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AC/DC are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in 1973. They were founded by brothers Malcolm Young on rhythm guitar and Angus Young on lead guitar. Their current lineup comprises Angus, bassist Cliff Williams, drummer Phil Rudd, lead vocalist Brian Johnson, and rhythm guitarist Stevie Young, nephew of Angus and Malcolm. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, but the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formative influence on the new wave of British heavy metal bands, such as Def Leppard and Saxon (band), Saxon. AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
AC/DC underwent several line-up changes before releasing their debut album, ''High Voltage (1975 album), High Voltage'' (1975), which was released exclusively in Australia. Membership subsequently stabilised after the release of ''Let There Be Rock'' (1977), with the Young brothers, Rudd, Williams and Bon Scott on lead vocals. Seven months after the release of ''Highway to Hell'' (1979), Scott died of alcohol poisoning and the other members considered disbanding. However, at the request of Scott's parents, they continued together and recruited English-born singer Johnson as their new front man. Their first album with Johnson, ''Back in Black'' (1980), was dedicated to Scott's memory. It became the List of best-selling albums, second best-selling album of all time.
The band's eighth studio album, ''For Those About to Rock We Salute You, For Those About to Rock'' (1981), was their first album to reach number one on the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200. Prior to the release of ''Flick of the Switch'' (1983), Rudd left AC/DC and was replaced by Simon Wright (musician), Simon Wright, who was himself replaced by Chris Slade six years later. AC/DC experienced a commercial resurgence in the early 1990s with the release of ''The Razors Edge (AC/DC album), The Razors Edge'' (1990); it was their only record to feature Slade, as Rudd returned in 1994. Rudd has since recorded five more albums with the band, starting with ''Ballbreaker'' (1995). Their fifteenth studio album, ''Black Ice (album), Black Ice'' was the second-highest-selling record of 2008 and their biggest chart hit since ''For Those About to Rock'', eventually reaching number one worldwide.
The band's line-up remained the same for 20 years until 2014, when Malcolm retired due to early-onset dementia, from which he died three years later; additionally, Rudd was involved in legal troubles. Stevie, who replaced Malcolm, debuted on the album ''Rock or Bust'' (2014). On the Rock or Bust World Tour, accompanying tour, Slade filled in for Rudd. In 2016, Johnson was advised to stop touring due to worsening hearing loss and Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose stepped in as the band's front man for the remainder of that year's dates. Williams retired at the end of the tour in 2016 and the band entered a two-year hiatus. A reunion of the ''Rock or Bust'' line-up was announced in September 2020; the band's seventeenth studio album ''Power Up (album), Power Up'' was released two months later. American drummer Matt Laug filled in for Rudd at the Power Trip (music festival), Power Trip festival in October 2023. The Power Up Tour was announced in February 2024 with American bass guitarist Chris Chaney replacing Williams.
AC/DC were formed in the Australian pop music scene of the early to mid-1970s,
* 1st edition [online]: .
* 2nd edition [print]: . which is described as the Rock music in Australia#1970–1975: "Third wave", third wave of rock music. Many local 1960s artists – e.g. the Easybeats and the Masters Apprentices – had attempted to gain international recognition but achieved limited commercial success overseas and disbanded after returning to Australia. Newer artists and veterans of the 1960s beat music, beat boom developed a variety of genres, which included a harder blues rock style dubbed Pub rock (Australia), pub rock. Popular Australian bands – e.g. Sherbet (band), Sherbet and Skyhooks (band), Skyhooks – played mainstream pop or adopted a glam rock approach.
In November 1973, brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young formed AC/DC in Sydney with drummer Colin Burgess (musician), Colin Burgess from the Masters Apprentices, bassist and saxophonist Larry Van Kriedt and vocalist Dave Evans (singer), Dave Evans. Earlier, Malcolm and Evans had been members of a band called Velvet Underground – not The Velvet Underground, the American group of same name – based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle for two years; and Angus started his own band called Tantrum – he would only jam with his friends. The Young brothers had joined Marcus Hook Roll Band – a Session musician#Studio band, studio-only band – in mid-1973, which provided their first recordings for a debut album ''Tales of Old Grand-Daddy'' (1974), although the pair left before it was issued. Malcolm recruited Burgess and Van Kriedt for AC/DC, then Evans responded to an ad in ''the Sydney Morning Herald'' and then Angus joined.
AC/DC's first official gig was at Chequers nightclub in Sydney on 31 December 1973. In their early days, most members of the band dressed in some form of glam or satin outfit. Angus tried various costumes: Zorro, a gorilla; and Superman. n.b. Click "6" to see Angus in the Superman costume, and click "10" to see him in the Zorro costume. Their performances involved cover versions of the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, the Beatles and "smattering of old blues standards" while trialling some original songs. Angus first wore his characteristic School uniforms by country#Australia, school-uniform stage outfit in April 1974 at Victoria Park, Sydney – the idea was his sister Margaret's. He portrayed a boy "straight from school to play his guitar". n.b. Incorrectly spells "Currenti" as "Kerrante". On stage, Evans was occasionally replaced on lead vocals by their first Talent manager, manager, Denis Loughlin from Sherbet. In Paul Stenning's book ''AC/DC: Two Sides to Every Glory'' he stated that Evans and Loughlin were incompatible and as a consequence other members developed bitter feelings toward Evans.
Malcolm and Angus developed the idea for the band's name after Margaret pointed out the symbol "AC/DC" on the AC adapter of her sewing machine. Electric current#Alternating and direct current, A.C./D.C. is an abbreviation for alternating current/direct current electricity. The brothers felt that this name symbolised the band's raw energy and the power-driven performances of their music. It is pronounced one letter at a time, though the band are colloquially known as Acca Dacca in Australia. The AC/DC band name is stylised with a high voltage sign separating the AC from DC and has been used on all studio albums, except the international version of ''Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap''. Their logo was designed by American typographer Gerard Huerta in 1977 and first appeared on ''Let There Be Rock''. Adam Behr of ''The Bulletin'' determined, "[its] type font conveyed the sense of electricity implicit in their name."
The group recorded a session in January 1974 at Studios 301, EMI Studios in Sydney, with older brother George Young (rock musician), George Young and Harry Vanda as the producers – both were former members of the Easybeats and Marcus Hook Roll Band. Several songs were recorded, including "Can I Sit Next to You, Girl", "Rockin' in the Parlour" and an early version of "Rock 'n' Roll Singer". A week after the session, Burgess was fired due to intoxication; he was unconscious during a performance. Burgess later claimed his drink had been tampered with. Subsequently, Van Kriedt was replaced; his recorded bass lines for the January session were re-recorded by George. Their replacements, Neil Smith on bass guitar and Noel Taylor on drums, lasted six weeks, replaced in turn by Rob Bailey (musician), Rob Bailey and Peter Clack, respectively. The band signed with Albert Productions in June 1974. "Can I Sit Next to You, Girl" backed with "Rockin' in the Parlour", taken from the January session, was released in July 1974 as the band's first single. The song reached top 50 on Australia's Kent Music Report singles chart.
The group had developed a strong live reputation by mid-1974, which resulted in a supporting slot on Lou Reed's national tour in August. During that tour, Malcolm switched to rhythm guitar, leaving Angus on lead guitar, the roles the two guitarists played from then on. During 1974, on the recommendation of Michael Chugg, veteran Melbourne promoter Michael Browning booked them to play at his club, the Hard Rock. He was not pleased with their glam rock image and felt that Evans was the wrong singer, but he was impressed by the Young brothers' guitar playing. Browning then received a call weeks after the gig from the band members; Loughlin had quit and they were stuck in Adelaide with no money. Following the gig, they hired Browning as their manager, with the co-operation of George and Vanda. The Young brothers decided to abandon their glam rock image, which was favoured by contemporary Melbourne bands Skyhooks and Hush (band), Hush; instead they pursued a pub rock sound. To this end, they agreed that Evans was no longer a suitable front man.
In September 1974, Bon Scott, a vocalist previously with the Valentines (rock band), the Valentines (1966–1970) and Fraternity (band), Fraternity (1971–1973), joined AC/DC after his former bandmate Vince Lovegrove introduced him to George during their stopover in Adelaide. Scott had worked as a driver for the group in that city until an audition promoted him to lead singer. Like the Young brothers, Scott was born in Scotland, immigrated to Australia in his childhood and had a passion for blues music. Scott also had experience as a songwriter and drummer. Their debut single's tracks were re-written and the vocals were re-recorded by Scott. With Scott's inclusion "[their] working-class style, Boogie rock, boogie-rock sound and earthy humour fell into place", according to music journalist Ian McFarlane. Scott's first concert as AC/DC lead vocalist was on 5 October 1974 at the Masonic Hall in Brighton-Le-Sands, New South Wales.
AC/DC had recorded their first studio album, ''High Voltage (1975 album), High Voltage'' in November 1974 with Vanda & Young producing at Albert Studios, Sydney. Bailey and Clack were still in the band during its recording, but Clack played on only one track and the rest were provided by session drummer Tony Currenti. George handled some bass parts and later redid others. Recording sessions took ten days and were based on instrumentals written by the Young brothers with lyrics added by Scott. They relocated to Melbourne in that month. Both Bailey and Clack were fired in January 1975. Paul Matters took over bass duties briefly before being fired in turn and replaced temporarily by George or Malcolm for live duties. Matters often questioned the Young brothers' decisions and admitted to being "lazy" and "cranky". Meanwhile, on drums, Ron Carpenter and Russell Coleman had brief tenures before Phil Rudd, from Buster Brown (Australian band), Buster Brown, joined in that month. Bassist Mark Evans (musician), Mark Evans was enlisted in March 1975, setting the line-up, which lasted two years.
The band were scheduled to play at the Sunbury Pop Festival#1975, 1975 Sunbury Pop music festival in January; however, they went home without performing following a physical altercation with the management and crew of headlining act Deep Purple. ''High Voltage'' was released exclusively in Australasia on 17 February 1975 via Albert Productions/EMI Music Australia, which reached the top 20 in Australia. It provided a single, their cover version of Big Joe Williams' "Baby, Please Don't Go#AC/DC version, Baby, Please Don't Go" (February).
McFarlane observed, "[their] initial achievement was to take the raw energy of Aussie pub rock, extend its basic guidelines, serve it up to a teenybop ''Countdown (Australian TV series), Countdown'' audience and still reap the benefits of the live circuit by packing out the pubs." They released the second single, "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", from their second studio album ''T.N.T. (album), T.N.T'', for which a well-known promotional video was made for the ABC TV (Australian TV channel), ABC-TV pop music program ''Countdown'', featuring the band miming the song on the back of a flatbed truck. It reached the top ten in Australia. AC/DC released ''T.N.T.'' on 1 December 1975, only in Australasia, which peaked at number two in Australia and top 40 in RMNZ, New Zealand. The T.N.T. (song), title track was issued as a single in March 1976 and includes the lyric "so lock up your daughter", which was modified into their first United Kingdom tour's name.
Browning sent promo material to contacts in London, which came to the attention of Phil Carson of Atlantic Records – AC/DC signed an international deal with Atlantic in 1976. On arrival in London in April, their scheduled tour with Back Street Crawler (band), Back Street Crawler was cancelled following the death of that group's guitarist Paul Kossoff. As a result, AC/DC returned to playing smaller venues to build a local following until their label organised the Lock Up Your Daughters tour sponsored by ''Sounds (magazine), Sounds'' magazine. At the time, punk rock was breaking and came to dominate the pages of major British music weeklies, ''NME'' and ''Melody Maker''. AC/DC were sometimes identified with the punk rock movement by the British press, but they hated punk rock, believing it to be a passing fad; Browning wrote that "it wasn't possible to even hold a conversation with AC/DC about punk without them getting totally pissed off". Their reputation managed to survive the punk upheavals and they maintained a cult following in the UK.
The first AC/DC album to have worldwide distribution was a 1976 combination of tracks taken from the ''High Voltage'' and ''T.N.T.'' LP record, LPs. Also titled ''High Voltage (1976 album), High Voltage'', it was released on Atlantic in May 1976, which sold three million copies in US by 2005 according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The track selection was heavily weighted toward the more recent ''T.N.T.'', including only two songs from their first LP. Their third studio album, ''Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap'', was released in the same year in both Australian and European versions, like its predecessor. Track listings varied worldwide; the international version of the album included the ''T.N.T.'' track "Rocker", which had previously not been released internationally. The original Australian version included "Jailbreak (AC/DC song), Jailbreak". This was later more readily available on the 1984 compilation extended play '''74 Jailbreak'', or as a live version on 1992's ''Live (AC/DC album), Live''. ''Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap'' was not released in North America until 1981, by which time the band were at the peak of their popularity.
After a brief tour of Sweden, they returned to London where they set new attendance records during their residency at the Marquee Club, Marquee. However, their appearance at the 1976 Reading Festival in August did not impress the crowd. They continued to tour throughout Europe and then Australia. In January 1977, they started recording their fourth studio album, ''Let There Be Rock''. Early the same year they returned to Britain and began a European tour with Black Sabbath. While Scott and Ozzy Osbourne quickly became friends, other members of each group were less cordial. In one incident, Geezer Butler allegedly pulled a knife at Malcolm. Accounts of the incident differ, but AC/DC were taken off the rest of the tour. Butler denied the allegations in an interview with Paul Elliott of ''Classic Rock (magazine), Classic Rock'', stating that "when we were playing in Switzerland I bought one. I was just flicking it, when Malcolm came up to me and started slagging Sabbath."
In May 1977, Mark Evans was fired – he ascribed disagreements with Angus and Malcolm as contributing factors. He was replaced on bass guitar by Cliff Williams, an experienced musician for UK bands Home (UK band), Home (1970–1974) and Bandit (band), Bandit (1976). Neither of the Young brothers has elaborated on the departure of Evans, though Richard Griffiths, the CEO of Epic Records and a booking agent for AC/DC in the mid-1970s, later commented, "You knew Mark wasn't going to last, he was just too much of a nice guy." Evans' autobiography, ''Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside of AC/DC'', released in 2011, predominantly dealt with his time in AC/DC, including being fired. Evans returned to Australia, where he joined fellow hard rock group Finch (Australian band), Finch.
AC/DC's first American radio exposure was through Bill Bartlett at Jacksonville station WJGL, WPDQ-FM/WAIV-FM in 1975, two years before they played their first US concert as support act for Canadian group Moxy (band), Moxy in Austin, Texas on 27 July 1977. From booking agent Doug Thaler of American Talent International and the management of Leber-Krebs, they experienced the US stadium circuit, supporting rock acts, Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Kiss (band), Kiss, Styx (band), Styx, UFO (band), UFO and Blue Öyster Cult; they co-headlined with Cheap Trick. AC/DC released their fifth studio album, ''Powerage'', on 5 May 1978. The sole single from ''Powerage'' was "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation" (June 1978). An appearance at The Apollo, Glasgow during the Powerage Tour was recorded and released as ''If You Want Blood You've Got It'' (1978).
In 1979, the group recorded their sixth studio album ''Highway to Hell'', with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, which appeared on 27 July 1979. Eddie Van Halen noted this as his favourite AC/DC record, along with ''Powerage''. It became their first LP to enter the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200, eventually reaching number 17, and it propelled AC/DC into the top ranks of hard rock acts. ''Highway to Hell'' had lyrics that shifted away from flippant and comical toward more central rock themes, putting increased emphasis on backing vocals but still featured AC/DC's signature sound: loud, simple, pounding riffs and grooving back-beats.
In February 1980, the members began to work on their seventh studio album ''Back in Black'', with Scott on drums, instead of vocals. On 18 February, Scott passed out in a car driven by his friend Alistair Kinnear, after a night of drinking at KOKO (music venue), The Music Machine in Camden Town, London. According to Kinnear, upon arrival at home, he was unable to move Scott from the car so he left Scott in the car overnight to sleep off the alcohol effects. Unable to wake Scott early on the evening of 19 February, Kinnear rushed him to King's College Hospital, Camberwell, where Scott was pronounced dead on arrival. The official cause of death was "alcohol poisoning, acute alcohol poisoning". Scott's family buried him in Fremantle, Western Australia, the area they emigrated to when he was a boy.
Following Scott's death, the members briefly considered quitting. Scott's parents advised the members that he would have wanted them to carry on, so they decided to continue and sought a new vocalist. Heaven (Australian band), Fat Lip vocalist Allan Fryer, ex-Rick Wakeman vocalist Gary Pickford-Hopkins, and the Easybeats' singer Stevie Wright (Australian singer), Stevie Wright were touted by the press as possible replacements. Various other candidates were considered by the group: ex-Moxy member Buzz Shearman, who was unable to join due to voice issues, Slade vocalist Noddy Holder, and ex-Back Street Crawler vocalist Terry Slesser.
At the advice of Lange, the group brought in ex-Geordie (band), Geordie singer Brian Johnson, who impressed the group. For the audition, Johnson sang Ike & Tina Turner's "Nutbush City Limits" and then "Whole Lotta Rosie" from ''Let There Be Rock''. After they worked through the rest of the applicants in the following days, Johnson returned for a second audition. Angus later recalled, "I remember the first time I had ever heard [Johnson]'s name was from [Scott]... he had been in England once touring with a band and he had mentioned that [Johnson] had been in a band called Geordie and [Scott] had said '[Johnson], he was a great rock and roll singer in the style of Little Richard.' And that was [Scott]'s big idol, Little Richard...' He mentioned that to us in Australia. I suppose when we decided to continue, [Johnson] was the first name that Malcolm and myself came up with, so we said we should see if we can find him."
On 29 March, Malcolm offered Johnson a place in the band, much to the singer's surprise. Out of respect for Scott, the band wanted a vocalist who would not be an imitator. In addition to his distinctive voice, demeanour and love of classic soul and blues music, the group were impressed by Johnson's engaging personality. Johnson was officially announced as the lead singer of AC/DC on 1 April 1980. With Johnson, the group completed the song writing previously begun with Scott for ''Back in Black''. Recording took place at Compass Point Studios in The Bahamas a few months after Scott's death. Produced by Lange and recorded by Tony Platt, it became their biggest-selling album and a hard-rock landmark. Its hits are "Hells Bells (song), Hells Bells", "You Shook Me All Night Long", "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" and Back in Black (song), the title track. The album peaked at number one in the UK, and number four in the US, where it spent 585 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. It also reached the top spot in Australia, RPM (magazine), Canada, and Institut français d'opinion publique, France.
On 1 September 1980, AC/DC released their first theatrical concert film, ''AC/DC: Let There Be Rock'', which was recorded on 9 December 1979 in Paris during their Highway to Hell Tour. It was produced and directed by Eric Dionysius and Eric Mistler, and distributed by Warner Bros. The band's eighth studio album, ''For Those About to Rock We Salute You'', appeared on 23 November 1981. It was their first number-one album on the ''Billboard'' 200, top three in Australia and GfK Entertainment charts, Germany. It received mixed reviews by critics. Two singles were issued: "Let's Get It Up" and the title track, "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You), For Those About to Rock", which peaked at number 13 and number 15 in the UK, respectively.
Instead of Lange, their ninth studio album, ''Flick of the Switch'' (1983), was produced by the group's members themselves. It was a return to the rawness and simplicity of their early albums, but received mixed reviews and was considered underdeveloped and unmemorable; one critic stated that they "had made the same album nine times". ''Flick of the Switch'' eventually reached number four on the UK charts; top five in Australia, and Finland. AC/DC had minor success with single "Guns for Hire", reaching number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Rudd has had long-term drug and alcohol addictions. By mid-1983 his friendship with Malcolm deteriorated and eventually escalated into a physical confrontation after which Rudd was fired partway through the ''Flick of the Switch'' sessions. Rudd was replaced by Simon Wright (musician), Simon Wright in July 1983 after they held over 700 auditions in the US and UK. Simon Kirke of Free (band), Free and Bad Company and Paul Thompson (musician), Paul Thompson of Roxy Music were two drummers who auditioned.
The band's tenth studio album, ''Fly on the Wall (AC/DC album), Fly on the Wall'', produced by the Young brothers in 1985, was also regarded as uninspired and direction-less. A concept music video of Fly on the Wall (video), the same name featured the band at a bar, playing five of the album's ten songs. In 1986, the group returned to the top 20 on singles charts with the made-for-radio "Who Made Who (song), Who Made Who", reaching number nine in Australia and number 16 in the UK. The associated album ''Who Made Who'' is the soundtrack to Stephen King's film ''Maximum Overdrive''; it brought together older hits, such as "You Shook Me All Night Long", with a few new songs – the title track and two instrumentals, "D.T." and "Chase the Ace".
In February 1988, both AC/DC and Vanda & Young were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association's inaugural ARIA Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame. The group's eleventh studio album, ''Blow Up Your Video'', released in 1988, was recorded at Studio Miraval in Le Val, Var, Le Val, France and reunited the band with producers Vanda & Young. The group recorded nineteen songs, choosing ten for the final release; though the album was later criticised for containing excessive "filler (media), filler", it was a commercial success: ''Blow Up Your Video'' reached number two on the UK charts and Australia, AC/DC's highest position since ''Back in Black'' in 1980. It provided an Australian top-five and UK top-twenty single "Heatseeker (song), Heatseeker" and popular songs such as "That's the Way I Wanna Rock 'n' Roll".
The Blow Up Your Video World Tour began in February 1988, in Perth, Australia. That April, following live appearances across Europe, Malcolm announced that he was taking time off touring, principally to deal with his alcoholism. Angus and Malcolm's nephew, Stevie Young, temporarily replaced Malcolm on guitar. In 1989, Wright left the group to work on British heavy metal band Dio (band), Dio's fifth studio album ''Lock Up the Wolves'' (1990); he was replaced by session veteran Chris Slade. Johnson was unavailable for several months while finalising his divorce, so the Young brothers wrote all the songs for the next album, a practice they continued for all subsequent releases through ''Power Up (album), Power Up'' in 2020.
''Black Ice (album), Black Ice'', their fifteenth studio album was released in Australia on 18 October 2008, and issued worldwide two days later. Produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer), Brendan O'Brien, mixed and engineered by Mike Fraser, its 15 tracks were their first studio recordings in eight years. Like ''Stiff Upper Lip'', it was recorded at The Warehouse Studio, Vancouver. It was sold in the US exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club and the band's official website. ''Black Ice'' reached number one in 29 countries, including Australia, the UK, and the US.
"Rock 'n' Roll Train", the album's first single, was released to radio on 28 August. On 15 August, AC/DC recorded a video for "Rock 'n' Roll Train" in London with a special selection of fans invited to participate. The Black Ice World Tour supporting the new album was announced on 11 September and began on 28 October in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. On 15 September 2008, AC/DC Radio debuted on Sirius XM Radio, Sirius Channel 19 and XM channel 53; it plays their music along with interviews with band members.
AC/DC rescheduled six shows on 25 September 2009 for Johnson's recovery from a medical procedure. On 29 September, the band announced a collection of studio and live rarities, ''Backtracks (AC/DC album), Backtracks'', which was released on 10 November as a 3×CD/2×DVD/LP box set. On 4 November, AC/DC were announced as the ''BRW (magazine), Business Review Weekly'' top Australian earner, in entertainment, for 2009 with earnings of $105 million. This displaced the Wiggles from the number-one spot for the first time in four years. On 19 April 2010, AC/DC released ''Iron Man 2 (soundtrack), Iron Man 2'', the soundtrack for the Iron Man 2, eponymous film which compiled earlier tracks from the band's studio albums.
The band headlined Download Festival at Donington Park in June 2010, and closed the Black Ice World Tour in Bilbao, Spain on 28 June 2010, after 20 months in which the band went to 108 cities in over 28 countries, with an estimated total audience of over five million. Three concerts in December 2009 at the River Plate Stadium in Argentina were released as a DVD ''Live at River Plate'' on 10 May 2011. An exclusive single from the DVD, featuring the songs "Shoot to Thrill" and "War Machine", was issued on Record Store Day.
In June 2011, AC/DC reissued their concert film ''AC/DC: Let There Be Rock'' on DVD and Blu-ray. On 19 November 2012, AC/DC released ''Live at River Plate (album), Live at River Plate'' on CD, their first live album in 20 years. The entire catalogue – excluding ''T.N.T.'' (1975) and the Australian versions of ''High Voltage'' (1975), ''Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap'' (1976) and ''Let There Be Rock'' (1977) – became available on the iTunes Store the same day.
On 7 March 2016, the band announced that the final ten dates of the Rock or Bust World Tour would be rescheduled as Johnson's doctors had ordered him to stop touring immediately: he risked complete deafness if he persisted. The ten cancelled dates were to be rescheduled, "likely with a guest vocalist" later in the year, leaving Johnson's future in touring with the group uncertain. On 16 April 2016, Guns N' Roses front man Axl Rose was announced as the lead vocalist for the remainder of their 2016 tour dates.
Williams indicated he was leaving AC/DC during an interview with ''Gulfshore Life''s Jonathan Foerste on 8 July 2016, "It's been what I've known for the past 40 years, but after this tour I'm backing off of touring and recording. Losing Malcolm, the thing with [Rudd] and now with [Johnson], it's a changed animal. I feel in my gut it's the right thing." At the end of the Rock or Bust World Tour, he released a video statement confirming his departure. His last show with AC/DC before the hiatus, was in Philadelphia on 20 September 2016. After completing the tour in 2016, AC/DC went on hiatus. George Young died on 22 October 2017, aged 70.
In 1982, the band's first ever nomination at an award show were from the American Music Awards for American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group, Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group. In 1988, AC/DC were inducted in the ARIA Hall of Fame. The municipality of Leganés, near Madrid, named a street in honour of the band as "Calle de AC/DC" (English: "AC/DC Street") on 22 March 2000. Malcolm and Angus attended the inauguration with many fans. The plaque had since been stolen numerous times, forcing the municipality of Leganés to begin selling replicas of the official street plaque.
On 1 October 2004, a central Melbourne thoroughfare, Corporation Lane, was renamed ACDC Lane in honour of the band. The City of Melbourne forbade the use of the slash (punctuation), slash character in street names, so the four letters were combined. The lane is near Swanston Street where, on the back of a truck, the band recorded their video for the 1975 hit "It's a Long Way to the Top".
AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 10 March 2003. During the ceremony the band performed "Highway to Hell (song), Highway to Hell" and "You Shook Me All Night Long", with guest vocals provided by host Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. He described the band's power chords as "the thunder from down under that gives you the second most powerful surge that can flow through your body." During the acceptance speech, Johnson quoted their 1977 song "Let There Be Rock". In May 2003, the Young brothers accepted a Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Service to Australian Music at the APRA Music Awards of 2003, during which Malcolm paid special tribute to Scott, who was also a recipient of the award.
In 2003, ''Rolling Stone''s Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list included ''Back in Black'' at number 73, and ''Highway to Hell'' at number 199. They also ranked number 72 on the Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, as American record producer Rick Rubin wrote an essay called them the "greatest rock and roll band of all time". In 2004, on their The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, ''Rolling Stone'' included "Back in Black" at number 187, and "Highway to Hell" at number 254. They ranked number four on ''VH1''s list of 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock, and number seven on MTV's Greatest Heavy Metal Band of All Time. They ranked number 23 on ''VH1''s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2010.
They sold over 1.3 million CDs in the US during 2007 despite not having released a new album since 2000 at that point. As of 2023, the band's RIAA US sales figures from 75 million, making AC/DC the fifth-best-selling band in US history and the tenth-best-selling artist, selling more albums than Pink Floyd and Mariah Carey. The RIAA also certified ''Back in Black'' as 25× Platinum, for 25 million, in US sales, which made it the fourth-best-selling album of all time in the US. On 20 November 2015, the band were inducted in the Music Victoria Awards 10th Anniversary Hall of Fame. Angus offered a statement, which he declared it was "an absolute honour" to be recognised in the tenth year of the Hall of Fame.
History
1973–1974: Formation and name
AC/DC were formed in the Australian pop music scene of the early to mid-1970s,
* 1st edition [online]: .
* 2nd edition [print]: . which is described as the Rock music in Australia#1970–1975: "Third wave", third wave of rock music. Many local 1960s artists – e.g. the Easybeats and the Masters Apprentices – had attempted to gain international recognition but achieved limited commercial success overseas and disbanded after returning to Australia. Newer artists and veterans of the 1960s beat music, beat boom developed a variety of genres, which included a harder blues rock style dubbed Pub rock (Australia), pub rock. Popular Australian bands – e.g. Sherbet (band), Sherbet and Skyhooks (band), Skyhooks – played mainstream pop or adopted a glam rock approach.
In November 1973, brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young formed AC/DC in Sydney with drummer Colin Burgess (musician), Colin Burgess from the Masters Apprentices, bassist and saxophonist Larry Van Kriedt and vocalist Dave Evans (singer), Dave Evans. Earlier, Malcolm and Evans had been members of a band called Velvet Underground – not The Velvet Underground, the American group of same name – based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle for two years; and Angus started his own band called Tantrum – he would only jam with his friends. The Young brothers had joined Marcus Hook Roll Band – a Session musician#Studio band, studio-only band – in mid-1973, which provided their first recordings for a debut album ''Tales of Old Grand-Daddy'' (1974), although the pair left before it was issued. Malcolm recruited Burgess and Van Kriedt for AC/DC, then Evans responded to an ad in ''the Sydney Morning Herald'' and then Angus joined.
AC/DC's first official gig was at Chequers nightclub in Sydney on 31 December 1973. In their early days, most members of the band dressed in some form of glam or satin outfit. Angus tried various costumes: Zorro, a gorilla; and Superman. n.b. Click "6" to see Angus in the Superman costume, and click "10" to see him in the Zorro costume. Their performances involved cover versions of the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, the Beatles and "smattering of old blues standards" while trialling some original songs. Angus first wore his characteristic School uniforms by country#Australia, school-uniform stage outfit in April 1974 at Victoria Park, Sydney – the idea was his sister Margaret's. He portrayed a boy "straight from school to play his guitar". n.b. Incorrectly spells "Currenti" as "Kerrante". On stage, Evans was occasionally replaced on lead vocals by their first Talent manager, manager, Denis Loughlin from Sherbet. In Paul Stenning's book ''AC/DC: Two Sides to Every Glory'' he stated that Evans and Loughlin were incompatible and as a consequence other members developed bitter feelings toward Evans.
Malcolm and Angus developed the idea for the band's name after Margaret pointed out the symbol "AC/DC" on the AC adapter of her sewing machine. Electric current#Alternating and direct current, A.C./D.C. is an abbreviation for alternating current/direct current electricity. The brothers felt that this name symbolised the band's raw energy and the power-driven performances of their music. It is pronounced one letter at a time, though the band are colloquially known as Acca Dacca in Australia. The AC/DC band name is stylised with a high voltage sign separating the AC from DC and has been used on all studio albums, except the international version of ''Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap''. Their logo was designed by American typographer Gerard Huerta in 1977 and first appeared on ''Let There Be Rock''. Adam Behr of ''The Bulletin'' determined, "[its] type font conveyed the sense of electricity implicit in their name."
The group recorded a session in January 1974 at Studios 301, EMI Studios in Sydney, with older brother George Young (rock musician), George Young and Harry Vanda as the producers – both were former members of the Easybeats and Marcus Hook Roll Band. Several songs were recorded, including "Can I Sit Next to You, Girl", "Rockin' in the Parlour" and an early version of "Rock 'n' Roll Singer". A week after the session, Burgess was fired due to intoxication; he was unconscious during a performance. Burgess later claimed his drink had been tampered with. Subsequently, Van Kriedt was replaced; his recorded bass lines for the January session were re-recorded by George. Their replacements, Neil Smith on bass guitar and Noel Taylor on drums, lasted six weeks, replaced in turn by Rob Bailey (musician), Rob Bailey and Peter Clack, respectively. The band signed with Albert Productions in June 1974. "Can I Sit Next to You, Girl" backed with "Rockin' in the Parlour", taken from the January session, was released in July 1974 as the band's first single. The song reached top 50 on Australia's Kent Music Report singles chart.
The group had developed a strong live reputation by mid-1974, which resulted in a supporting slot on Lou Reed's national tour in August. During that tour, Malcolm switched to rhythm guitar, leaving Angus on lead guitar, the roles the two guitarists played from then on. During 1974, on the recommendation of Michael Chugg, veteran Melbourne promoter Michael Browning booked them to play at his club, the Hard Rock. He was not pleased with their glam rock image and felt that Evans was the wrong singer, but he was impressed by the Young brothers' guitar playing. Browning then received a call weeks after the gig from the band members; Loughlin had quit and they were stuck in Adelaide with no money. Following the gig, they hired Browning as their manager, with the co-operation of George and Vanda. The Young brothers decided to abandon their glam rock image, which was favoured by contemporary Melbourne bands Skyhooks and Hush (band), Hush; instead they pursued a pub rock sound. To this end, they agreed that Evans was no longer a suitable front man.
1974–1976: Bon Scott joins
In September 1974, Bon Scott, a vocalist previously with the Valentines (rock band), the Valentines (1966–1970) and Fraternity (band), Fraternity (1971–1973), joined AC/DC after his former bandmate Vince Lovegrove introduced him to George during their stopover in Adelaide. Scott had worked as a driver for the group in that city until an audition promoted him to lead singer. Like the Young brothers, Scott was born in Scotland, immigrated to Australia in his childhood and had a passion for blues music. Scott also had experience as a songwriter and drummer. Their debut single's tracks were re-written and the vocals were re-recorded by Scott. With Scott's inclusion "[their] working-class style, Boogie rock, boogie-rock sound and earthy humour fell into place", according to music journalist Ian McFarlane. Scott's first concert as AC/DC lead vocalist was on 5 October 1974 at the Masonic Hall in Brighton-Le-Sands, New South Wales.
AC/DC had recorded their first studio album, ''High Voltage (1975 album), High Voltage'' in November 1974 with Vanda & Young producing at Albert Studios, Sydney. Bailey and Clack were still in the band during its recording, but Clack played on only one track and the rest were provided by session drummer Tony Currenti. George handled some bass parts and later redid others. Recording sessions took ten days and were based on instrumentals written by the Young brothers with lyrics added by Scott. They relocated to Melbourne in that month. Both Bailey and Clack were fired in January 1975. Paul Matters took over bass duties briefly before being fired in turn and replaced temporarily by George or Malcolm for live duties. Matters often questioned the Young brothers' decisions and admitted to being "lazy" and "cranky". Meanwhile, on drums, Ron Carpenter and Russell Coleman had brief tenures before Phil Rudd, from Buster Brown (Australian band), Buster Brown, joined in that month. Bassist Mark Evans (musician), Mark Evans was enlisted in March 1975, setting the line-up, which lasted two years.
The band were scheduled to play at the Sunbury Pop Festival#1975, 1975 Sunbury Pop music festival in January; however, they went home without performing following a physical altercation with the management and crew of headlining act Deep Purple. ''High Voltage'' was released exclusively in Australasia on 17 February 1975 via Albert Productions/EMI Music Australia, which reached the top 20 in Australia. It provided a single, their cover version of Big Joe Williams' "Baby, Please Don't Go#AC/DC version, Baby, Please Don't Go" (February).
McFarlane observed, "[their] initial achievement was to take the raw energy of Aussie pub rock, extend its basic guidelines, serve it up to a teenybop ''Countdown (Australian TV series), Countdown'' audience and still reap the benefits of the live circuit by packing out the pubs." They released the second single, "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", from their second studio album ''T.N.T. (album), T.N.T'', for which a well-known promotional video was made for the ABC TV (Australian TV channel), ABC-TV pop music program ''Countdown'', featuring the band miming the song on the back of a flatbed truck. It reached the top ten in Australia. AC/DC released ''T.N.T.'' on 1 December 1975, only in Australasia, which peaked at number two in Australia and top 40 in RMNZ, New Zealand. The T.N.T. (song), title track was issued as a single in March 1976 and includes the lyric "so lock up your daughter", which was modified into their first United Kingdom tour's name.
1976–1977: Initial success and record deal
Browning sent promo material to contacts in London, which came to the attention of Phil Carson of Atlantic Records – AC/DC signed an international deal with Atlantic in 1976. On arrival in London in April, their scheduled tour with Back Street Crawler (band), Back Street Crawler was cancelled following the death of that group's guitarist Paul Kossoff. As a result, AC/DC returned to playing smaller venues to build a local following until their label organised the Lock Up Your Daughters tour sponsored by ''Sounds (magazine), Sounds'' magazine. At the time, punk rock was breaking and came to dominate the pages of major British music weeklies, ''NME'' and ''Melody Maker''. AC/DC were sometimes identified with the punk rock movement by the British press, but they hated punk rock, believing it to be a passing fad; Browning wrote that "it wasn't possible to even hold a conversation with AC/DC about punk without them getting totally pissed off". Their reputation managed to survive the punk upheavals and they maintained a cult following in the UK.
The first AC/DC album to have worldwide distribution was a 1976 combination of tracks taken from the ''High Voltage'' and ''T.N.T.'' LP record, LPs. Also titled ''High Voltage (1976 album), High Voltage'', it was released on Atlantic in May 1976, which sold three million copies in US by 2005 according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The track selection was heavily weighted toward the more recent ''T.N.T.'', including only two songs from their first LP. Their third studio album, ''Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap'', was released in the same year in both Australian and European versions, like its predecessor. Track listings varied worldwide; the international version of the album included the ''T.N.T.'' track "Rocker", which had previously not been released internationally. The original Australian version included "Jailbreak (AC/DC song), Jailbreak". This was later more readily available on the 1984 compilation extended play '''74 Jailbreak'', or as a live version on 1992's ''Live (AC/DC album), Live''. ''Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap'' was not released in North America until 1981, by which time the band were at the peak of their popularity.
After a brief tour of Sweden, they returned to London where they set new attendance records during their residency at the Marquee Club, Marquee. However, their appearance at the 1976 Reading Festival in August did not impress the crowd. They continued to tour throughout Europe and then Australia. In January 1977, they started recording their fourth studio album, ''Let There Be Rock''. Early the same year they returned to Britain and began a European tour with Black Sabbath. While Scott and Ozzy Osbourne quickly became friends, other members of each group were less cordial. In one incident, Geezer Butler allegedly pulled a knife at Malcolm. Accounts of the incident differ, but AC/DC were taken off the rest of the tour. Butler denied the allegations in an interview with Paul Elliott of ''Classic Rock (magazine), Classic Rock'', stating that "when we were playing in Switzerland I bought one. I was just flicking it, when Malcolm came up to me and started slagging Sabbath."
1977–1980: Cliff Williams joins and death of Bon Scott
In May 1977, Mark Evans was fired – he ascribed disagreements with Angus and Malcolm as contributing factors. He was replaced on bass guitar by Cliff Williams, an experienced musician for UK bands Home (UK band), Home (1970–1974) and Bandit (band), Bandit (1976). Neither of the Young brothers has elaborated on the departure of Evans, though Richard Griffiths, the CEO of Epic Records and a booking agent for AC/DC in the mid-1970s, later commented, "You knew Mark wasn't going to last, he was just too much of a nice guy." Evans' autobiography, ''Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside of AC/DC'', released in 2011, predominantly dealt with his time in AC/DC, including being fired. Evans returned to Australia, where he joined fellow hard rock group Finch (Australian band), Finch.
AC/DC's first American radio exposure was through Bill Bartlett at Jacksonville station WJGL, WPDQ-FM/WAIV-FM in 1975, two years before they played their first US concert as support act for Canadian group Moxy (band), Moxy in Austin, Texas on 27 July 1977. From booking agent Doug Thaler of American Talent International and the management of Leber-Krebs, they experienced the US stadium circuit, supporting rock acts, Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Kiss (band), Kiss, Styx (band), Styx, UFO (band), UFO and Blue Öyster Cult; they co-headlined with Cheap Trick. AC/DC released their fifth studio album, ''Powerage'', on 5 May 1978. The sole single from ''Powerage'' was "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation" (June 1978). An appearance at The Apollo, Glasgow during the Powerage Tour was recorded and released as ''If You Want Blood You've Got It'' (1978).
In 1979, the group recorded their sixth studio album ''Highway to Hell'', with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, which appeared on 27 July 1979. Eddie Van Halen noted this as his favourite AC/DC record, along with ''Powerage''. It became their first LP to enter the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200, eventually reaching number 17, and it propelled AC/DC into the top ranks of hard rock acts. ''Highway to Hell'' had lyrics that shifted away from flippant and comical toward more central rock themes, putting increased emphasis on backing vocals but still featured AC/DC's signature sound: loud, simple, pounding riffs and grooving back-beats.
In February 1980, the members began to work on their seventh studio album ''Back in Black'', with Scott on drums, instead of vocals. On 18 February, Scott passed out in a car driven by his friend Alistair Kinnear, after a night of drinking at KOKO (music venue), The Music Machine in Camden Town, London. According to Kinnear, upon arrival at home, he was unable to move Scott from the car so he left Scott in the car overnight to sleep off the alcohol effects. Unable to wake Scott early on the evening of 19 February, Kinnear rushed him to King's College Hospital, Camberwell, where Scott was pronounced dead on arrival. The official cause of death was "alcohol poisoning, acute alcohol poisoning". Scott's family buried him in Fremantle, Western Australia, the area they emigrated to when he was a boy.
1980–1983: Brian Johnson joins and rebirth
Following Scott's death, the members briefly considered quitting. Scott's parents advised the members that he would have wanted them to carry on, so they decided to continue and sought a new vocalist. Heaven (Australian band), Fat Lip vocalist Allan Fryer, ex-Rick Wakeman vocalist Gary Pickford-Hopkins, and the Easybeats' singer Stevie Wright (Australian singer), Stevie Wright were touted by the press as possible replacements. Various other candidates were considered by the group: ex-Moxy member Buzz Shearman, who was unable to join due to voice issues, Slade vocalist Noddy Holder, and ex-Back Street Crawler vocalist Terry Slesser.
At the advice of Lange, the group brought in ex-Geordie (band), Geordie singer Brian Johnson, who impressed the group. For the audition, Johnson sang Ike & Tina Turner's "Nutbush City Limits" and then "Whole Lotta Rosie" from ''Let There Be Rock''. After they worked through the rest of the applicants in the following days, Johnson returned for a second audition. Angus later recalled, "I remember the first time I had ever heard [Johnson]'s name was from [Scott]... he had been in England once touring with a band and he had mentioned that [Johnson] had been in a band called Geordie and [Scott] had said '[Johnson], he was a great rock and roll singer in the style of Little Richard.' And that was [Scott]'s big idol, Little Richard...' He mentioned that to us in Australia. I suppose when we decided to continue, [Johnson] was the first name that Malcolm and myself came up with, so we said we should see if we can find him."
On 29 March, Malcolm offered Johnson a place in the band, much to the singer's surprise. Out of respect for Scott, the band wanted a vocalist who would not be an imitator. In addition to his distinctive voice, demeanour and love of classic soul and blues music, the group were impressed by Johnson's engaging personality. Johnson was officially announced as the lead singer of AC/DC on 1 April 1980. With Johnson, the group completed the song writing previously begun with Scott for ''Back in Black''. Recording took place at Compass Point Studios in The Bahamas a few months after Scott's death. Produced by Lange and recorded by Tony Platt, it became their biggest-selling album and a hard-rock landmark. Its hits are "Hells Bells (song), Hells Bells", "You Shook Me All Night Long", "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" and Back in Black (song), the title track. The album peaked at number one in the UK, and number four in the US, where it spent 585 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. It also reached the top spot in Australia, RPM (magazine), Canada, and Institut français d'opinion publique, France.
On 1 September 1980, AC/DC released their first theatrical concert film, ''AC/DC: Let There Be Rock'', which was recorded on 9 December 1979 in Paris during their Highway to Hell Tour. It was produced and directed by Eric Dionysius and Eric Mistler, and distributed by Warner Bros. The band's eighth studio album, ''For Those About to Rock We Salute You'', appeared on 23 November 1981. It was their first number-one album on the ''Billboard'' 200, top three in Australia and GfK Entertainment charts, Germany. It received mixed reviews by critics. Two singles were issued: "Let's Get It Up" and the title track, "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You), For Those About to Rock", which peaked at number 13 and number 15 in the UK, respectively.
1983–1990: Line-up changes and commercial decline
Instead of Lange, their ninth studio album, ''Flick of the Switch'' (1983), was produced by the group's members themselves. It was a return to the rawness and simplicity of their early albums, but received mixed reviews and was considered underdeveloped and unmemorable; one critic stated that they "had made the same album nine times". ''Flick of the Switch'' eventually reached number four on the UK charts; top five in Australia, and Finland. AC/DC had minor success with single "Guns for Hire", reaching number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Rudd has had long-term drug and alcohol addictions. By mid-1983 his friendship with Malcolm deteriorated and eventually escalated into a physical confrontation after which Rudd was fired partway through the ''Flick of the Switch'' sessions. Rudd was replaced by Simon Wright (musician), Simon Wright in July 1983 after they held over 700 auditions in the US and UK. Simon Kirke of Free (band), Free and Bad Company and Paul Thompson (musician), Paul Thompson of Roxy Music were two drummers who auditioned.
The band's tenth studio album, ''Fly on the Wall (AC/DC album), Fly on the Wall'', produced by the Young brothers in 1985, was also regarded as uninspired and direction-less. A concept music video of Fly on the Wall (video), the same name featured the band at a bar, playing five of the album's ten songs. In 1986, the group returned to the top 20 on singles charts with the made-for-radio "Who Made Who (song), Who Made Who", reaching number nine in Australia and number 16 in the UK. The associated album ''Who Made Who'' is the soundtrack to Stephen King's film ''Maximum Overdrive''; it brought together older hits, such as "You Shook Me All Night Long", with a few new songs – the title track and two instrumentals, "D.T." and "Chase the Ace".
In February 1988, both AC/DC and Vanda & Young were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association's inaugural ARIA Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame. The group's eleventh studio album, ''Blow Up Your Video'', released in 1988, was recorded at Studio Miraval in Le Val, Var, Le Val, France and reunited the band with producers Vanda & Young. The group recorded nineteen songs, choosing ten for the final release; though the album was later criticised for containing excessive "filler (media), filler", it was a commercial success: ''Blow Up Your Video'' reached number two on the UK charts and Australia, AC/DC's highest position since ''Back in Black'' in 1980. It provided an Australian top-five and UK top-twenty single "Heatseeker (song), Heatseeker" and popular songs such as "That's the Way I Wanna Rock 'n' Roll".
The Blow Up Your Video World Tour began in February 1988, in Perth, Australia. That April, following live appearances across Europe, Malcolm announced that he was taking time off touring, principally to deal with his alcoholism. Angus and Malcolm's nephew, Stevie Young, temporarily replaced Malcolm on guitar. In 1989, Wright left the group to work on British heavy metal band Dio (band), Dio's fifth studio album ''Lock Up the Wolves'' (1990); he was replaced by session veteran Chris Slade. Johnson was unavailable for several months while finalising his divorce, so the Young brothers wrote all the songs for the next album, a practice they continued for all subsequent releases through ''Power Up (album), Power Up'' in 2020.
1990–1999: Popularity regained
The band's twelfth studio album, ''The Razors Edge (AC/DC album), The Razors Edge'', was recorded in Vancouver, Canada, which was mixed and engineered by Mike Fraser (record producer), Mike Fraser and produced by Bruce Fairbairn, who had previously worked with Aerosmith and Bon Jovi. Released on 24 September 1990, it was a major success for the band, reaching top three in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, and Swiss Hitparade, Switzerland. Its lead single "Thunderstruck (song), Thunderstruck", peaked at number five on ''Billboard''s Mainstream Rock Tracks, Mainstream Rock chart, number four on the ARIA Charts, ARIA Singles chart, and number 13 on the Official Charts Company, OCC's UK Singles Chart. Its second single, "Moneytalks", peaked at number 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. By 2006 the album achieved 5× Platinum status in the US; it reached number two on the ''Billboard'' 200. Several shows on the Razors Edge World Tour were recorded for the 1992 live album, ''AC/DC Live''. It was produced by Fairbairn and was called one of the best live albums of the '90s by Barry Weber of AllMusic. AC/DC headlined the Monsters of Rock show during this tour, which was released as a video album, ''Live at Donington (AC/DC album), Live at Donington'' in 1992. During the tour, three fans were killed at a concert at Salt Palace (arena), Salt Palace in Salt Lake City on 18 January 1991, when they were crushed and fell to the floor at the beginning of the show. It took 26 minutes before venue security and group members understood the severity of the situation and halted the concert. AC/DC settled out of court with the victims' families. As a result of this incident, Salt Palace eliminated festival seating from future events. In September 1991, AC/DC performed in Moscow for the Monsters of Rock festival in front of 1.6 million people. It was the first open-air rock concert to be held in the former Soviet Union. AC/DC recorded "Big Gun" in 1993 for the soundtrack of Arnold Schwarzenegger's film ''Last Action Hero''. Released as a single, it reached number one on the US Mainstream Rock chart, the band's first number-one single on that chart. Pacific Gameworks proposed a beat 'em up video game for the Atari Jaguar CD in 1994, ''AC/DC: Defenders of Metal'', which would have featured the group's crew, however, production never started. Angus and Malcolm invited Rudd to several jam sessions during 1994; he was rehired to replace Slade. Recording began in October 1994 at Record Plant Studios in New York City. After 10 weeks recording moved to the Ocean Way Recording, Ocean Way Studios, Los Angeles. On 22 September 1995, their thirteenth studio album ''Ballbreaker'', was released, which reached number one in Australia, Sverigetopplistan, Sweden, and Switzerland. In November 1997, a box set ''Bonfire (album), Bonfire'', was released. It contained four albums: a remastered version of ''Back in Black'', ''Volts (album), Volts'' – a disc with alternative takes, out-takes and stray live cuts recorded with Scott – and two live albums, ''Live from the Atlantic Studios'' and ''Let There Be Rock: The Movie – Live in Paris, Let There Be Rock: The Movie''. ''Live from the Atlantic Studios'' was recorded on 7 December 1977 at the Atlantic Studios in New York. ''Let There Be Rock: The Movie'' was a double album recorded in December 1979 at the Pavillon de Paris and was the soundtrack of a motion picture, ''AC/DC: Let There Be Rock''.1999–2008: Popularity confirmed
The hard rockers recorded their fourteenth studio album, ''Stiff Upper Lip (album), Stiff Upper Lip'', in 1999, which was produced by George at The Warehouse Studio, Vancouver. Released in February 2000, it was better received by critics than ''Ballbreaker'' but was considered lacking in new ideas. The Stiff Upper Lip (AC/DC song), title track was issued as a single, which remained at number one on the US Mainstream Rock charts for four weeks. The band performed it live when they appeared as the musical guest on ''Saturday Night Live'' on 18 March 2000. The other singles "Satellite Blues" and "Safe in New York City" reached number one and number seven, respectively on the same chart. The band signed a long-term, multi-album deal with Sony Music in December 2002, which issued their remasters series. In 2003, the entire back-catalogue – except ''Ballbreaker'' and ''Stiff Upper Lip'' – was remastered and reissued. ''Ballbreaker'' and ''Stiff Upper Lip'' were reissued in 2004. AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. The group performed at Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto supporting the Rolling Stones, with Rush (band), Rush and other artists, on 30 July 2003. The benefit concert assisted the city's tourism industry, which was negatively impacted by the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak. The audience of 450,000 set a record for the largest paid music event in Canadian history. The band came second in a list of Australia's highest-earning entertainers for 2005, and sixth in the following year. Verizon (mobile network), Verizon Wireless gained the rights to release AC/DC's albums and the entire ''Live at Donington'' concert to download in 2008. AC/DC released video compilations ''Family Jewels (video compilation), Family Jewels'' on 28 March 2005; and ''Plug Me In'' on 16 October 2007. AC/DC made their video game debut on ''Rock Band 2'', with "Let There Be Rock (song), Let There Be Rock" included as a playable track. The setlist from their ''Live at Donington'' live album was released as playable songs for the Rock Band, ''Rock Band'' series by means of a Walmart, Wal-Mart-exclusive retail disc, ''AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack''. ''No Bull: The Directors Cut'', a newly edited, comprehensive Blu-ray and DVD of the band's July 1996 Las Ventas, Plaza De Toros de las Ventas concert in Madrid, Spain, was released on 9 September 2008.2008–2014: ''Black Ice'' and tour
''Black Ice (album), Black Ice'', their fifteenth studio album was released in Australia on 18 October 2008, and issued worldwide two days later. Produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer), Brendan O'Brien, mixed and engineered by Mike Fraser, its 15 tracks were their first studio recordings in eight years. Like ''Stiff Upper Lip'', it was recorded at The Warehouse Studio, Vancouver. It was sold in the US exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club and the band's official website. ''Black Ice'' reached number one in 29 countries, including Australia, the UK, and the US.
"Rock 'n' Roll Train", the album's first single, was released to radio on 28 August. On 15 August, AC/DC recorded a video for "Rock 'n' Roll Train" in London with a special selection of fans invited to participate. The Black Ice World Tour supporting the new album was announced on 11 September and began on 28 October in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. On 15 September 2008, AC/DC Radio debuted on Sirius XM Radio, Sirius Channel 19 and XM channel 53; it plays their music along with interviews with band members.
AC/DC rescheduled six shows on 25 September 2009 for Johnson's recovery from a medical procedure. On 29 September, the band announced a collection of studio and live rarities, ''Backtracks (AC/DC album), Backtracks'', which was released on 10 November as a 3×CD/2×DVD/LP box set. On 4 November, AC/DC were announced as the ''BRW (magazine), Business Review Weekly'' top Australian earner, in entertainment, for 2009 with earnings of $105 million. This displaced the Wiggles from the number-one spot for the first time in four years. On 19 April 2010, AC/DC released ''Iron Man 2 (soundtrack), Iron Man 2'', the soundtrack for the Iron Man 2, eponymous film which compiled earlier tracks from the band's studio albums.
The band headlined Download Festival at Donington Park in June 2010, and closed the Black Ice World Tour in Bilbao, Spain on 28 June 2010, after 20 months in which the band went to 108 cities in over 28 countries, with an estimated total audience of over five million. Three concerts in December 2009 at the River Plate Stadium in Argentina were released as a DVD ''Live at River Plate'' on 10 May 2011. An exclusive single from the DVD, featuring the songs "Shoot to Thrill" and "War Machine", was issued on Record Store Day.
In June 2011, AC/DC reissued their concert film ''AC/DC: Let There Be Rock'' on DVD and Blu-ray. On 19 November 2012, AC/DC released ''Live at River Plate (album), Live at River Plate'' on CD, their first live album in 20 years. The entire catalogue – excluding ''T.N.T.'' (1975) and the Australian versions of ''High Voltage'' (1975), ''Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap'' (1976) and ''Let There Be Rock'' (1977) – became available on the iTunes Store the same day.
2014–2018: Malcolm Young retires and hiatus
Due to Malcolm's illness, fans speculated in April 2014 that the group could disband. However, Johnson stated that despite Malcolm's absence, they would return to Vancouver to record their sixteenth studio album ''Rock or Bust''. In July 2014, AC/DC announced that they had finished recording it and that Stevie had replaced Malcolm in the studio. On 23 September 2014, AC/DC members confirmed that Malcolm had officially retired from performing. Malcolm's last show with the group had been on 28 June 2010 in Bilbao, Spain; he died on 18 November 2017 at the age of 64, due to his dementia. Rudd released his first solo album, ''Head Job'', on 29 August 2014. He confirmed that there would be another AC/DC tour and that they had no intention of retiring. On 23 September 2014, the band revealed that ''Rock or Bust'', featuring eleven tracks, would be released on 28 November 2014 as the first AC/DC album in the band's history without Malcolm on the recordings, but all its compositions were credited to Angus and Malcolm. The band also announced their Rock or Bust World Tour, supporting world tour to promote it with Stevie as Malcolm's replacement. On 6 November 2014, Rudd was charged with threatening to kill, possession of methamphetamine and possession of cannabis, following a police raid on his home. AC/DC's members issued a statement clarifying that the tour promoting ''Rock or Bust'' would continue, but did not indicate whether or not Rudd would participate or whether he was still a member. At a charity signing before the Grammy Awards, the band were photographed together with former drummer Chris Slade. It was later confirmed that he had rejoined for the Grammys and tour. In April 2015, Rudd pleaded guilty to drugs charges and threatening to kill a former assistant. Shortly thereafter, the band's website showed that Rudd was replaced by Slade on drums. On 9 July 2015, Rudd was denied a discharge without conviction and sentenced to eight months of House arrest, home detention.
On 7 March 2016, the band announced that the final ten dates of the Rock or Bust World Tour would be rescheduled as Johnson's doctors had ordered him to stop touring immediately: he risked complete deafness if he persisted. The ten cancelled dates were to be rescheduled, "likely with a guest vocalist" later in the year, leaving Johnson's future in touring with the group uncertain. On 16 April 2016, Guns N' Roses front man Axl Rose was announced as the lead vocalist for the remainder of their 2016 tour dates.
Williams indicated he was leaving AC/DC during an interview with ''Gulfshore Life''s Jonathan Foerste on 8 July 2016, "It's been what I've known for the past 40 years, but after this tour I'm backing off of touring and recording. Losing Malcolm, the thing with [Rudd] and now with [Johnson], it's a changed animal. I feel in my gut it's the right thing." At the end of the Rock or Bust World Tour, he released a video statement confirming his departure. His last show with AC/DC before the hiatus, was in Philadelphia on 20 September 2016. After completing the tour in 2016, AC/DC went on hiatus. George Young died on 22 October 2017, aged 70.
2018–present: Reunion and ''Power Up''
In August 2018, speculation grew that former members Johnson and Rudd were back and working with the band again. A fan living near the Warehouse Studio, Vancouver claimed to have observed them in the outdoor area of the studio from an apartment window. Shortly afterwards, a photograph of Johnson with Williams at the gymnasium of the Living Shangri-La hotel in Vancouver in December 2018 surfaced, further indicating that Williams had also rejoined the band. Founding manager Denis Loughlin died on 23 January 2019, aged 69, after being diagnosed with Colorectal cancer, bowel cancer. On 28 September 2020, the band updated their social media accounts with a short video clip depicting a neon light in the shape of the band's lightning bolt logo. This led to speculation that they were due to announce their "comeback, possibly as early as this week or next week." AC/DC officially confirmed, on 30 September 2020, the return of Johnson, Rudd and Williams to the line-up alongside Angus and Stevie, reuniting the ''Rock or Bust'' line-up. On 1 October 2020, AC/DC released a snippet of their new song "Shot in the Dark (AC/DC song), Shot in the Dark". On 7 October, the band confirmed the upcoming release on 13 November 2020 of their next studio album, ''Power Up (album), Power Up'' and issued its first single, "Shot in the Dark". The album's track listing was revealed on their website the same day. They had recorded it in August–September 2018 with O'Brien producing at the Warehouse Studio, Vancouver; with some tweaking in Los Angeles in 2019. Bass guitarist Paul Matters died on 14 October 2020, aged 68. AC/DC launched a dive bar on 2 October 2023, located at Club 5 Bar in Indio, called the High Voltage Dive Bar. AC/DC performed a co-headlining act of the Power Trip (music festival), Power Trip music festival, at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California on 7 October 2023, which was their first show in seven years, with Williams being part of the line-up after coming out of retirement, and American drummer Matt Laug, who had previously played for Slash's Snakepit and Alice Cooper, replacing Rudd. The band have dropped clues, giving "speculation" that they would be going on another tour in 2024; including a possible appearance at the 2024 edition of the Rock in Rio festival, set to take place in September in Rio de Janeiro. In November 2023, the rumours expanded as List of mayors of Munich, mayor of Munich Dieter Reiter had confirmed that the band booked a show in the Olympiastadion (Munich), Olympic Stadium for 12 June 2024. Founding drummer Colin Burgess died on 16 December 2023, aged 77. On 6 February 2024, the band published a teaser on their social accounts, showing the band's lightning bolt symbol flickering, before the words "Are You Ready" appear and their Are You Ready (AC/DC song), song of the same name. This led to fans speculating that they would come back to touring after eight years. On 12 February, the Power Up Tour was announced with former Jane's Addiction bassist Chris Chaney replacing Williams. On 15 March 2024, AC/DC reissued their classic catalogue on gold Phonograph record, vinyl for their 50th anniversary, as part of the ''AC/DC 50'' series. The European leg of the tour is due to begin on 17 May and continue to 17 August 2024, with American band the Pretty Reckless as their support act for all 24 performances.Musical style
Aside from an early flirtation with glam rock, the group's sound and performance style is based on Australian pub rock. That style was pioneered by Lobby Loyde of Billy Thorpe's early 1970s group Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, the Aztecs. Vanda noted "the pub crowd as an audience demanded blood—'or else'." He described wanting to "recreate the real Australian pub sound—'not like that American sound, smooth and creamy, nicey, nicey.'" Glenn A. Baker felt they played "rib-crushing, blood-curdling, brain damaging, no bullshit, thunder rock". ''The Canberra Times'' Tony Catterall reviewed ''T.N.T.'', in which "[they] wallow in the lumpen proletarianism that's the home of punk rock" while comparing them with rivals Buster Brown, which are "more imaginative and musically better". Music journalist Ed Nimmervoll summarised, "If we tried to isolate what has characterised Australian rock and roll from the rest of the world's it would be music that's made to be played live, and gets right down to basics with a minimum of distraction... AC/DC captured that essence not long after it crystallised, and they have continued to carry that creed around the world as their own." According to ''Vulture.com, Vulture'' music journalist David Marchese, the instrumental foundation of the band's simple sound was the drummer—Rudd, Wright, or Slade—striking the kick drum on the first and third beat (music), beat of every measure (music), measure and the snare drum on the second and fourth beat; bassist Williams consistently downpicking, down-picking an eighth note; Angus performing lead parts that possessed "a clear architecture and even sort of swing, in a frenzied, half-demented way"; and Malcolm's "propulsive" yet nuanced rhythm guitar featuring "little ''chuks'', stutters and silences that give the monstrous riffs life". For the majority of Malcolm's tenure in AC/DC, he used a Marshall Amplification, Marshall Super Bass head to amplify his rhythm guitar while recording in the studio. According to Chris Gill of ''Guitar World'', this amplifier helped define his signature guitar tone: "clean but as loud as possible to ride on the razor's edge of power amp distortion and deliver the ideal combination of grind, twang, clang and crunch, with no distorted preamp 'hair,' fizz or compression", as heard on songs such as "Let There Be Rock", "Dirty Deeds", "For Those About to Rock" and "Thunderstruck". During 1978 to 1980 Malcolm used a Marshall 2203 100-watt master volume head, which Gill speculates may have contributed to a "slightly more distorted and dark" guitar tone on the albums from that period, including ''Powerage'' and ''Back in Black''. In a comparison of AC/DC's vocalists, Robert Christgau said Scott exhibited a "blokelike croak" and "charm", often singing about sexual aggression in the guise of fun: "Like Ian Hunter (singer), Ian Hunter or Roger Chapman though without their panache, he has fun being a dirty young man". Johnson, in his opinion, possessed "three times the range and wattage" as a vocalist while projecting the character of a "bloke as fantasy-fiction demigod". By the time Johnson had fully acclimated himself with 1981's ''For Those About to Rock We Salute You'', Christgau said he defined "an anthemic grandiosity more suitable to [the band's] precious-metal status than [Scott]'s old-fashioned raunch", albeit in a less intelligent manner.Influences
AC/DC's influences include the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, Billy Thorpe, the Easybeats, and Vanda & Young. The impact of Australian pub rock on AC/DC was documented on ABC's ''Long Way to the Top'' (2001). Angus reflected on his playing style, "it was nerves at first. It was George that told me if you get on stage and play guitar you want to let people know you are doing something. When I started in the band I was shy and had to push myself forward... [patrons] would be throwing beer cans and I thought 'just keep moving' and that's how it all started." George had taught both Malcolm and Angus "how to play guitar and playing them classic rock and roll and blues records until that music was like blood in their veins." According to ''Long Way to the Top''s writers, "hardships of the Australian road would complete AC/DC's training. [Scott] revelled in the lifestyle. Somehow he rose above all the substance abuse to become the ultimate rock and roll front man." Australian acts formed in AC/DC's footsteps are Rose Tattoo (1976) and the Angels (Australian band), the Angels (1976).Genres
With the recording of ''Back in Black'' in 1980, rock journalist Joe S. Harrington believed the band had departed further from the blues-oriented rock of their previous albums and toward a more dynamic attack that adopted punk rock's "high-energy implications" and transmuted their hard rock/heavy metal songs into "more pop-oriented blasts". The band would remain faithful to this "impeccably ham-handed" musical style for the remainder of their career: "the guitars were compacted into a singular statement of rhythmic efficiency, the rhythm section provided the thunderhorse overdrive and vocalist Johnson bellowed and brayed like the most unhinged practitioner of bluesy top-man dynamics since vintage Robert Plant." AC/DC's music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock; and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, but they have referred to themselves as "a rock and roll band, nothing more, nothing less". Malcolm recalled honing their craft "We'd been playing up to four gigs a day. That really shaped the band... It was a mix of screw you, Jack, and having a good time and all being pretty tough guys... The training ground was Melbourne." In the opinion of Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic, they are "one of the defining acts of '70s hard rock" and reactionary to the period's art rock and arena rock excesses: "AC/DC's rock was minimalist – no matter how huge and bludgeoning their guitar chords were, there was a clear sense of space and restraint." According to Alexis Petridis, their music is "hard-edged, wilfully basic blues-rock" featuring humorous sexual innuendo and lyrics about rock and roll. Music academic Robert McParland described the band's sound as being defined by the heavy rock guitar of the Young brothers, layered power chords and forceful vocals. "For some, AC/DC are the ultimate heavy metal act", Tim Jonze wrote in ''The Guardian'', "but for others, AC/DC aren't a heavy metal act at all, they're a classic rock band – and calling them heavy metal is an act of treachery." On the controversy of categorising their music, McParland wrote:Legacy
Several musicians have credited AC/DC for reasserting hard rock's popularity after it had ceded mainstream attention to other musical genres in the late 1970s. Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave noted, of ''Back in Blacks release: "Disco was huge and punk and new wave were ascendant, and along came this AC/DC record which just destroyed everybody. It put hard rock music back on the throne, where it belongs!" AC/DC's music was a formative influence on the new wave of British heavy metal bands that emerged in the late 1970s, such as Saxon (band), Saxon and Def Leppard, in part as a reaction to the decline of traditional early 1970s hard rock bands. In 2007, critics noted that AC/DC, along with Thin Lizzy, UFO, Scorpions (band), Scorpions and Judas Priest, were among "the second generation of rising stars ready to step into the breach as the old guard waned." Over the years, many prominent rock musicians have cited AC/DC as an influence, including Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss, Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters, Scott Ian of Anthrax, Eric Peterson (musician), Eric Peterson of Testament, Dexter Holland of the Offspring, Brian Baker (musician), Brian Baker of Bad Religion, Minor Threat, Dag Nasty and Junkyard, and bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Exodus (band), Exodus, the Cult, and the Living End. Chrissy Amphlett of Australian rockers Divinyls acknowledged Angus's schoolboy outfit as the inspiration for her performing in a schoolgirl's uniform. Gene Simmons of hard rock contemporaries Kiss remarked that, "A lot of people look the same and act the same and do the same thing. Every once in a while you see a band like AC/DC. Nobody's like them. We'd like to think we're unique in that way too." Slash (musician), Slash of Guns N' Roses called them "with the exception of the [Rolling] Stones, the greatest rock 'n' roll band ever." "I always liked them," said Australian compatriot and singer-songwriter Nick Cave. "We had this TV show called ''Countdown'' and they were often on and they were always a riot and absolutely unique. They were a heavy rock band, but Bon Scott would go on ''Countdown'' dressed as a schoolgirl and stuff like that. They were always very anarchic and never took the thing too seriously."Criticism
Throughout the band's career, their songs have been criticised as simplistic, monotonous, deliberately lowbrow and sexist. David Marchese from ''Vulture'' wrote that, "regardless of the lyricist, whether it was Scott (who was capable of real wit and colour), Johnson, or the Young brothers, there's a deep strain of misogyny in the band's output that veers from feeling terribly dated to straight-up reprehensible." According to Christgau in 1988, "the brutal truth is that sexism has never kept a great rock-and-roller down—from Muddy Waters, Muddy to Lemmy, lots of dynamite music has objectified women in objectionable ways. But rotely is not among those ways", in regards to AC/DC. Fans of the band have defended their music by highlighting its "bawdy humour", while members of the group have generally been dismissive of claims that their songs are sexist, arguing that they are meant to be in jest. In an interview with Sylvie Simmons for ''Mojo (magazine), Mojo'', Angus called the band "pranksters more than anything else", while Malcolm said "we're not like some macho band. We take the music far more seriously than we take the lyrics, which are just throwaway lines." Marchese regarded the musical aspect of the Youngs' songs "strong enough to render the words a functional afterthought", as well as "deceptively plain, devastatingly effective, and extremely lucrative". For the book ''Under My Thumb: Songs That Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them'', ''The Guardian'' arts critic Fiona Sturges contributed an essay evaluating her love for AC/DC. While acknowledging she is a feminist and that the band's music is problematic for her, she believed it would be "daft, as opposed to damaging", for female listeners if they can understand the band to be "a bunch of archly sex-obsessed idiots with sharp tunes and some seriously killer riffs". In spite of the "unpleasant sneering quality" of "Carry Me Home"s claims about a woman who "ain't no lady", the "rape fantasy" of "Let Me Put My Love into You" and the generally one-dimensional portrayals of women, Sturges said songs such as "Whole Lotta Rosie" and "You Shook Me All Night Long" demonstrated that the female characters "are also having a good time and are, more often than not, in the driving seat in sexual terms... it's the men who come over as passive and hopeless, awestruck in the presence of sexual partners more experienced and adept than them." AC/DC and other artists (see Parents Music Resource Center#Filthy Fifteen, Filthy Fifteen) ran afoul of the Satanic panic of the 1980s. This general fear of modern hard rock and heavy metal was greatly increased in the band's case when serial killer Richard Ramirez was arrested. Ramirez, nicknamed the "Night Stalker" by the press, told police that "Night Prowler (song), Night Prowler" from the 1979 ''Highway to Hell'' album had driven him to commit murder. Police also claimed that Ramirez was wearing an AC/DC shirt and left an AC/DC hat at one of the crime scenes. Accusations that AC/DC were devil worshippers were made, the lyrics of "Night Prowler" were analysed and some newspapers attempted to link Ramirez's Satanism with AC/DC's name, arriving at the conclusion that AC/DC actually stood for Anti-Christ/Devil's Child or Devil's Children.Awards and achievements
In 1982, the band's first ever nomination at an award show were from the American Music Awards for American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group, Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group. In 1988, AC/DC were inducted in the ARIA Hall of Fame. The municipality of Leganés, near Madrid, named a street in honour of the band as "Calle de AC/DC" (English: "AC/DC Street") on 22 March 2000. Malcolm and Angus attended the inauguration with many fans. The plaque had since been stolen numerous times, forcing the municipality of Leganés to begin selling replicas of the official street plaque.
On 1 October 2004, a central Melbourne thoroughfare, Corporation Lane, was renamed ACDC Lane in honour of the band. The City of Melbourne forbade the use of the slash (punctuation), slash character in street names, so the four letters were combined. The lane is near Swanston Street where, on the back of a truck, the band recorded their video for the 1975 hit "It's a Long Way to the Top".
AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 10 March 2003. During the ceremony the band performed "Highway to Hell (song), Highway to Hell" and "You Shook Me All Night Long", with guest vocals provided by host Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. He described the band's power chords as "the thunder from down under that gives you the second most powerful surge that can flow through your body." During the acceptance speech, Johnson quoted their 1977 song "Let There Be Rock". In May 2003, the Young brothers accepted a Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Service to Australian Music at the APRA Music Awards of 2003, during which Malcolm paid special tribute to Scott, who was also a recipient of the award.
In 2003, ''Rolling Stone''s Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list included ''Back in Black'' at number 73, and ''Highway to Hell'' at number 199. They also ranked number 72 on the Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, as American record producer Rick Rubin wrote an essay called them the "greatest rock and roll band of all time". In 2004, on their The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, ''Rolling Stone'' included "Back in Black" at number 187, and "Highway to Hell" at number 254. They ranked number four on ''VH1''s list of 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock, and number seven on MTV's Greatest Heavy Metal Band of All Time. They ranked number 23 on ''VH1''s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2010.
They sold over 1.3 million CDs in the US during 2007 despite not having released a new album since 2000 at that point. As of 2023, the band's RIAA US sales figures from 75 million, making AC/DC the fifth-best-selling band in US history and the tenth-best-selling artist, selling more albums than Pink Floyd and Mariah Carey. The RIAA also certified ''Back in Black'' as 25× Platinum, for 25 million, in US sales, which made it the fourth-best-selling album of all time in the US. On 20 November 2015, the band were inducted in the Music Victoria Awards 10th Anniversary Hall of Fame. Angus offered a statement, which he declared it was "an absolute honour" to be recognised in the tenth year of the Hall of Fame.
Band members
Current members
* Angus Young – lead guitar, occasional backing vocals (1973–present) * Phil Rudd – drums (1975–1983, 1994–2015, 2018–present; ) * Cliff Williams – bass guitar, backing vocals (1977–2016, 2018–present; ) * Brian Johnson – lead vocals (1980–2016, 2018–present) * Stevie Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2014–present; )Touring musicians
Current touring musicians * Matt Laug – drums (2023–present) * Chris Chaney – bass guitar (2024–present) Former touring musicians * George Young (rock musician), George Young – bass guitar, rhythm guitar, drums, backing vocals (1974–1975; ) * Denis Loughlin – lead vocals (1974; ) * Bruce Howe – bass guitar (1975) * Paul Greg – bass guitar (1991) * Axl Rose – lead vocals (2016)Former members
* Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1973–2014; ) * Larry Van Kriedt – bass guitar (1973–1974, 1975) * Dave Evans (singer), Dave Evans – lead vocals (1973–1974) * Colin Burgess (musician), Colin Burgess – drums (1973–1974; ) * Neil Smith – bass guitar (1974; ) * Ron Carpenter – drums (1974) * Russell Coleman – drums (1974) * Noel Taylor – drums (1974) * Rob Bailey (musician), Rob Bailey – bass (1974–1975) * Peter Clack – drums (1974–1975) * Bon Scott – lead vocals (1974–1980; ) * Paul Matters – bass guitar (1975; ) * Mark Evans (musician), Mark Evans – bass guitar (1975–1977) * Simon Wright (musician), Simon Wright – drums (1983–1989) * Chris Slade – drums (1989–1994, 2015–2016)Discography
Studio albums * ''High Voltage (1975 album), High Voltage'' (1975) (Australasia only) * ''T.N.T. (album), T.N.T.'' (1975) (Australasia only) * ''High Voltage (1976 album), High Voltage'' (1976) (international version) * ''Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap'' (1976) * ''Let There Be Rock'' (1977) * ''Powerage'' (1978) * ''Highway to Hell'' (1979) * ''Back in Black'' (1980) * ''For Those About to Rock We Salute You'' (1981) * ''Flick of the Switch'' (1983) * ''Fly on the Wall (AC/DC album), Fly on the Wall'' (1985) * ''Blow Up Your Video'' (1988) * ''The Razors Edge (AC/DC album), The Razors Edge'' (1990) * ''Ballbreaker'' (1995) * ''Stiff Upper Lip (album), Stiff Upper Lip'' (2000) * ''Black Ice (album), Black Ice'' (2008) * ''Rock or Bust'' (2014) * ''Power Up (album), Power Up'' (2020)Concert tours
* T.N.T./Lock Up Your Daughters Summer Vacation Tour (1975–1976) * Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap/Giant Dose of Rock 'n' Roll Tour (1976–1977) * Let There Be Rock Tour (1977) * Powerage Tour (1978) * If You Want Blood Tour (1978–1979) * Highway to Hell Tour (1979–1980) * Back in Black Tour (1980–1981) * For Those About to Rock Tour (1981–1982) * Flick of the Switch Tour (1983–1985) * Fly on the Wall Tour (1985–1986) * Who Made Who World Tour, Who Made Who Tour (1986) * Blow Up Your Video World Tour (1988) * Razors Edge World Tour (1990–1991) * Ballbreaker World Tour (1996) * Stiff Upper Lip World Tour (2000–2001) * Black Ice World Tour (2008–2010) * Rock or Bust World Tour (2015–2016) * Power Up Tour (2024)References
Citations
Sources
* * * * * * * * * * * * n.b. The Kent Report chart was licensed by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) from mid-1983 until 19 June 1988. * * * * * * * *Further reading
* * * * * * * * *External links
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ac Dc AC/DC, 1973 establishments in Australia APRA Award winners ARIA Award winners ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Albert Productions artists Atlantic Records artists Atco Records artists East West Records artists Elektra Records artists Epic Records artists Columbia Records artists Australian hard rock musical groups Australian heavy metal musical groups Australian blues rock groups Australian musical quintets Echo (music award) winners Grammy Award winners Musical groups established in 1973 Musical groups from Sydney Sibling musical groups