AC/DC co-founder Malcolm Young dead at 64
Malcolm Young, the guitarist and co-founder of Australian hard rock band AC/DC, has died at age 64, the band announced Saturday.
“Today it is with deep heartfelt sadness that AC/DC has to announce the passing of Malcolm Young,” the band’s statement said. “He leaves behind an enormous legacy that will live on forever. Malcolm, job well done.”
Young died peacefully Saturday with his family by his side, according to an additional statement issued to Australia’s SBS broadcast network.
Young was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on Jan. 6, 1953. He helped form AC/DC in Sydney with brother Angus in 1973. The band released its debut album, High Voltage, in 1975 and later became known for hits such as Highway to Hell and Back in Black.
The band’s 1981 album, For Those About to Rock We Salute You, was its first to reach No. 1 in the United States.
Young was the band’s rhythm guitarist until 2014, when his health began to decline due to dementia, the symptoms of which began appearing as the group was making its 2008 album, Black Ice.
Young, also a vocalist and songwriter, continued to contribute song ideas when the writing process for the 2014 album Rock or Bust began; the siblings are credited as co-writers throughout.
AC/DC was remarkably consistent for more than 40 years with its mix of driving hard rock and bluesy shuffles, selling more than 200 million albums, surviving the loss of its first singer, Bon Scott (who died of acute alcohol poisoning in 1980), and creating one of the greatest rock records ever in Back in Black, the world’s second-bestselling album behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
Contributing: The Associated Press