Malcolm Young Photo Gallery: AC/DC’s Guitarist Through the Years
As the rhythm guitarist and co-founder of AC/DC, Malcolm Young created and played riffs on some of the greatest songs in rock history. We're celebrating his life and career with the below Malcolm Young Photo Gallery: AC/DC's Guitarist Through the Years.
Born in Glasgow on Jan. 6, 1953, Young moved with his family to Australia when he was 10. Inspired by his older brother George, who, with the Easybeats, had a global hit with "Friday on My Mind," Malcolm and his younger brother Angus formed AC/DC in 1973.
Within a few years, the band signed with Atlantic Records and, with 1979's Highway to Hell, became one of the world's biggest hard rock bands. Not even the death of singer Bon Scott could slow them down. They quickly regrouped with Brian Johnson fronting the band and released another classic, Back in Black, a year later.
AC/DC spent the next three decades as one of rock's most reliable bands, scoring Top 10 albums and selling out stadiums worldwide. But by the time they started work on 2008's Black Ice, Malcolm was having problems with memory and concentration. Undeterred, and with medical care, he played on the record and the two-year, 168-date world tour that followed, wrapping up on June 28, 2010, in Bilbao, Spain.
While the band tried to downplay the severity of Malcolm's illness out of respect for his privacy, AC/DC formally announced his retirement on Sept. 14, 2014, when they revealed details for the Rock or Bust album. Within a week, the world learned that he was suffering from dementia. He died on Nov. 18, 2017.
A parade of famous rock musicians lined up to pay their respects to Malcolm. "As his brother it is hard to express in words what he has meant to me during my life. The bond we had was unique and very special," Angus declared soon after his passing. "He leaves behind an enormous legacy that will live on forever. Malcolm, job well done.”