1973–1974: Formation and name AC/DC were formed in the Australian pop music scene of the early to mid-1970s, which is described as the
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 boom developed a variety of genres, which included a harder blues rock style dubbed
pub rock. Earlier, Malcolm and Evans had been members of a band called Velvet Underground – not
the American group of the same name – based in
Newcastle for two years, The Young brothers had joined
Marcus Hook Roll Band, a
studio-only band, in 1973, which provided their first recordings for their debut album,
Tales of Old Grand-Daddy (1974), although the pair left before it was issued. Before formation, Malcolm teamed with ex-Velvet Underground bass guitarist Mick Sheffzick and Burgess for his proposed group. Van Kriedt took over from Sheffzick for bass guitar, then Evans responded to an ad in
the Sydney Morning Herald and then Angus joined after passing an audition. . It first appeared on the international version of
Let There Be Rock. Upon formation, Malcolm and Angus developed the band's name after their sister Margaret pointed out the symbol "AC/DC" on the
AC adapter of her sewing machine. The AC/DC band name is stylised with a lightning bolt 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 explained, "[its] type font conveyed the sense of electricity implicit in their name." AC/DC's first official gig was at Chequers nightclub in Sydney on 31 December 1973. Their performances involved
cover versions of
the Rolling Stones,
Chuck Berry,
the Beatles and a "smattering of old blues standards" while trialling some original songs. George is Angus and Malcolm's older brother. 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. Subsequently, Van Kriedt was replaced; his recorded bass lines for the January session were re-recorded by George. The band signed with
Albert Productions in June 1974. Scott worked as a chauffeur for the group until an audition promoted him to lead singer. Like the Young brothers, Scott was born in Scotland, emigrated to Australia in his childhood and had a passion for blues music. Scott also had experience as a songwriter and drummer. AC/DC recorded their first studio album,
High Voltage, in November 1974 with Vanda & Young producing at
Albert Studios in Sydney. Its second single, "
It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" (December 1975), had a well-known promotional video made for the
ABC-TV pop music programme
Countdown, featuring the band miming the song on the back of a flatbed truck. The single reached the top ten in Australia. The
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. At the time,
punk rock was breaking and came to dominate the pages of major British music weeklies, including
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". The first AC/DC album to have worldwide distribution was a 1976 combination of tracks taken from the
High Voltage and
T.N.T. LPs. The track selection was heavily weighted towards 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 September–November 1976, in both Australian and European versions. 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". This was later more readily available on the 1984 compilation
extended play ''
'74 Jailbreak'', or as a live version on 1992's
Live.
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was not released in North America until 2 April 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.
1977–1980: Cliff Williams joins and death of Bon Scott (pictured in 1981) joined as bass guitarist in 1977. In May 1977, Mark Evans was fired. This was due to "musical differences" and personality clashes with Angus. AC/DC's first American radio exposure was through Bill Bartlett at Jacksonville station
WPDQ-FM/WAIV-FM in 1975. Two years later, they played their first concert there, as a support act for Canadian group
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 country's stadium circuit, supporting rock acts
Ted Nugent,
Aerosmith,
Kiss,
Styx,
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). In 1979, the group recorded their sixth studio album,
Highway to Hell, with producer
Robert John "Mutt" Lange, which was issued on 27 July 1979. It became their first album to reach the top 20 the
Billboard 200, eventually peaking at 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 towards more central rock themes, putting increased emphasis on backing vocals but still featuring 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
The Music Machine in
Camden Town, London. According to police, Kinnear 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 "
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 (pictured in 2008) joined as a lead singer in 1980. 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.
Fat Lip vocalist Allan Fryer, ex-
Rick Wakeman vocalist
Gary Pickford-Hopkins, and the Easybeats' singer
Stevie Wright were touted by the press as possible replacements. and ex-Back Street Crawler vocalist
Terry Slesser. During their auditions, the group brought in ex-
Geordie singer
Brian Johnson, who impressed the group. After they worked through the rest of the applicants in the following days, Johnson returned for a second audition. Angus later recalled that Scott himself had praised Johnson's singing. On 29 March 1980, 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. With Johnson, the group completed the songwriting 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 the
second best-selling album of all time and a hard rock landmark. Its singles are "
Hells Bells", "
You Shook Me All Night Long", "
Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" and
the title track. The album peaked at number one in the UK, and number four in the US, where it spent 612 weeks on the
Billboard 200 chart. and France. 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 on 1 September 1980. 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, was released on 23 November 1981. It was their first number-one album on the
Billboard 200, It received mixed reviews from critics. Two singles were issued: "
Let's Get It Up" and
the title track, which peaked at number 13 and number 15 in the UK, respectively. one critic stated that they "had made the same album nine times".
Flick of the Switch eventually reached number four on the UK charts, AC/DC had minor success with the single "
Guns for Hire", reaching number 84 on the
Billboard Hot 100. Rudd has had long-term drug and alcohol addictions. His friendship with Malcolm had deteriorated and eventually escalated into a physical confrontation, after which Rudd was fired partway through the
Flick of the Switch sessions in mid-1983. Rudd was replaced by ex-
A II Z drummer
Simon Wright in July 1983, after they held over 700 auditions in the US and UK.
Simon Kirke and
Paul Thompson were two drummers who auditioned. The band's tenth studio album,
Fly on the Wall, produced by the Young brothers in 1985, A concept music video of
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", 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". (pictured in 2016) joined as a touring rhythm guitarist in 1988, then joined as a permanent member in 2014. In February 1988, both AC/DC and Vanda & Young were inducted into the
Australian Recording Industry Association's inaugural
Hall of Fame. The group's eleventh studio album,
Blow Up Your Video, released in 1988, was recorded at
Studio Miraval in
Le Val, France, with Vanda & Young as producers. 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. Released on 24 September 1990, it was a major success for the band, reaching the top three in Australia, Canada, Finland, Switzerland, and the US. number 4 on the
ARIA Singles chart, and number 13 on the
OCC's
UK Singles Chart. peaked at number 23 on the
Billboard Hot 100. Several shows on the 1991
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 1990s 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, in 1992. During the tour, three fans were killed at a concert at the
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. 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. Angus and Malcolm invited Rudd to several
jam sessions during 1994; he was eventually rehired due to Slade resigning. Recording began in October 1994 at
Record Plant Studios in New York City. After 10 weeks of recording, they moved to
Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles, in February 1995, and finished recording in May. Sweden, In November 1997, a box set,
Bonfire, was released. It contained four albums: a
remastered version of
Back in Black,
Volts – a disc with alternative takes, outtakes and stray live cuts recorded with Scott – and two live albums,
Live from the Atlantic Studios and
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
AC/DC: Let There Be Rock (1980).
1999–2014: Popularity confirmed and Black Ice in 2001. AC/DC recorded their fourteenth studio album,
Stiff Upper Lip, in 1999, which was produced by George at
The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver. Released in February 2000, it was better received by critics than
Ballbreaker but was considered lacking in new ideas. The
title track was issued as a single in January 2000, which remained at number one on the US Mainstream Rock charts for four weeks. 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 the UK in 2004. Later in 2003, AC/DC were inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band's 2003 lineup (Johnson, Williams, Rudd, Angus Young, and Malcolm Young), in addition to Scott, were the inductees. Notably, former bassist Mark Evans (who appeared on four albums in the 1970s) was initially announced as an inductee, but six weeks after the announcement, his inclusion was quietly omitted. The band came second in a list of Australia's highest-earning entertainers for 2005, and sixth in the following year.
Verizon made all the albums, including the
Live at Donington video, available for digital download in 2007. AC/DC released video compilations
Family Jewels on 28 March 2005, and
Plug Me In on 16 October 2007.
No Bull: The Directors Cut, a newly edited, comprehensive
Blu-ray and DVD of the band's July 1996
Plaza De Toros de las Ventas concert in Madrid, Spain, was released on 9 September 2008. , performed in
Madrid in 2009
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 and 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 in Vancouver. It was sold in the US exclusively at Wal-Mart,
Sam's Club and the band's official website. including Australia, the UK, The
Black Ice World Tour was announced on 11 September 2008 and began on 28 October in
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It then concluded with its final show 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 4.9 million. On 15 September 2008, AC/DC Radio debuted on
Sirius Channel 19 and XM Channel 53, which plays their music along with band member interviews. On 29 September 2009, the band announced a collection of studio and live rarities,
Backtracks, which was released on 10 November as a 2×CD and DVD standard edition, or 3×CD, 2×DVD and LP deluxe edition box set. On 4 November, AC/DC were announced as the
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, the soundtrack for the
eponymous film, which compiled earlier tracks from the band's studio albums. The band headlined the
Download Festival at
Donington Park in June 2010. Three concerts in December 2009 at the
River Plate Stadium in Argentina were released on a video album,
Live at River Plate via DVD 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, April 2011. AC/DC released their first live audio album in 20 years,
Live at River Plate, on 19 November 2012. In June 2011, AC/DC reissued their concert film,
AC/DC: Let There Be Rock, on DVD and Blu-ray. 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. At the conclusion of the Black Ice World Tour in 2010, Malcolm had been diagnosed with lung cancer. It was treated at an early stage and surgery was successful with cancerous tissue removed. He also had an unspecified heart problem and had a
pacemaker fitted.
2014–2018: Malcolm Young retires and hiatus , performed in
Barcelona in 2015 Malcolm became seriously ill in April 2014 and was unable to continue performing; fans speculated 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, AC/DC announced that they had finished recording it and that Stevie had replaced Malcolm in the studio. On 23 September, 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 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 as the first AC/DC album in the band's history without Malcolm on the recordings, Canada, Germany, and the UK. Rudd was charged with threatening to kill, possession of
methamphetamine and possession of
cannabis following a police raid on his home on 6 November 2014. 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 Slade. It was later confirmed that he had rejoined for the Grammys and tour. In April 2015, Rudd pleaded guilty to drug and threatening to kill charges. Shortly thereafter, the band's website showed that Rudd was replaced by Slade on drums. On 9 July 2015, Rudd was sentenced to eight months of
home detention. (centre and top left), performing in Washington, D.C., in 2016 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 frontman
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 Lifes 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 working with the band. 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, indicating that Williams had also rejoined. AC/DC then 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 28 September 2020, the band updated their social media accounts posting a teaser video, which led to speculation of their "comeback, possibly as early as this week or next week." On 1 October, AC/DC released a snippet of their new song "
Shot in the Dark". On 7 October, the band confirmed the upcoming release on 13 November of their next studio album,
Power Up and issued "Shot in the Dark" as its lead single from the album. 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 in Vancouver, with some tweaking in Los Angeles in 2019. (pictured in 2022) replaced Williams on bass guitar for the
Power Up Tour. AC/DC performed a co-headlining act for the
Power Trip music festival at the
Empire Polo Club in
Indio, California, on 7 October, 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 hinted at another tour to occur in 2024; the
mayor of Munich,
Dieter Reiter, confirmed that they had booked a show in the
Olympic Stadium for 12 June 2024. Founding drummer Colin Burgess died on 16 December 2023, aged 78. On 6 February 2024, the band published a teaser on their social media accounts, showing the band's lightning bolt symbol flickering before the words "Are You Ready" appear and their
song of the same name plays. 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 bass guitarist
Chris Chaney replacing Williams. The European leg of the tour began on 17 May and concluded on 17 August, with American band
the Pretty Reckless as their support act for all twenty-four performances. AC/DC reissued their entire catalogue on gold
vinyl for their 50th anniversary on 15 March 21 June and 27 September 2024, as part of the
AC/DC 50 series. They have also reissued two Australasia-only albums –
High Voltage and
T.N.T. (both 1975), only available at the High Voltage Dive Bar. On 2 December 2024, the band announced a second leg of the Power Up Tour in North America for thirteen shows, with the Pretty Reckless as their support act. On 23 June 2025, the band announced an Australian leg for five shows in November and December, including a show for the
BP Adelaide Grand Final, with
Amyl and the Sniffers as the opening act. ==Musical style==