About Me
Malcolm Young, Rhythm guitar
Angus Young, Lead guitar
Brian Johnson, Vocals
Cliff Williams, Bass
Phil Rudd, Drums
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The brothers Malcolm (*1953) and Angus Young (*1959) moved from Glasgow to Australia, more precisely to Sydney, in 1963. Their older brother George was a co-founder of the Easybeats and gave them the feeling for rock music and guitar-playing. He helped them found AC/DC in 1973. They were influenced by Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Born in Scotland in 1946, Ron Scott took over the drums in March 1974. Soon, they were looking for new members, especially a singer. Bon Scott surprisingly managed to impose himself as their lead vocalist. Philipp Rudd (born in 1954 as Philipp Witschke), drums, joined them as well as bassist Mark Evans (*1956).
They rapidly became an Australian club attraction and their albums High Voltage and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap as well as their single TNT came on the market. Their sound, based on tough Rhythm & Blues was first to be heard in Europe in 1976. AC/DC had their commercial breakthrough with the album Let There Be Rock (UK charts number 28) in 1977. Between 1979 and 1981, their albums reached platinum several times in the USA. They sold several million copies of the album Highway To Hell (1979), USA number 22, UK number 10. Their singles Rock 'n' Roll Ain't Noise Pollution, Let's Get It Up and For Those About To Rock rose in the British charts up to numbers 18, 14 and 13 respectively.
In February 1980, their singer Bon Scott was found dead in his car (he had a drinking problem). Brian Johnson, a former singer in the teenie-band Geordie joined them. In April and May 1980, AC/DC recorded the album Back in Black. They sold over 12 million copies of it worldwide (number 3 in UK, 6 in the USA).
Up to the year 2000, AC/DC have sold about 85 million albums worldwide. Their last album Ballbreaker (1995) was a (minor) success too. The singles Hard As A Rock and Hail Caesar rose to numbers 33 and 56 in UK. Their new album Stiff Upper Lip (2000) is their first studio album in more than four years. Today, the band is composed by Brian Johnson, vocals, Angus Young, guitar, Cliff Williams, bass, Malcolm Young, guitar and Phil Rudd, drums. They still rock hard and loud, with their distinctive mix of rhythm & blues and rock 'n' roll. Stiff Upper Lip is a solid album, but as often with AC/DC, most of the songs sound more or less the same. Their fans will still like most of the tracks. With Meltdown, House of Jazz, Give It Up, Safe in New York City and the title song Stiff Upper Lip, almost half the album is above average, on the level of the best songs from Ballbreaker
