Guitarist, co-founder of AC/DC helped propel rock band to fame
Malcolm Young, the guitarist and songwriter who helped found the Australian rock band AC/DC, died Saturday. He was 64.
His family confirmed the death in a statement, adding that Mr. Young had had dementia for several years. It did not say where he died.
Mr. Young and his brother Angus created AC/ DC and played their debut show at a Sydney, Australia, club on New Year’s Eve in 1973.
The group, known for its power-chord riffs, earsplitting vocals and raucous energy, found enduring popularity and great commercial success despite waiting until 2012 to release its music catalog to iTunes.
“You need to entertain” during a live performance, Malcolm Young said in an interview posted on YouTube, so that the audience always knows that “something’s going to happen on that stage tonight.”
The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
“AC/DC’s music and approach had a worn-in, scruffy vibe that stood in stark contrast to the pretentiousness suffusing much rock music at the time,” the Hall of Fame website said.
AC/DC has sold more than 72 million albums in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. In 2016, the band was still packing arenas full of fans wearing devil horns for the “Rock or Bust” world tour, and belting out hits like “Hells Bells” and “Highway to Hell.” Angus Young was the only original member of AC/DC still performing that year.
Malcolm Young’s last performance with the band was in 2010 in Bilbao, Spain. At the time, he was having cognitive problems but decided to keep performing during the tour, oftentimes having to relearn guitar that he had written, Rolling Stone reported. Mr. Young’s nephew, Stevie Young, replaced his uncle in 2014.
While Mr. Young struggled with alcoholism in the 1980s, his nephew stepped in to substitute for him. “I wasn’t brain dead, but I was just physically and mentally screwed by the alcohol,” Mr. Young said in an interview.
The band spoke with The New York Times in 2008, on the cusp of the release of “Black Ice,” which would eventually receive a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album.
“People say it’s juvenile music, but pardon me — I thought rock ‘n’ roll was supposed to be juvenile,” Angus Young said. “You sing what you know. What am I going to write about — Rembrandt?”
The band won its first Grammy in 2010, for best hard rock performance, with the song “War Machine.” The group’s influential album “Back In Black” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.
On Saturday, musicians and fans shared their memories of Malcolm Young on social media.
“I had some of the best times of my life with him on our 1984 European tour,” guitarist Eddie Van Halen wrote on Twitter.
Ben Jolliffe, of the English rock band Young Guns, wrote: “Absolutely broken to hear of Malcolm Young passing. Grew up with the family and he was like a second dad to me.”
Malcolm Young was born on Jan. 6, 1953, in Glasgow, Scotland. His parents later emigrated to Sydney.
The band posted a tribute to Mr. Young on its website and social media, calling him “the driving force” behind its success.
“As a guitarist, songwriter and visionary he was a perfectionist and a unique man,” the statement said. “He always stuck to his guns and did and said exactly what he wanted.”