Guitarist was creative force of hard rock band AC/DC
NEW YORK — Malcolm Young, the rhythm guitarist and guiding force behind the bawdy hard rock band AC/DC who helped create such head-banging anthems as “Highway to Hell,” “Hells Bells” and “Back in Black,” has died. He was 64.
AC/DC announced the death Saturday on their official Facebook page and website. The posts did not say when or where Young died, but said the performer had been suffering from dementia. He was diagnosed in 2014. “It is with deepest sorrow that we inform you of the death of Malcolm Young, beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother. Malcolm had been suffering from Dementia for several years and passed away peacefully with his family by his bedside,” one of the posts read.
The family posted a statement on the band’s website calling Young a “visionary who inspired many.”
While Young’s younger brother, Angus, the group’s school-uniformwearing lead guitarist, was the public face of the band, Malcolm Young was its key writer and leader, the member the rest of the band watched for onstage changes and cutoffs.
AC/DC was remarkably consistent for over 40 years with its mix of driving hard rock, lusty lyrics and bluesy shuffles, selling over 200 million albums, surviving the loss of its first singer and creating one of the greatest rock records ever in “Back in Black,” the world’s second-best-selling album behind Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
The Glasgow-born Young brothers — who moved to Sydney, Australia, with their parents, sister and five older brothers in 1963 — formed the band in 1973. They chose the name AC/DC from the back of a sewing machine owned by their sister, Margaret. They added Phil Rudd on drums in 1974 and Englishman Cliff Williams on bass three years later.
By 1980, the band, with singer Bon Scott out front, was on a roll. Their album “Highway To Hell” was certified gold in America and made it into the top 25 Billboard album charts, and the single “Touch Too Much” became their first UK Top 30 hit. But on Feb. 18, 1980, Scott died after an all-night drinking binge.
English vocalist Brian Johnson was brought on. The newly reconfigured group put out 1980’s “Back In Black.”