Soloist of the cover band Acy Disi. Biography. Current band lineup

The first alarm bell, which sounded even before AC/DC began recording the album “Rock Or Bust” in the late spring of 2014, was a change in the behavior of the band’s drummer Phil Rudd. He managed to be ten days late for the start of the sessions.

First he told us that he was already on his way, then that he was not coming. Then again, he was already on the road,” recalls lead guitarist Angus Young. - But we’re not all particularly patient.

According to Angus, at some point, producer Brendan O'Brien decided that Rudd had one last chance to appear.

Brendan gave his verdict: “If Phil doesn't show up for us on Friday, we'll look for another drummer.

And Rudd still came and even did his job. But,” Young notes, “I saw him in times when he was in much better shape. This was not the same Phil we were used to. He changed dramatically after the last tour. He sank.

In October, Phil Rudd missed an AC/DC photo and video shoot in London. And on November 6 he was arrested in New Zealand. He was charged with ordering the murder. This charge was then dropped due to a clear lack of evidence. However, Rudd was still charged with drug possession (methamphetamine and marijuana) and threatening to kill.

In press releases, the remaining members of AC/DC stated that they were ready to tour without him:

Phil's problems will not affect the release of "Rock Or Bust" or the planned tour in support of it.

First loss - Malcolm Young left AC/DC due to illness

Our real difficulties began even before this whole Rudd story. But even then we only thought that we needed to keep moving forward.

Angus is referring to a more significant loss for AC/DC: Malcolm Young, his older brother and the band's long-time rhythm guitarist, was forced to continue his life in an Australian mental hospital due to dementia taking over him.

For this reason Malcolm Young, 61, has left AC/DC. He was unable to participate in the recording of "Rock Or Bust" and in the later life of the group, which he founded with his brother Angus back in 1973 in Sydney, Australia.

This began to manifest itself quite a long time ago,” Angus Young recalls reluctantly. – At first it was memory lapses. Then obvious problems with concentration began. This happened before we started working on the previous album" ["Black Ice" 2008]. But Malcolm was still confident that he knew what he wanted to do.

I then told him: “Are you sure you want to continue making this music with us?” And he replied: “Damn it, of course!”

Malcolm, notes Angus, always finished what he started.

Angus admitted that Malcolm Young had previously undergone treatment. This happened during the last tour with AC/DC, in 2008-2010.

He got good help back then; he had the best doctors who knew their stuff,” he says. “But Malcolm had to practically relearn a lot of things. Including most of the riffs that he himself composed at one time for the main hits of AC/DC. This was a real test for him. But he was always confident in himself, and we managed to help him and make sure everything worked out.

To say that Malcolm Young is completely absent from "Rock Or Bust" is not entirely true.. All 11 songs on the album are credited as "Young and Young": they were primarily created by Angus using guitar riffs from the piggy bank that he and Malcolm filled during the writing of all previous albums.

Angus did not let his brother listen to the parts he had modified.

“He has slightly lost the ability to perceive such music,” Young Jr. admits.

Angus was faced with the task of deciding what would happen to AC/DC next, without one of its key members, who was also its founder.

He and Malcolm had to solve a similar problem once before.. In 1980, immediately after the death of AC/DC singer Bon Scott, they invited Brian Johnson, an energetic Brit with an impossibly raspy voice. With him they recorded “Back In Black,” which eventually became AC/DC’s most popular album. After this, it was decided to leave him as the permanent vocalist of the group.

This time, at the very end of 2013, Angus decided to turn to Stevie Young, his and Malcolm’s nephew. He had previous experience replacing Malcolm - on the 1988 tour, when Young had to take time off to deal with his drinking problems.

It was both unusual and wonderful at the same time,” Johnson recalls about recording the album “Rock Or Bust.” - Angus probably felt very strange playing all these things without his brother.

One evening, Brian Johnson stopped by Stevie's hotel room to see how he was doing. And everything was just fine with him. Stevie Young was excitedly learning the riffs. He worked hard to be sure that he would perform at the level.

One of the most important aspects of AC/DC music is the carefully crafted interplay between the guitars., says O'Brien. - Stevie understood this. So he took the same guitars and the same amps that we played with before him. In the end, he was able to get the sound he wanted.

Cliff Williams believes that Stevie Young's achievements were not at all surprising. After all, he's Young too:

It runs in his blood. And this becomes obvious at first glance.

After Malcolm Young left AC/DC, all important decisions regarding the future of the group could only be made by Angus.

By the way, Malcolm was never allowed to listen to the finished album “Rock Or Bust”.

However, Angus is fully confident that what they did, and even the possible (at that time) tour without Phil Rudd, was all completely consistent with the will of his brother, which he would certainly have shown if he had been able to.

Loss No. 2 – Phil Rudd leaves AC/DC due to legal problems

Rudd's arrest is a big blow for us, admits Angus. – However, as we said about this situation earlier, this could not affect the tour in support of the “Rock Or Bust” album.

In the spring of 2015, Rudd admitted that he was indeed guilty of the crime. which he was charged with - threat to kill. Some time later, information was confirmed that his replacement on the tour and the new permanent member of the group would be Chris Slade.

On July 9 of the same year, Rudd was sentenced to 8 months under house arrest. And this finally confirmed that Phil Rudd had left AC/DC.

Next to leave AC/DC is Brian Johnson

AC/DC's world tour was interrupted in March 2016 due to health problems with lead singer Brian Johnson. Doctors stunned Johnson with a diagnosis that required him to immediately stop participating in the band's performances to prevent complete hearing loss.

The doctors' verdict led to the postponement of a large number of concerts in Europe and America.

After spending some time pondering the possibility of Brian Johnson's continued involvement with AC/DC, it was decided to invite Axl Rose to the role of vocalist to continue the tour- frontman. This was officially announced on April 17.

Three days later (04/20/16), Brian Johnson left AC/DC, making an official statement about it.

The last loss of the group to date - Cliff Williams left AC/DC in solidarity with his comrades

July 2016 was marked by the announcement of AC/DC bass guitarist Cliff Williams that he intended to leave the group immediately after the end of the tour in support of the Rock Or Bust album.

According to official sources, this decision is due to the fact that the group in which he liked to play was practically gone after the previous three key members left.

Is there a future for AC/DC?

At the moment, only one person remains in the group, who stood at its origins - 61-year-old guitarist Angus Young.

Now 61-year-old Angus, who still manages to run around the stage and jump around in his short pants, will have to single-handedly manage the collaboration of vocalist Axl Rose, rhythm guitarist Stevie Young and drummer Chris Slade, who have seemingly established themselves as permanent members of AC/ DC.

Mel [Malcolm Young] always wanted to keep the music going,” Angus says. “And I’m not ready to say no to him.”

Besides, Axl Rose announced that he is ready to sing inAC/DCas much as needed.

So AC/DC may well still have a future.

What will it be like in the current situation? Is there a chance of new albums appearing and the band continuing its concert activities?

Who knows... We'll wait and see!

As of 10/22/2017 the group has another, indirect loss: the death of George Young (brother of Malcolm and Angus), former bassist, producer and inspirer of AC/DC. He died at the age of 70, just a couple of weeks short of his birthday (he would have turned 71 on November 6).

Malcolm Young also passed away. He passed away at the age of 64 on Saturday November 18, 2017.

Now Angus not only the last current member of AC/DC from the old line-up of the group, but also last surviving Young brother.

Last updated: November 21st, 2017 by RockStar

There are many things in the world that were invented and promoted by siblings. The Brothers Grimm wrote fairy tales, the Lumière brothers invented cinema, and the Wright brothers were the first to go into controlled flight in a heavier-than-air craft with an engine.

There are similar examples of family work in music. One of the brightest is the Young brothers, who founded the group AC/DC, which, along with other great teams, stood at the origins of heavy metal and hard rock.

There were many children in the Young family, and four of them became musicians - Alexander, George, Malcolm and Angus. The last two created the group AC/DC. Musical talents will also appear in the next generation of the family, but more on that later.

In 2017, George and Malcolm Young passed away, and they died just a month apart. The life of each of them is worthy of a large biographical publication, but in a short article we can only briefly talk about how and by whom musical history is made.

Alexander

We will talk about Alexander Young only briefly, because he did not go with his family to Australia and had almost nothing to do with AC/DC. When the 15-member Youngs set off to another continent to seek a better life in 1963, Alex was already 25 years old and remained in the UK because of his musical interests.

Alexander is not often remembered; he did not gain much fame and died in 1997 from lung cancer in Germany, where he worked as a music manager.

George

George arrived in Sydney as a 17-year-old and formed The Easybeats with Harry Vanda in 1965. This team lasted 5 years, and is now considered Australia's most important rock band of the 1960s. The Easybeats consisted of 5 people, and they all came to this distant continent from Europe.

George Young co-wrote almost all of The Easybeats' songs, including the worldwide hit "Friday On My Mind". After the group's collapse, he was involved in other musical projects as a performer and producer. So George participated in the production of the first 6 AC/DC records and played bass guitar in the group for some time.

For AC/DC, George was a mentor and greatly influenced the band's recognizable sound. At the same time, the older brother did not strive for publicity. He died on October 22, 2017 at the age of 70. Relatives did not name the cause of death.

Malcolm

Malcolm was 10 years old when he moved to Australia. He, like George, was very good at football and was planning to become a professional footballer. However, the craving for music turned out to be stronger.

At first, Malcolm played as part of the Australian team The Velvet Underground, which performed covers of T. Rex. In 1973, he and Angus founded AC/DC. The group is quickly gaining momentum and will be touring Australia next year. By 1976, AC/DC became a worldwide phenomenon. The band moved to the UK and began extensive international touring that would last for several decades.

Real rock stars cannot help but have problems with alcohol or drugs. Malcolm was a serious drinker at one time, and as a result he couldn’t even go on tour in 1988. AC/DC management hid this; it was officially announced that the founder stayed at home due to his son’s illness. Then Malcolm was replaced on stage by his nephew Stevie - the son of the eldest of the brothers - Stephen Young. The age difference between uncle and nephew was only 3 years, and in appearance they turned out to be very similar. For this reason, many fans did not even notice the replacement of the guitarist.

Malcolm eventually conquered his craving for alcohol and returned to AC/DC. The last time he performed with it was in 2010, when the group was finishing another tour and gave a concert in a Spanish city. In 2014, Malcolm had to officially end his music career due to health problems.

Soon after this, members of the musician’s family confirmed that he had dementia, a disease that impairs memory and adversely affects mental functions. Anonymously, the press was told that Malcolm had completely lost his short-term memory. If a person communicated with him, left the room for a minute and then returned again, the musician simply did not recognize him.

On November 18, 2017, Malcolm Young died surrounded by his family after a long battle with illness. He was 64 years old and outlived his brother George by less than a month.

Angus

At the time of the creation of AC/DC, Angus was 18 years old. At the same time, he began playing the guitar at the age of 5 and made his first instrument from his parents’ banjo, which he re-strung in a guitar style.

Angus has the most striking image in AC/DC - the permanent lead guitarist and songwriter performs on stage in a school suit. There are two versions of the appearance of this outfit. According to one of them, Angus simply did not have time to change clothes between school classes and rehearsals. According to another version, his sister Margaret came up with this image for him. At that time, glam rock reigned supreme, and every artist on stage needed a special costume. These were the times of real rock performances.

Before becoming a schoolboy on stage, Angus tried himself as Zorro, a gorilla and. These images did not fit, and the “student” turned out to be the ideal role model. To better suit this idea, the group even underestimated the musician’s age - the press and fans were told that Angus was born not in 1955, but in 1959.

Now 62, Angus continues to entertain live audiences with his short shorts, intense jumping, sprinting, duck-walking and spasms, all while strumming his guitar.
It is Angus who remains today practically the last anchor that even remotely holds AC/DC in the form in which fans are accustomed to seeing it. Alas, only a few are capable of playing heavy metal for several decades. The group has lost too many over the past three years. Malcolm Young died, drummer Phil Rudd was caught with drugs and subsequently admitted to threatening to kill, which is why he was put under house arrest. Brian Johnson, at the insistence of doctors, stopped performing on stage due to the threat of completely losing his hearing. The latest sad news was the departure of bass guitarist Cliff Williams from the group, who did not want to continue playing in a band that had lost three permanent members.

However, AC/DC continues to exist and is even planning to record an 18th album, with a new vocalist. Angus Young is not going to give up the business that almost half a century ago became the meaning of life for him and his brothers. And let’s not think about what is of paramount importance here – the still flowing profits or the undying passion for music.

"AC/DC" is one of the most famous groups (vocal and instrumental ensembles) in the history of rock music. It started back in 1973 in Australia, later moved to England, then to the USA, so it’s no longer clear what nationality this group is. Almost all the musicians, except for drummer Phil Rudd, were born in the UK, so in principle this band can be considered English-Scottish.

The group continues to exist today, however, with a very changed composition, at least the musicians still give concerts, where you can see the American Axl Rose from " Guns N' Roses", former drummer" Manfred Mann's Earth Band" Chris Slade, who worked with AC/DC in the early 90s, and the Young brothers' nephew Stevie Young on rhythm guitar. However, many fans believe that the group still has no future, since it is supposedly completely exhausted her creative potential.

In conclusion, it should be said that AC/DC have officially sold more than 200 million copies of their albums in almost half a century of their existence and have received many awards for their musical achievements. Streets were named and monuments were erected in honor of the group and some of its musicians.

Those who have not yet decided on the true style of the group - this is the usual rhythm and blues, only extremely toughened by the iron sound of twin guitars, thunderous drums and the grinding vocals of its two famous vocalists - Bon Scott and Brian Johnson.

Australian group AC/DC was collected by brothers Angus and Malcolm Young. The team's first vocalist, Dave Evans, quickly gave way to the future world-class star, Bon Scott. In 1975, a permanent composition was formed AC/DC, which included Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Bon Scott, Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd. The young team regularly appeared on television, which ensured its rapid rise to popularity in its homeland. First major success AC/DC became a song "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock "n" Roll)". The group managed to attract the attention of many record companies, and soon AC/DC signed an international contract with Atlantic Records. Tours of the UK and Europe followed. At that time AC/DC had the honor of sharing the stage with Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Kiss, The Who and many other famous musicians.

Extravagant behavior on stage and off, daring and rude lyrics and, finally, bright and strong concert performances became the components of success. AC/DC among rock fans in Britain. However, not everyone liked the image of musicians who acted on the brink of a foul, so in some places they were prohibited from performing. AC/DC reached the peak of world fame with the release of the album "Highway To Hell" in 1979. The material on this record is included in the golden fund of rock music of all times and peoples. But the group nearly folded after Bon Scott died in an accident in 1980. After much deliberation, the remaining members of the group decided to continue their musical activities. The name of the new vocalist Brian Johnson, the former frontman of a rock band that briefly thundered across Europe " Geordie", one of the loyal fans suggested to them. As a result of a short audition, Brian was accepted into the group. The first album, which AC/DC recorded with a new singer, became the magnificent "Back in Black", released in 1980. It turned out to be the best-selling album in the group's discography. The best song from this record is considered by many to be the composition dedicated to the memory of Bon Scott, “You Shook Me All Night Long,” one of the greatest works of hard rock.

On the wave of this success AC/DC continued to record successful albums - "For Those About to Rock We Salute You"(1981) and "Flick of the Switch" (1983). After this, Phil Rudd left the group. He was replaced by Simon Wright. In 1985 AC/DC released the disc "Fly on the Wall", which was noticeably inferior to its predecessors. However, a year later the team began to regain its lost positions. First, the group released a compilation album "Who Made Who", which included old hits and the song of the same name, which is the soundtrack to the Stephen King film Maximum Overdrive. In February 1986 AC/DC were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame. 1988 saw the release of Blow Up Your Video, a strong album featuring the UK Top 20 hit "Heatseeker". It was followed by another successful release - "The Razor's Edge" (1990).

In 1994, Phil Rudd returned to the group. The albums "Ballbreaker" (1995) and "Stiff Upper Lip" (2000) were recorded with him. In March 2003 the group AC/DC was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York. After a long pause, in 2008, AC/DC pleased their fans with a new studio work called "Black Ice", and in 2009 a collector's edition "Backtracks" was released, which presented both the best songs of the band and rare recordings. Many compositions are presented on the disc for the first time. This band influenced the work of a huge number of groups playing in a variety of styles of rock music. A Melbourne street is named after AC/DC, undoubtedly Australia's best band and one of the giants of world rock. In 2010, a powerful record was released, called "Iron Man 2". It presents some of the most driving compositions of the legendary group: “Shoot To Thrill”, “Back In Black” and many others. The appearance of this record, of course, is connected with the release of the film of the same name, and it is worth noting that they complement each other perfectly.

The band's uncomplicated but extremely powerful rock 'n' roll took them from Australian bars to the world's biggest stages and made them true hard rock legends. The AC/DC story began in Sydney in November 1973, when brothers Malcolm and Angus Young formed a band with vocalist Dave Evans, bassist Larry Van Kreidt and ex-Masters Apprentices drummer Colin Budgess. In this configuration, the ensemble played only a few concerts, after which endless changes of drummers and bassists began. Be that as it may, the band continued to rehearse and perform, and in February 1974 they recorded their first single, “Can I Sit Next To You Girl.” At first, the team appeared in public in traditional jeans and T-shirts, but in the spring, Angus, on the advice of his sister Margaret (by the way, she also came up with the name of the group), put on a school uniform, and over time this became the signature feature of AC/DC.

In the summer, the group received a contract from Albert Productions and went on tour as an opening act for Lou Reed, who came to Australia. During these tours, it finally became clear that Evans was not cut out to be a frontman, and he was shown the door. Bon Scott immediately took his place at the microphone, but the leapfrog with the rhythm section stopped only a year later, when Mark Evans (bass) and Phil Rudd (drums) joined the ranks of AC/DC. With the help of the first two albums (which also had some glam influences "High Voltage" and already made in the signature hard style of "T.N.T."), which easily went platinum at home, the group laid the Australian continent at their feet and attracted the attention of the rock community of other countries .

At the end of the sessions for the third album, AC/DC set off to conquer Europe, choosing the glorious city of London as their main residence. In 1976, the band entered into a deal with Atlantic Records, which in May released the disc "High Voltage", which was, in fact, a compilation of Australian releases. The record sold three million copies worldwide, and was followed by two more multi-platinum LPs, which spawned hits such as "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", "Let There Be Rock" and "Whole Lotta Rosie". In the summer of 1977, AC/DC visited America for the first time, and shortly before the start of the tour, Mark, who had quarreled with Angus, was replaced by Cliff Williams. By the time the studio album "Powerage" and the live album "If You Want Blood You"ve Got It appeared, Australian musicians had turned into real superstars, and tickets to their performances were selling out like hot cakes. In 1979, the band teamed up with producer Matt Lang and produced a true masterpiece "Highway To Hell".

Unfortunately, this work, with which AC/DC cracked the Billboard top 100 for the first time, was Scott's last. On February 19, 1980, Bon died after a night of heavy drinking, leaving the vocalist position vacant. When the shock of the unexpected loss had passed a little, his colleagues decided to continue the group's activities, and Brian Johnson stood up to the microphone. This ex-member of "Geordie" came in handy because he not only had similar vocals to Scott, but was also an excellent showman. Released in the summer of 1980, the album "Back In Black", the recording of which was again led by Lang, became the group's most commercially successful work. In addition to the title track, the collection of concert favorites was replenished with “Hells Bells”, “Shoot To Thrill”, “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Rock And Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution”, while the disc took first place in many countries around the world, and its total circulation crossed the platinum mark a whopping 22 times.

Compared to his next two works, they looked much more modest, although the sales of Lang's "For Those About To Rock" and the self-produced "Flick Of The Switch" were the envy of many teams. Meanwhile, the internal situation in the team became tense again, and this time Phil flew out the door, having had a fight with Malcolm. Changing drummer to Simon Wright, the group released the album "Fly On The Wall" in 1985. It was again produced by the Young brothers, who tried to further simplify the sound and thereby aroused the disapproval of critics. However, in the future, the team’s affairs slowly began to improve, and the records “Who Made Who” (the soundtrack to the Stephen King film “Maximum Overdrive”, which featured only three new songs) and “Blow Up Your Video” supported its chart success. In 1990, with Chris Slade (ex-Manfred Mann's Earth Band) on drums and with Bruce Fairbairn (Aerosmith, Bon Jovi) at the production desk, the disc "The Razor Edge" was recorded, which brought hits to the band. Thunderstruck" and "Are You Ready", five times platinum and a place in the Billboard top ten. After its release, studio activity died down for five years, but in 1995, AC/DC returned with the forgiven Rudd and the album "Ballbreaker", which Rick Rubin worked on. Although this multi-platinum work also reached the Top 10 in many countries, fans again had to wait five years for the next full-length (however, to brighten up their languor, the box set “Bonfire” was released in 1997). After "Stiff Upper Lip" hit the shelves and the tour in support of it ended, the band abandoned work on fresh material for a long time and began remastering and re-releasing the back catalog. Many had already predicted the demise of "AC/DC" when the legendary team announced the death of AC/DC in the fall of 2008. about his return with the help of the "Black Ice" program. The comeback exceeded all expectations, and the album turned out to be the undisputed leader in 29 countries. People flocked to the concerts that resumed after a long break, but some of the dates had to be canceled due to Brian’s peptic ulcer.

In 2009, a box set of rarities, “Backtracks,” was released, and the following year, many of the group’s hits were featured in the film “Iron Man 2.” Unfortunately, age soon began to show itself, and on the eve of the recording of the next album, Malcolm was forced to leave for health reasons. The elder Young's guitar went to his nephew Stevie, but no sooner had one personnel problem been resolved than another arose - Rudd ran into trouble with the law and was accused of threatening to kill and possession of marijuana and methamphetamines. And if the first item was soon removed from the agenda, then the drummer had to pay for the drugs with house arrest. One way or another, Phil could no longer participate in the recording of the record, and therefore Chris Slade returned to the drum kit. Despite all the vicissitudes, the album "Rock Or Bust" turned out to be short, but powerful, which was confirmed by its leading position in the ratings and platinum sales. Unfortunately, commercial success was overshadowed by further troubles - during the accompanying tour, Johnson began to lose his hearing, and in order to avoid permanent deafness, doctors ordered him to quit touring.