Malcolm Young (January 6, 1953 – November 18, 2017) was a Scottish-Australian musician, songwriter, and co-founder, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist of legendary hard rock, heavy metal band AC/DC. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland to William and Margaret Young on January 6, 1953 and the family moved to Australia in 1963, when Malcolm was 10.
Except for a brief absence in 1988, Malcolm was with AC/DC from its beginning in November 1973 until he retired in 2014 for health reasons.
Malcolm Young was 20 when he formed AC/DC with his younger brother Angus in 1973. The line-up was Angus on lead guitar, Malcolm on rhythm guitar, Colin Burgess on drums, Larry Van Kriedt on bass and Dave Evans on vocals. Apparently, they came up with the name AC/DC after seeing the letters on the back of their sister Margaret’s sewing machine.
Their first single was “Can I Sit Next To You Girl,” which was later re-recorded with Bon Scott on vocals.
By October 1974, the album High Voltage had been recorded and was released, in Australia only, the February after. Recording took just ten days and was based on instrumental songs written by the Young brothers, with lyrics added by Bon Scott.
Within a few months, the band’s line-up changed to Scott, the Young brothers, Mark Evans on bass and Phil Rudd on drums. Later in 1975 their second album, T.N.T., was released only in Australia and New Zealand. T.N.T. featured the classic song “High Voltage”, which was the first song written and recorded for the album.
In early 1977 they went on a European tour with Black Sabbath. Bon Scott and Ozzy Osbourne quickly became friends, but relations were not great between the other members of the two bands. In one incident, Geezer Butler, Sabbath’s bass player, allegedly pulled a knife on Malcolm Young.
Towards the end of 1977, bassist Mark Evans was fired and replaced by Cliff Williams.
The major breakthrough in AC/DC’s career came “Highway to Hell”, which was producer by the legendary “Mutt” Lange, and released in 1979. It was the first AC/DC LP to break into the US top 100, and eventually reached No. 17.
Early in 1980, the band began work on a new album, “Back in Black”, but Bon Scott would unfortunately, not live to see it finished. On February 20, 1980, Scott died due to Pulmonary aspiration of vomit with the official cause of death listed as “acute alcohol poisoning”
Following Bon Scott’s death AC/DC considered quitting, but they eventually decided to continue and starting looking for a new frontman, finally decided on ex-Geordie singer Brian Johnson.
For his audition, Johnson sang “Whole Lotta Rosie” from “Let There Be Rock” and Ike & Tina Turner’s “Nutbush City Limits”. With Johnson the band completed the album “Back in Black.”
“Back in Black”, was also produced by Mutt Lange and became their biggest-selling album and a hard-rock landmark, with hits including “Hells Bells”, “You Shook Me All Night Long”, “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution” and “Back in Black”. The album reached No.1 in the UK and No.4 in the US, where it spent 131 weeks on the Billboard 200 album chart.
1981’s “For Those About to Rock We Salute You”, was again produced by Mutt Lange, and featured the single and title track, “For Those About to Rock”, which reached No.13 and No.15 in the UK, respectively.
AC/DC, and Malcolm Young, continued to make albums throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
In 2003, Malcolm Young and the other members of AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and on October 1, 2004, a central Melbourne road, Corporation Lane, was renamed ACDC Lane in honour of the band.
Although Angus, the younger Young brother, was the more visible, Malcolm Young was described as the driving force and the leader of the AC/DC. As the rhythm guitarist, he was responsible for the broad sweep of the band’s sound, and developed many of their guitar riffs and co-wrote the band’s material with Angus.
At the end of the Black Ice World Tour in 2010, Malcolm Young was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was treated at an early stage, and surgery was successful and the cancer was removed.
Malcolm Young took a leave of absence from AC/DC in April 2014, to receive treatment for dementia. In September 2014, the band’s management announced that he would be retiring permanently. Malcolm stated that despite his retirement from AC/DC, the band was determined to continue making music with his blessing.
On March 7, 2016, AC/DC announced that Brian Johnson’s doctors had ordered him to stop touring immediately, as his hearing loss had accelerated and he risked complete deafness if he stayed on the road.
Then on April 16, 2016, AC/DC released a statement announcing Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose would be their lead vocalist for the remainder of their 2016 tour dates. On September 21, 2016 it was confirmed that Axl Rose would be joining AC/DC permanently, and that he and Angus would continue with different musicians.
Malcolm Young died from dementia (see below*) on November 18, 2017 in Elizabeth Bay, Australia, at the age of 64. He was married to Linda Young and had two children, Cara and Ross.
*Dementia is not a disease itself but rather a collection of symptoms that result from damage to the brain caused by different diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.
For more information on Dementia check out the following websites:-
In the USA:- https://alzfdn.org
In the UK:- https://www.dementiauk.org/
In Australia:- https://www.dementia.org.au/
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AC/DC just got better and better! Each line-up is great in its own right!