer was bitten at a show where she was supporting the rock’n’roll icons.

Talking in the new issue of Metal Hammer, Momsen reveals that the Aussie/Scottish superstars refer to her as ‘Batgirl’ because of the biting incident, which took place during an open-air concert on AC/DC’s and The Pretty Reckless’ 2024 tour.

“We were playing in Spain when this bat flew out of the sky and landed on me,” she remembers. “I didn’t notice it, but it bit me. I had to have all these rabies shots, but it turned into this big running joke on the tour. It was a very cute bat, though, if that’s any consolation.”

AC/DC somehow caught wind of the encounter, leading to some japes as the tour continued.

“Every day I’d go into my dressing room and there’d be a little bat rubber ducky,” Momsen continues. “The next show, we walked on our stage, and they’d covered our amps in ‘No bat’ signs. They threw me a bat-themed birthday party with a giant homemade bat cake and some bat horns as a tiara; it was crazy. When AC/DC give you a nickname, you stick with that!”

The pranks were clearly all in good fun, as The Pretty Reckless have served as AC/DC support act consistently since then. After the 2024 European tour wrapped up, the two bands played more shows together across the same continent in 2025. They’ll team up yet again for a run of North, South and Central American shows this year, set to kick off in Brazil in February. Hopefully there’ll be no hungry bats in the vicinity.

Last year, The Pretty Reckless released a Christmas EP, Taylor Momsen’s Pretty Reckless Christmas. On the tracklist was a version of Where Are You Christmas?: a song that Momsen originally sang when she was just seven years old, playing Cindy Lou Who in the musical comedy film How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) starring Jim Carrey.

In between legs of the AC/DC pan-American tour, The Pretty Reckless will hit Europe for a number of festival dates, including a slot at Download festival in the UK in June. See the band’s full itinerary via their website. Read the full interview with Momsen in the new Hammer, which you can order now and have delivered directly to your door.

Megadeth on the cover of Metal Hammer issue 409 — (Image credit: Future)

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Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.

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