Rock On The Net: AC/DC

AC/DC began with 2 brothers, Angus and Malcolm Young born in Scotland and raised in Australia. AC/DC (meaning Alternating Current/Direct Current) began with members Rob Bailey, Peter Clark, and Dave Evans on lead vocals in 1973. It was the Young's sister that suggested Angus wear a school uniform while performing - a move that quickly became the band's trademark. The lineup soon changed with the Young brothers replacing members with Bon Scott on vocals, Mark Evans on bass, and Phillip Rudd on drums. The band recorded 2 singles: "Can I Sit Next To You Girl" and "Rockin'." AC/DC was on its way to becoming the biggest heavy metal band in the world over the course of 2 decades.

AC/DC released High Voltage and TNT in Australia. The band had some success in Australia with the High Voltage and single "Baby Please Don't Go" but really took off with the release of TNT.

AC/dc relocated to the UK in hopes of success extended beyond Australia.

AC/DC released High Voltage in the US and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap overseas.

AC/DC released Let There Be Rock.
Mark Evans left the group and was replaced with Cliff Williams on bass.

AC/DC toured the US with Kiss and Rush.

AC/DC released Powerage.

AC/DC released If You Want Blood You've Got It.

AC/DC released Highway To Hell and the band found their world-wide success reaching into the US.

Highway To Hell was certified gold.

Bon Scott was found dead in a car after a night of heavy drinking. Scott was 33 and it was stated on the coroner's report that he had "drunk himself to death."

Highway To Hell was certified platinum.

April 19: Brian Johnson joined the group soon after on lead vocals.

AC/DC released Back In Black.
AC/DC topped the UK LP chart for 2 weeks with Back In Black.

Back In Black was certified platinum, Let There Be Rock was certified gold, and If You Want Blood You've Got It was certified gold.
AC/DC hit the Top 40 with "You Shook Me All Night Long."

# 135 Singles Artist of the Year

AC/DC hit the Top 40 with "Back In Black."

High Voltage was certified gold.

AC/DC released Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap - an LP released overseas 5 years earlier.

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was certified platinum.

Powerage was certified gold.

AC/DC released For Those About To Rock (We Salute You).

# 182 Singles Artist of the Year

For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) was certified platinum.
AC/DC were nominated for an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group.

AC/DC hit the Top 40 with "Let's Get It Up."

AC/DC released Flick Of The Switch.
Drummer Phillip Rudd left the group and was replaced by Simon Wright.

AC/DC had rock hits with "Flick Of The Switch" and "Guns For Hire."

AC/DC released '74 Jailbreak.
Back In Black was certified 5x platinum, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was certified 2x platinum, For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) was certified 2x platinum, and Highway To Hell was certified 2x platinum.

AC/DC released Fly On The Wall.

Fly On The Wall was certified gold.

AC/DC had a rock hit with "Sink The Pink."

AC/DC released Who Made Who.

Who Made Who was certified gold.

AC/DC had a rock hit with "Who Made Who."

Who Made Who was certified platinum.

AC/DC released Blow Up Your Video.

Blow Up Your Video was certified platinum.

Who Made Who was certified gold.

AC/DC had rock hits with"That's The Way I Wanna Rock N Roll" and "Heatseeker."

AC/DC were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance (Blow Up Your Video).

Drummer Phillip Simon Wright leaves the band is replaced by Chris Slade.

AC/DC released The Razor's Edge.

Back In Black was certified 10x platinum, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was certified 3x platinum, High Voltage was certified platinum, Highway To Hell was certified 3x platinum, If You Want Blood You've Got It was certified platinum, Let There Be Rock was certified platinum, Powerage was certified platinum, and Who Made Who was certified 2x platinum.

The Razors Edge was certified platinum.

'74 Jailbreak was certified gold.

AC/DC had a rock hit with "Thunderstruck."

# 124 Singles Artist of the Year

AC/DC hit the Top 40 with "Moneytalks."
Three teenagers were killed after being crushed by the crowd at a performance in Utah.
The Razors Edge was certified 2x platinum.

Highway To Hell was certified 4x platinum.
AC/DC were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance (The Razors Edge).

The video for "Thunderstruck" was nominated for a MTV Video Music Award for Best Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Video.

AC/DC were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance ("Moneytalks").

The Razors Edge was certified 3x platinum.

AC/DC released Live and Live (Special Collector's Edition).

Live was certified platinum.

AC/DC topped the Billboard Album Rock charts with "Big Gun" for 2 weeks. The song was featured on the soundtrack for The Last Action Hero.
AC/DC topped the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart for 2 weeks with "Big Gun."

Live was certified 2x platinum.

Rolling Stone: "The 100 Top Music Videos" included "Thunderstuck" at # 89.

High Voltage was certified 2x platinum and Who Made Who was certified 3x platinum.

AC/DC was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance ("Highway To Hell").

Phillip Rudd returned as the band's drummer.

For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) was certified 3x platinum.

AC/DC released Ballbreaker.

AC/DC topped the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart for 3 weeks with "Hard As A Rock."

Ballbreaker was certified platinum

Back In Black was certified 12x platinum.

Rock 'N Roll Hall Of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock And Roll includes "Highway To Hell" and "Back In Black."

AC/DC released the box set Bonfire.

Back In Black was certified 16x platinum, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was certified 5x platinum, Bonfire was certified gold, and Let There Be Rock was certified 2x platinum.

VH1: 100 Greatest Rock Songs includes "You Shook Me All Night Long" at # 91.

AC/DC released Stiff Upper Lip.

AC/DC Topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart with "Stiff Upper Lip" for 4 weeks.

Stiff Upper Lip was certified gold

VH1: 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock includes AC/DC at # 4.
Rolling Stone & MTV: 100 Greatest Pop Songs includes "You Shook Me All Night Long" at # 92.

Back In Black was certified 19x platinum, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was certified 6x platinum, Highway To Hell was certified 6x platinum, Who Made Who was certified 5x platinum, For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) was certified 4x platinum, Ballbreaker was certified 2x platinum, Flick Of The Switch was certified platinum, Bonfire was certified platinum, Fly On The Wall was certified platinum, The Razors Edge was certified 4x platinum, '74 Jailbreak was certified platinum, Live was certified 3x platinum, Live (Special Collector's Edition) was certified 2x platinum, and Stiff Upper Lip was certified platinum.
VH1: 100 Greatest Albums includes Back In Black at # 82.

Johnson was reported to be writing music and lyrics for a musical called Helen Of Troy set to debut in Florida next year.

March 10: AC/DC were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

VH1: 100 Best Songs of the Past 25 Years includes "You Shook Me All Night Long" at # 20.

AC/DC performed at a benefit concert in Toronto to help promote the city after the SARS scare keep many performers and tourists away.

Rolling Stone: The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: # 73: Back In Black, # 199: Highway To Hell.

Rolling Stone: The Immortals - The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time included AC/DC at # 72.

Back In Black was certified 20x platinum.

AC/DC topped the Billboard year-end Top Comprehensive Music Videos chart with Live At Donington.

Back In Black was certified 21x platinum and High Voltage was certified 3x platinum.

Highway To Hell was certified 7x platinum and The Razors Edge was certified 5x platinum.

VH1: 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's included "You Shook Me All Night Long" at # 10.

The singles "You Shook Me All Night Long," "Highway To Hell," "Thunderstruck," and "Hell's Bells" was certified gold.

The single "Back In Black" was certified 2x platinum.

The box set AC/DC: Plug Me In was released.

Back In Black was certified 22x platinum.

AC/DC released their next LP Black Ice but it was only be sold from the band's website and Wal-Mart and Sam's Club.
AC/DC topped the UK and Canadian LP charts with Black Ice.

AC/DC topped the Billboard 200 LP chart, Top Rock Albums chart, and Top Internet Albums chart with Black Ice and sold over 784,000 copies its first week of release in the US.
AC/DC appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone.
Black Ice was certified 2x platinum.

AC/DC topped the Rolling Stone 'Readers Poll' for Best Hard-Rock Band and Best Comeback of 2008.
Black Ice ended 2008 as the #5 selling LP of the year with sales topping 1.9 million.

AC/DC were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ("Rock N Roll Train").

The box set consisting of 2 CDs and a DVD Backtracks (2CD/1DVD) was released.

AC/DC won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance ("War Machine") and were nominated for Best Rock Album (Black Ice).

Iron Man 2 was released.
Iron Man 2 topped the UK LP chart.

Iron Man 2 topped the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart and Top Hard Rock Albums chart.
Iron Man 2 topped the Canadian LP chart.

Iron Man 2 was certified gold.

Live At River Plate was released. The live set was recorded in Buenos Aires in 2009.

• November 6: Rudd was arrested and charged with attempting to procure the murders of 2 people. Charges were dropped 2 days later.

• December 2: Rock Or Bust was released.
• December 20: AC/DC topped the Billboard Rock Albums chart and Hard Rock Albums chart with Rock Or Bust.

• January 22: Rock Or Bust was certified gold.

• December 31: AC/DC topped the Billboard 2015 Year-End Chart Toppers as the Top Hard Rock Artist and with the Top Hard Rock Album (Rock Or Bust).

• November 18: Malcolm Young died at the age of 64 after suffering a few years with dementia. The group issued a statement: "Malcolm, along with Angus, was the founder and creator of AC/DC. With enormous dedication and commitment he was the driving force behind the band. As a guitarist, songwriter and visionary he was a perfectionist and a unique man. He always stuck to his guns and did and said exactly what he wanted. He took great pride in all that he endeavored. His loyalty to the fans was unsurpassed."

• December 6: Back In Black was certified 25x platinum.

• November 13: AC/DC released Power Up.
• November 26: AC/DC topped the UK LP chart with Power Up.
• November 28: AC/DC topped the Billboard 200 LP chart, Album Sales chart, Rock Albums chart, and Hard Rock Albums chart with Power Up.

• December 31: AC/DC topped the Billboard 2021 Year-End Chart Toppers as the Top Hard Rock Artist and with the Top Hard Rock Digital Song Sales ("Thunderstruck").

• April 3: AC/DC was nominated for 3 Grammy Awards including Best Rock Performance and Best Music Video ("Shot In The Dark"), and Best Rock Album (Power Up).

• December 31: AC/DC topped the Billboard 2022 Year-End Chart Toppers with the Top Hard Rock Digital Song Sales ("Thunderstruck").

• July 8: Back In Black was certified 26x platinum, Highway To Hell was certified 8x platnum, The Razors Edge was certified 6x platinum, and High Voltage, Live, and Live (Special Collector's Edition) were certified 4x platinum.

• August 21: Back In Black was certified 27x platinum.