Angus Young (b. 1955), guitarist and songwriter, was a founding member of Australia's most successful ever band, AC/DC. Glasgow-born, he and his older brother Malcolm formed the band in Sydney in 1973, with Angus soon adopting his trademark school uniform and energetic antics onstage. The band’s line-up was confirmed in 1974 when Ronald 'Bon' Scott joined AC/DC as lead singer. Between 1975 and 1977 they released their first five studio albums, all co-written by Angus, Malcolm and Bon. With four huge singles in Australia, the band was signed to an international deal, but American success did not come until the title track from their sixth album Highway to Hell reached number 17 on the US charts in 1979. The multi-platinum album was the last to feature Scott, who died of alcohol poisoning in London in February 1980. Significantly, however, largely thanks to Angus Young's star status, the band weathered the loss of Scott and his replacement by Brian Johnston. Back in Black was released five months after Scott's death and vastly outsold the band’s previous albums, going platinum 22 times in the USA alone. AC/DC have since released a further nine studio albums. In 2014 Malcolm Young retired due to worsening dementia; he was replaced as rhythm guitarist by his nephew Stevie. Johnston left in 2014 having been advised that he risked total hearing loss if he continued with the band. Angus Young is the only band member remaining from the heydays of the late 70s and early 80s. A biography of him, High Voltage: the life of Angus Young, was released in 2017. Back in Black is still held to be the second-highest-selling album of all time worldwide, after Michael Jackson's Thriller; and it is the USA’s fifth-highest selling album ever.
Ronald 'Bon' Scott (1946-1980) had come to Australia with his family in 1952, aged six, had lived in Melbourne and Fremantle, where he joined a pipe band; had dropped out of school at fifteen; and had spent some time in custody. By 1974, Scott was working at a fertiliser plant by day and writing songs that he would try out with other musicians at night. Artistic differences had arisen between AC/DC and their lead singer, Dave Evans, and Scott had had a terminal falling-out with his own loose group, the Mount Lofty rangers. He liked AC/DC but thought they were too young to rock; they thought he was too old to rock; but their first jam session was enough to seal the first AC/DC lineup. The following year, with two albums and four huge singles in Australia, the band was signed to an international deal, but American success did not come until Highway to Hell reached number 17 on the US charts in 1979. Two years later he was dead, having inhaled his own vomit while 'sleeping off' a bender in a parked car in London. His grave in Fremantle is the most-visited grave in Australia. In mid- 2004 UK magazine Classic Rock rated Scott as number one in a list of the 100 Greatest Frontmen. Significantly, however, largely thanks to Angus Young's star status, the band weathered the loss of Scott and his replacement by Brian Johnston. AC/DC's Back in Black, issued five months after Scott's death, is said to be the second-highest-selling album of all time worldwide, after Michael Jackson's Thriller; it is the fifth-highest selling album in the USA alone.
Purchased with funds provided by Hugo Michell & Brooke Michell 2025
© Estate of Kunmanara (Tiger) Yaltangki
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