AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. The band was founded by brothers Malcolm Young on rhythm guitar and Angus Young on lead guitar. Their current line-up 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.
Angus McKinnon Young is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and the only continuous member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, schoolboy-uniform stage outfits and his own version of Chuck Berry's duckwalk. Young was ranked 38th in the 2023 edition of Rolling Stone's 250 greatest guitarists of all time list. In 2003, Young and the other members of AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Flick of the Switch is the ninth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. The album was deemed a commercial disappointment after it failed to match the sales figures of the band's two previous releases, 1980's Back in Black and 1981's For Those About to Rock, and its release represented the beginning of the band's commercial decline. The third AC/DC album to feature lead vocalist Brian Johnson, the album is also the last to feature drummer Phil Rudd before his return on Ballbreaker (1995). The album was re-released in 2003 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.
Phillip Hugh Norman Rudd is an Australian drummer, best known as the drummer of AC/DC across three stints. On the 1977 departure of bass guitarist Mark Evans from AC/DC, Rudd became the only Australian-born member of the band. In 2003, he entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the other members of AC/DC. In 2014, Rudd released his first solo album, Head Job. Due to ongoing legal problems in New Zealand, where he is a resident, Rudd was unable to join the band for the 2015 Rock or Bust World Tour and was replaced by Chris Slade. On 30 September 2020, AC/DC confirmed that Rudd would be rejoining the band for their comeback album Power Up.
"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 US Billboard 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".
Chris Slade is a Welsh drummer, who is perhaps best known for playing for Manfred Mann's Earth Band from its inception in 1971 to 1978 on eight albums, and AC/DC, for which he drummed from 1989 to 1994 and performed on the 1990 album The Razors Edge. He returned to AC/DC in February 2015 to replace Phil Rudd for the "Rock or Bust World Tour". Slade has also played with Tom Jones, Toomorrow, Uriah Heep, The Firm, and Asia.
"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.
Australian rock band AC/DC have released 18 studio albums, two soundtrack albums, three live albums, one extended play, 57 singles, 11 video albums, 52 music videos and two box sets. Although many AC/DC singles have been released, the band refused to issue any greatest hits albums. Who Made Who, which served as the soundtrack to Stephen King's film Maximum Overdrive, Iron Man 2 and the band's various live recordings are the closest they have issued to such a compilation.
"It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the first track of the group's second album T.N.T., released only in Australia and New Zealand on 8 December 1975, and was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott. The song combines bagpipes with hard rock instrumentation; in the middle section of the song there is a call and response between the bagpipes and guitar. The original recording is in B-flat major, but it was played live in A major.
"Who Made Who" is a song and a single by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, taken from their 1986 album, Who Made Who. The 12-inch single format of the single features an extended mix of the song and can be found in the Deluxe Edition of AC/DC's Backtracks Boxset, on Disc 1, Studio Rarities. It was one of only three new tracks on Who Made Who, because the album is not only a soundtrack to Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive, but a compilation album featuring tracks from previous albums. The other two new tracks were instrumentals. "Who Made Who" peaked at #23 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart on 19 July 1986, and stayed on the chart for 12 weeks.
"Safe in New York City" is a song by Australian rock band AC/DC, from their 2000 album Stiff Upper Lip. The song, which was written by members and brothers, Angus and Malcolm Young, was released as a single on 28 February 2000. It was co-produced by their older brother George and the band. It reached No. 21 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
"Big Gun" is a song by Australian rock band AC/DC. It was released as a single in May 1993 by Atco Records from the soundtrack to the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Last Action Hero, as well as during reruns of The Savage Nation talk show as bumper music. It was later released on the 2009 box set Backtracks. It became the band's first No. 1 on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart in 1993. The accompanying music video was directed by David Mallet. At the APRA Music Awards of 1995, the song won Most Performed Australian Work Overseas. AC/DC has played the song live only once during 1996 rehearsals but never at an official show.
"Hail Caesar" is a song by the Australian rock band AC/DC, which was written by members and brothers, Angus and Malcolm Young. It is from their 1995 album Ballbreaker and was issued on 19 February 1996 as a single. The lyrics, "All Hail Caesar", are a reference to the salute given to Roman general Julius Caesar. An edited version of the song at 4:30 appeared only on promo releases of the single. Commercial single releases and the Ballbreaker album contain the full version at 5:14. The single reached the top 100 ARIA Singles Chart.
"Guns for Hire" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, from their album Flick of the Switch, released on 19 August 1983. Written by band members, Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Brian Johnson, it was also released in September as a single with "Landslide" as the B-side. It charted at No. 37 on the UK Singles Chart, and No. 84 on the United States Billboard Hot 100. It also reached No. 19 in Ireland.
Ballbreaker is the thirteenth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It was released in 1995 and was re-released in 2005 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.
Rock or Bust is the sixteenth studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC, released on 28 November 2014. Rock or Bust is the group's first album to feature rhythm guitarist Stevie Young, replacing founding member Malcolm Young, who had retired from the band earlier in the year due to health concerns. It is the shortest studio album ever released by the band. At approximately 35 minutes, it is two minutes shorter than their previous shortest album, Flick of the Switch, which was released in 1983. It sold 2.8 million copies worldwide.
"Play Ball" is a single by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, and the first single from their 2014 album Rock or Bust. It was first used on 27 September 2014 in a trailer for Major League Baseball on TBS post-season coverage, and the single was released on 7 October. It is the first single to feature rhythm guitarist Stevie Young, replacing founding member Malcolm Young who had retired from the band for health reasons.
Power Up is the seventeenth studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC, released on 13 November 2020 through Columbia Records. Power Up marks the return of vocalist Brian Johnson, drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Cliff Williams to AC/DC. This is also the band's first album since the death of co-founder and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young in 2017. Malcolm received posthumous songwriting credits for all of the album's songs, as they were never-before released tracks written by him and his brother, Angus. The album is dedicated and serves as tribute to Malcolm according to his brother.
"Shot in the Dark" is a single by Australian rock band AC/DC from their seventeenth studio album Power Up. The song was recorded late 2018 to early 2019. It was released on 7 October 2020, and is the band's first single released since 2015's "Rock the Blues Away" from their album Rock or Bust. The song was used as the official theme for WWE Survivor Series and is part of the MLB The Show 21 soundtrack.
