BIGSONG:
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. It was founded by rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Malcolm Young and lead guitarist Angus Young. The band’s current lineup comprises with founding member and songwriter Angus, rhythm guitarist Stevie Young, bassist Cliff Williams, drummer Phil Rudd, and long-time lead vocalist Brian Johnson. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and heavy metal, but the band calls it simply “rock and roll”.
AC/DC underwent several line-up changes before releasing their debut album, High Voltage (1975). Membership subsequently stabilised around the Young brothers with Bon Scott (lead vocals), Mark Evans (bass) and Phil Rudd (drums). Evans was fired from the band in 1977 and replaced by Cliff Williams, who has since appeared on every album since Powerage (1978). Seven months after the release of the band’s breakthrough album 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 singer Brian Johnson as their new frontman. Their first album with Johnson, Back in Black (1980), was dedicated to Scott’s memory. It was a widespread success, launching the band to new heights and becoming the second-best-selling album of all time. The band’s eighth studio album, For Those About to Rock (1981), was their first album to reach number one in the United States. Prior to the release of their next album, Flick of the Switch (1983), Rudd left the band and was replaced by Simon Wright, who was himself replaced by Chris Slade six years later.
The band experienced a commercial resurgence in the early 1990s with the release of their twelfth studio album The Razors Edge (1990); it was their only album to feature Slade, who was replaced by the returning Rudd in 1994. Rudd has since recorded five more albums with the band, starting with Ballbreaker (1995). Their fifteenth studio album Black Ice was the second-highest-selling album of 2008 and their biggest chart hit since For Those About to Rock, eventually reaching number 1 worldwide. The band’s lineup remained the same for 20 years until 2014, when Malcolm Young retired due to early-onset dementia (from which he died three years later) and Rudd became involved in legal troubles. Malcolm was replaced by his nephew Stevie Young, who debuted on the album Rock or Bust (2014). On the accompanying tour, previous drummer Chris 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 frontman for the remainder of that year’s dates. Long-time bassist and backing vocalist Williams retired at the end of the Rock or Bust World Tour in 2016, and the group entered a four-year hiatus. A reunion of the Rock or Bust line-up was announced in September 2020, and the band’s seventeenth studio album Power Up was released two months later.
AC/DC have sold more than 200 million records worldwide, including 75Â million albums in the United States, making them the ninth highest-selling artist in the United States and the sixteenth best-selling artist worldwide. Back in Black has sold an estimated 50Â million units worldwide, making it the second best-selling album of all time and the highest-selling album by a band. The album has sold 25 million units in the US, where it is the fourth best-selling album of all time. AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. They ranked fourth on VH1‘s list of the “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock” and were named the seventh “Greatest Heavy Metal Band of All Time” by MTV. In 2004, they ranked number 72 on the Rolling Stone list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”, as American record producer Rick Rubin, who wrote an essay on the band for Rolling Stone, called them the “greatest rock and roll band of all time”. In 2010, VH1 ranked them number 23 on its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”.
