Amid all the rumors and speculation of retirement that have floated around the past couple of days, AC/DC have finally released an official statement through their Facebook page:
“After forty years of life dedicated to AC/DC, guitarist and founding member Malcolm Young is taking a break from the band due to ill health. Malcolm would like to thank the group’s diehard legions of fans worldwide for their never-ending love and support.
In light of this news, AC/DC asks that Malcolm and his family’s privacy be respected during this time. The band will continue to make music.”
As previously reported, AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson also confirmed that the band will continue to make music and disclosed that a member of the band was battling a debilitating disease.
42 Responses
I hope the rumors that Malcolm has had a stroke aren’t true. My dad had one a year ago, and his hand still doesn’t work right. It’s incredibly frustrating to watch someone you love have to relearn to write, hold a fork, etc., and as a guitar player myself, I can only imagine it would drive you insane to suddenly not be able to play.
AC/DC has always been my favorite band and I will respect whatever decision they make. If they go on with a replacement, hey, we all got used to Brian. I hope Malcolm doesn’t have to hang it up, but if he does and the band retires, at least we had 40 years. I’ll just feel sorry for anyone who never got to see them live because they missed an experience.
All the best.
I guess they could still go out and tour, but as for putting out a new album, probably not. Malcolm has been the primary songwriter for the band since Bon died. Brian hasn’t had any writing credit since the Razor’s Edge. AC/DC’s creative process is as you would expect, simple. Angus and Malcolm come up with all the music/lyrics and when they’re done they call in the other band members to perform the parts. I hope Malcolm comes out alright from his health crisis. He’s responsible for my all-time favorite band and I salute him for the countless hours of headbanging that AC/DC has given me. Thank you Malcolm!!
Razor’s Edge was all Young & Young, no Johnson.
Dave Davies’ had similar…..he was onstage after much therepy. You kinda slow in the voice a bit. Blow Up Your Video they peaked.
Sad fact that all our heroes are getting older. Lemmy has been very ill, now Malcolm. Friends we are beginning to lose the greatest performers and musicians in metal and hard rock. We have already lost Ronnie, Tony Iommi was very sick and hopefully on the way to a long lasting recovery. The thing that troubles me is that there are not many if any of the new bands that will carry the torch . Most of these bands make mostly generic easily forgotten music. They don’t have the showmanship of the bands that I was lucky enough to grow up with.