Malcolm Young

AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young may have been overshadowed on stage by the cartoonish antics of his schoolboy uniform-clad younger brother Angus. But on record, his disciplined rock and roll riffs undeniably shaped the sound that would propel the band into superstardom. Young was more than content to allow his sibling take the limelight, rarely giving interviews during a 40-year career in which he established himself as one of rock's ultimate strong and silent figures. Instead, he preferred for his beloved Gretsch Jet Firebird guitar to do the talking on a string of seminal multi-million selling albums -- including the classics Highway To Hell and Back In Black -- which showcased an intelligent understanding of volume and rather unusually for such a high-octane band, a fondness for clarity, spaciousness and restraint. Sadly, the onset of dementia cut short his AC/DC career in 2014. But cited as a key influence on everyone from Metallica's James Hetfield to Guns N' Roses' Izzy Stradlin, few axemen have made such a long-lasting impression. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Young moved to Sydney with his family aged ten. Inspired by the success of his older brother George's outfit, The Easybeats, Malcolm formed Velvet Underground -- a T-Rex/Rolling Stones covers band which bore little resemblance to Lou Reed and company -- during his late teens. In 1973, he joined forces with his more charismatic sibling Angus to co-found AC/DC, and after adding bassist Larry Van Kriedt, drummer Colin Burgess and vocalist Dave Evans to their line-up, began touring a year later. Shortly after, Bon Scott replaced Evans in the first of many personnel changes the band would experience during their lengthy career, and AC/DC began to gradually build up a large following with their blistering hard rock sound, dynamic live performances and mischievous sense of humor, eventually resulting in a debut U.S. Top 20 entry with 1979's Highway To Hell. AC/DC suffered tragedy in 1980 when Scott died from acute alcohol poisoning. However, after recruiting Scottish belter Brian Johnson, the band bounced back bigger than ever later that year with Back in Black, a tribute to their late ex-frontman which shifted ten million copies in the U.S. alone and is officially listed as one of the best-selling albums of all time. Young's raw and exhilarating riffs were integral to its success, as they also were on 1981 Billboard chart-topping follow-up, For Those About To Rock We Salute You, and although the group struggled to sustain the same success during the rest of the decade, they remained a must-see live act thanks to both Angus' showmanship and Malcolm's strong musicianship. Having battled with alcoholism for several years, Young made the decision to temporarily leave the group in order to deal with the problem ahead of their 1988 Blow Up Your Video World Tour, where he was replaced by nephew Stevie. But he returned in time for 1990's return-to-form The Razor's Edge, and continued to be a pivotal part of the group for the next two decades, most notably on 2008's US number one Black Ice. Sadly, following various reports about his ill health, AC/DC released a statement in 2014 confirming that he had been forced to hang up his guitar after being admitted to a nursing home with dementia. The band released their first album without their founding member, Rock or Bust, shortly after. Malcolm Young died on November 18, 2017 in Sydney. He was 64.