{"id":132352,"date":"2017-11-19T03:49:15","date_gmt":"2017-11-19T08:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=132352"},"modified":"2017-11-19T03:49:15","modified_gmt":"2017-11-19T08:49:15","slug":"acdc-founding-member-malcolm-young-dead-at-64","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/11\/19\/acdc-founding-member-malcolm-young-dead-at-64\/","title":{"rendered":"AC\/DC founding member Malcolm Young dead at 64"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Malcolm<\/a>
Malcolm Young (Photo by Pandemonium73 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NEW YORK \u2014 Malcolm Young, the rhythm guitarist and guiding force behind the bawdy hard rock band AC\/DC who helped create such head-banging anthems as \u201cHighway to Hell,\u201d \u201cHells Bells\u201d and \u201cBack in Black,\u201d has died. He was 64.<\/p>\n

AC\/DC announced the death Saturday on their official Facebook page and website Saturday. A representative for the band confirmed that the posts were true. The posts did not say when or where Young died, but said the performer had been suffering from dementia. He was diagnosed in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is with deepest sorrow that we inform you of the death of Malcolm Young, beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother. Malcolm had been suffering from Dementia for several years and passed away peacefully with his family by his bedside,\u201d one of the posts read.<\/p>\n

The family put out a statement posted on the band’s website calling Young a \u201cvisionary who inspired many.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Young’s younger brother, Angus, the group’s school-uniform-wearing lead guitarist, was the public face of the band, Malcolm Young was its key writer and leader, the member the rest of the band watched for onstage changes and cutoffs.<\/p>\n

AC\/DC were remarkably consistent for over 40 years with its mix of driving hard rock, lusty lyrics and bluesy shuffles, selling over 200 million albums, surviving the loss of its first singer and creating one of the greatest rock records ever in \u201cBack in Black,\u201d the world’s second bestselling album behind Michael Jackson’s \u201cThriller.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several musicians paid their respects to Malcolm Young on social media, writing about his influence and impact in music.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a sad day in rock and roll. Malcolm Young was my friend and the heart and soul of AC\/DC. I had some of the best times of my life with him on our 1984 European tour,\u201d Eddie Van Halen tweeted on Saturday. \u201cHe will be missed and my deepest condolences to his family, bandmates and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe driving engine of AC\/DC has died. A tragic end for a sometimes unsung icon. One of the true greats. RIP,\u201d Paul Stanley, of Kiss, wrote on Twitter<\/p>\n

Scott Ian, of Anthrax, posted a photo of his Malcolm Young tattoo and said \u201cwhat he means to me is unquantifiable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Portnoy, co-founder of Dream Theater, called him \u201cone of the great rhythm guitar players of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Glasgow-born Young brothers \u2014 who moved to Sydney, Australia, with their parents, sister and five older brothers in 1963 \u2014 formed the band in 1973. They were inspired to choose the high-energy name AC\/DC from the back of a sewing machine owned by their sister, Margaret.<\/p>\n

Angus experimented with several different stage costumes at first \u2014 including a gorilla suit and a Zorro outfit \u2014 but the school uniform was a natural, since he was only 16 at the time.<\/p>\n

The Youngs went through several drummers and bass guitarists, finally settling on Phil Rudd on drums in 1974 and Englishman Cliff Williams on bass three years later. Their original singer was fired after a few months when they discovered Bon Scott, who was originally hired as the band’s driver.<\/p>\n

By 1980, the band was on a roll, known for its high energy performances and predictably hard-charging songs. Their album \u201cHighway To Hell\u201d was certified gold in America and made it into the top 25 Billboard album charts, and the single \u201cTouch Too Much\u201d became their first UK Top 30 hit. But on Feb. 18, 1980, everything changed \u2014 Scott died of asphyxiation after choking on his own vomit after an all-night drinking binge.<\/p>\n

The band decided to keep going and hired English vocalist Brian Johnson at the helm. The newly reconfigured group channeled their grief into songwriting and put out 1980’s \u201cBack In Black,\u201d with the songs \u201cYou Shook Me All Night Long,\u201d \u201cRock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution\u201d and \u201cHells Bells.\u201d The cover of the album was black, in honour of Scott’s death.<\/p>\n

The band continued with a studio or live album every few years , blending their huge guitar riffs with rebellious and often sophomoric lyrics \u2014 song titles include \u201cBig Balls,\u201d \u201cBeating Around the Bush,\u201d \u201cLet Me Put My Love Into You\u201d and \u201cStiff Upper Lip.\u201d AC\/DC won only a single Grammy Award, for best hard rock performance in 2009 for \u201cWar Machine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rolling Stone said in 1980 that \u201cthe AC\/DC sound is nothing more and nothing less than aggressively catchy song hooks brutalized by a revved-up boogie rhythm, Malcolm’s jackhammer riffing, Angus’ guitar histrionics and Johnson’s bloodcurdling bawl.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the book \u201cThe Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC\/DC\u201d by Jesse Fink, Angus Young said the formula worked. \u201cWe’ve got the basic thing kids want,\u201d he said. \u201cThey want to rock and that’s it. They want to be part of the band as a mass. When you hit a guitar chord, a lot of the kids in the audience are hitting it with you. They’re so much into the band they’re going through all the motions with you. If you can get the mass to react as a whole, then that’s the ideal thing. That’s what a lot of bands lack, and why the critics are wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

AC\/DC’s infectious, driving sound stretched further than rock arenas. The song \u201cShoot to Thrill\u201d was heard in the film \u201cThe Avengers,\u201d \u201cBack in Black\u201d made it into \u201cThe Muppets,\u201d \u201cDirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap\u201d was played in \u201cBridesmaids\u201d and their songs were included in the \u201cIron Man\u201d franchise. On TV, the band’s music was heard in everything from \u201cTop Gear,\u201d the \u201cHawaii Five-0\u201d reboot, \u201cGlee,\u201d \u201cCSI: Miami\u201d and \u201cThe Voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the band championed good-natured hell-raising, it had to weather suggestions in the 1980s that they were a threat to the moral fabric of society. There were rumours the band’s name stood for Anti-Christ\/Devil’s Children and many were shocked when it was learned that serial murderer and rapist Richard Ramirez identified himself as a fan and left an AC\/DC baseball cap behind at a crime scene.<\/p>\n

In 2014, the band released \u201cRock or Bust,\u201d the first AC\/DC album without Malcolm Young. Even so, he is very present on the record since the 11 songs are credited to the Young brothers (Angus said he built the album from guitar hooks the two had accumulated over the years).<\/p>\n

Around the album’s release, Angus Young told The Associated Press that Malcolm was doing fine, but that he couldn’t perform anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was progressing further, but he knew he couldn’t do it,\u201d Angus Young said of his older brother’s dementia. \u201cHe had continued as long as he could, still writing. But he said to me, ‘Keep it going.\u201d’<\/p>\n

The fate of the band was also put into doubt by the retirement of Williams, legal trouble for Rudd and Johnson’s hearing loss, which forced him to leave. The band enlisted Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose to sing on tour in 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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