"Hells Bells" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by AC/DC | ||||
from the album Back in Black | ||||
B-side | "What Do You Do for Money Honey" | |||
Released | 31 October 1980 | |||
Recorded | April – May 1980 | |||
Studio | Compass Point (Nassau) | |||
Genre | Hard rock [1] | |||
Length | 5:12 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Robert John "Mutt" Lange | |||
AC/DC singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Hells Bells" on YouTube |
"Hells Bells" is the first track of Back in Black , the seventh studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC and their comeback album after the death of lead singer Bon Scott. "Hells Bells" is the second single from Back in Black, released on 31 October 1980. The song also appears on Who Made Who , AC/DC's 1986 soundtrack to the Stephen King film Maximum Overdrive and on both versions of 1992's AC/DC Live .
"Hells Bells" begins with the slow, funereal tolling of a 2,000-pound (900 kg) bronze bell. [2] Manufactured by John Taylor & Co Bellfounders in Loughborough, the sound of the bell was recorded by Tony Platt using Ronnie Lane's mobile studio inside the bell foundry following the completion of the Back in Black tracking sessions at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas. [2]
"Hells Bells" is widely regarded as one of the band's best songs. In 2020, The Guardian ranked the song number six on their list of the 40 greatest AC/DC songs, [3] and in 2021, Kerrang! ranked the song number seven on their list of the 20 greatest AC/DC songs. [4]
Year | Chart | Peak position |
---|---|---|
1980 | France (IFOP) [5] | 16 |
1981 | ||
Australian (Kent Music Report) [6] | 7 | |
Germany (Official German Charts) [7] | 25 | |
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [8] | 50 | |
2012 | Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [9] | 49 |
France (SNEP) [10] | 43 | |
Germany (Official German Charts) [7] | 25 | |
US Digital Song Sales ( Billboard ) [11] | 51 | |
2015 | Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [12] | 61 |
2022 | Hungary (Single Top 40) [13] | 32 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Germany (BVMI) [14] | Gold | 250,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [15] | Gold | 25,000‡ |
Mexico (AMPROFON) [16] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [17] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
Ringtone | ||
Canada (Music Canada) [18] | Gold | 20,000* |
United States (RIAA) [19] | Platinum | 1,000,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
"Hells Bells" was used as the entrance music for former Major League Baseball (MLB) player Trevor Hoffman at home games from 1998 to 2010. [20] [21]
The song is played prior to every New Jersey Devils home game as the players come out on the ice. [22]
The German football club FC St. Pauli from Hamburg, French rugby club RC Toulonnais from Toulon and Greek football club PAOK FC from Thessaloniki open all home matches walking out to "Hells Bells", the former often with large fan displays and pyrotechnics. [23] [24] [25]
During the Bells Beach surf competition in Victoria, Australia, "Hells Bells" is played on the loudspeakers at the beginning of the first heat of each competing day. [26]
Tigres del Licey closer Jairo Asencio also uses Hell's Bells.
Hell’s Bells is also used as The Theme Song Of Son UVA Digger during Monster Jam Events
The song has become synonymous with the Las Vegas Raiders NFL team as it is played when the team runs on the field and is often heard in important situations in games.
AC/DC are an Australian 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, 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. AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
Back in Black is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC, released on 25 July 1980 by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It was the band's first album to feature Brian Johnson as lead singer, following the death of Bon Scott, their previous vocalist.
Highway to Hell is the sixth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 27 July 1979. It is the first of three albums produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, and is the last album featuring lead singer Bon Scott, who died on 19 February 1980.
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the second lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980.
"November Rain" is a song by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Written by the band's lead vocalist Axl Rose, the power ballad was released in February 1992 as the third single from the band's third studio album, Use Your Illusion I (1991). The song peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, and was the longest song to enter the top ten of the chart at the time of its release. As of 2019, it was the fourth longest song to enter the Hot 100 chart. Additionally, "November Rain" reached number two on the Portuguese Singles Chart, number four on the UK Singles Chart, and the top 10 on several other music charts around the world.
"Black Hole Sun" is a song by American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, the song was released in 1994 by A&M Records as the third single from the band's fourth studio album, Superunknown (1994). Considered to be the band's signature song, it topped the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, where it spent a total of seven weeks at number one. Despite peaking at number two on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, "Black Hole Sun" finished as the number-one track of 1994 for that listing. Worldwide, the single reached the top 10 in Australia, Canada, France, and Ireland, while in Iceland, it reached number one.
"You Shook Me All Night Long" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, from the album Back in Black. The song also reappeared on their later album Who Made Who. It is AC/DC's first single with Brian Johnson as the lead singer, replacing Bon Scott who died of alcohol poisoning in February 1980. It reached number 35 on the USA's Hot 100 pop singles chart in 1980. The single was re-released internationally in 1986, following the release of the album Who Made Who. The re-released single in 1986 contains the B-side(s): B1. "She's Got Balls" ; B2. "You Shook Me All Night Long".
Powerage is the fifth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in 1978. This was the band's first album to feature Cliff Williams on bass guitar, and it was also the first AC/DC album not to have a title track and the first worldwide not to be released with a different album cover. Powerage was re-released in 2003 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.
"Paradise City" is a song by the American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured on their debut album, Appetite for Destruction (1987). Released as a single in January 1989, it is the only song on the album to feature a synthesizer. The song peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100—becoming the band's third single to reach the Top 10—and number six on the UK Singles Chart. It also topped the Irish Singles Chart, their first of three singles to do so.
Fly on the Wall is the tenth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 28 June 1985 by Albert Productions, and Atlantic Records. The album was re-released in 2003 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.
"Scar Tissue" is the first single from American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers' seventh studio album, Californication (1999). Released on May 25, 1999, the song spent a then-record 16 consecutive weeks atop the US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart as well as 10 weeks atop the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and it reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also successful in Iceland, New Zealand, and Canada, reaching numbers one, three, and four, respectively. In the United Kingdom, it charted at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Sugar, We're Goin Down" is a song by American rock band Fall Out Boy, released to US radio on April 4, 2005, as the lead single from their second album, From Under the Cork Tree. Two different CD singles were released with different B-sides, Part I with a green cover and Part II with a red cover. With music composed by vocalist Patrick Stump and lyrics penned by bassist Pete Wentz, the single reached No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Fall Out Boy's first top-10 hit and exploding the band into the mainstream, exposing them to a new audience. It spent five weeks in the top 10 and 20 weeks in the top 20 out of its 42 chart weeks.
"Highway to Hell" is a song by Australian rock band AC/DC. It is the opening track of their 1979 album Highway to Hell, initially released as a single on 27 July 1979, the same day the album was released.
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No Bull is a live video released by AC/DC in November 1996, filmed on Super 16mm at Madrid's Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas on 10 July 1996 during the Ballbreaker world tour. It was directed by David Mallet, produced by Rocky Oldham, mixed by Mike Fraser, and edited by David Gardener and Simon Hilton; production company was Serpent Films.
"Let There Be Rock" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the third and title track of their album Let There Be Rock, released in March 1977, and was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott.
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"Back in Black" is a song by Australian rock band AC/DC. It was released as the second US single from their seventh album of the same name in 1980 through Atlantic Records. Notable for its opening guitar riff, the song was written as a tribute to the band's former singer Bon Scott, who died suddenly in February 1980. In 1981, it reached number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2012, it reached number 65 in Australia and number 27 in the United Kingdom.
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Live at River Plate is a live album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 19 November 2012.
Back in Black includes one of their best known songs, 'You Shook Me All Night Long' (#35 Pop), and hard rock classics 'Hells Bells', 'Back in Black' (#37 Pop) and 'Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution'.