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Stairway to Heaven

Led Zeppelin · 1971 · solo by Jimmy Page
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Guitar hero

Angus Young

The schoolboy dynamo who made rock and roll loud, lean and electric

Angus Young was born in Glasgow, the youngest son of a large family, and emigrated with his parents to Sydney in 1963. Music ran through the household: his older brother George found fame with the Easybeats and later became a producer, while brother Malcolm became Angus's closest musical partner. Angus picked up guitar young, played in local bands as a teenager, and in November 1973 he and Malcolm founded AC/DC, taking the name from a label on their sister Margaret's sewing machine.

Early on, Margaret suggested that Angus perform in a school uniform, and the costume became his lasting trademark. Singer Bon Scott joined in 1974, and with George Young and Harry Vanda producing, AC/DC released a string of hard-hitting records in Australia before breaking internationally with Let There Be Rock, Powerage and, in 1979, Highway to Hell. Angus's duck-walking, headbanging energy made the band a formidable live act, and his tight, blues-drenched solos became a genre benchmark.

Tragedy struck in February 1980 when Bon Scott died at thirty-three. Rather than quit, the band recruited Brian Johnson and, later that year, released Back in Black, which became one of the best-selling albums of all time. Through the 1980s and 1990s AC/DC remained a stadium fixture, playing to a vast crowd at the Monsters of Rock festival in Moscow in 1991, and they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

Malcolm Young retired through illness in 2014 and was replaced by their nephew Stevie Young, and the same era brought the album Rock or Bust. When Johnson withdrew from touring due to hearing problems in 2016, Axl Rose stepped in for the remaining dates. Angus, the band's only continuous member since its founding, reunited with Johnson for the 2020 album Power Up, and AC/DC returned to the road in 2024 after a seven-year gap.

The 10 greatest Angus Young solos

  1. 1
    Let There Be Rock
    AC/DC · solo by Angus Young · 1977
  2. 2
    Whole Lotta Rosie
    AC/DC · solo by Angus Young · 1977
  3. 3
    Highway to Hell
    AC/DC · solo by Angus Young · 1979
  4. 4
    Back in Black
    AC/DC · solo by Angus Young · 1980
  5. 5
    Shoot to Thrill
    AC/DC · solo by Angus Young · 1980
  6. 6
    Riff Raff
    AC/DC · solo by Angus Young · 1978
  7. 7
    Sin City
    AC/DC · solo by Angus Young · 1978
  8. 8
    Bad Boy Boogie
    AC/DC · solo by Angus Young · 1977
  9. 9
    Hells Bells
    AC/DC · solo by Angus Young · 1980
  10. 10
    Thunderstruck
    AC/DC · solo by Angus Young · 1990

The sound

Angus plays with ferocious attack and minimal fuss. His tone comes from a Gibson SG plugged more or less straight into loud Marshall stacks, relying on the natural crunch of the amps rather than heavy distortion. His lead vocabulary is rooted in Chuck Berry and electric blues: minor pentatonic runs, stinging bends, rapid-fire hammer-ons and pull-offs, and a fast, aggressive finger vibrato. He favours repetitive, building licks that create frenzy, and he often plays with a slightly behind-the-beat swagger. Paired with Malcolm's rock-solid rhythm, his style shows how much power there is in simplicity and space.

  • Gibson SG Standard (guitar) His lifelong guitar of choice; a late-1960s ebony SG is among his most famous instruments.
  • Gibson Angus Young signature SG (guitar) A signature model developed with Gibson based on his preferred setup.
  • Marshall 1959 Super Lead 100-watt heads (amp) Vintage plexi-style heads, run loud, supply his trademark crunch.
  • Marshall 1960 4x12 cabinets (amp) Loaded with Celestion G12-65 speakers to complete his stage rig.
  • Schaffer-Vega wireless system (effect) Adopted in 1977 for freedom on stage, it also added a distinctive boost to his tone.

Covers

  • Baby, Please Don't Go, originally by Big Joe Williams The old blues standard becomes a supercharged rock workout with frenzied lead trade-offs.
  • School Days, originally by Chuck Berry A loving nod to the guitarist whose licks and duckwalk shaped his style.
  • Jailhouse Rock, originally by Elvis Presley A live rock-and-roll romp showing the band's 1950s roots.
  • Fling Thing, originally by Traditional (Loch Lomond) A short instrumental take on the Scottish folk tune, a nod to the Youngs' birthplace.
  • Rock Me Baby, originally by B.B. King Angus and Malcolm joined the Stones for this blues standard during AC/DC's shows with them in 2003.

Timeline

  • 1955 Born in Glasgow, Scotland
  • 1963 Family emigrates to Sydney
  • 1973 Forms AC/DC with brother Malcolm
  • 1974 Bon Scott joins as lead singer
  • 1979 Highway to Hell brings worldwide success
  • 1980 Bon Scott dies; Brian Johnson joins; Back in Black released
  • 1991 Headlines Monsters of Rock in Moscow
  • 2003 Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
  • 2014 Malcolm retires; nephew Stevie Young joins
  • 2020 Power Up reunites the classic lineup with Brian Johnson

Facts

  1. The band's name came from the AC/DC label on his sister Margaret's sewing machine.
  2. His sister Margaret also came up with the idea of the schoolboy uniform.
  3. When his first costume wore out, he wore his uniform from Ashfield Boys High School.
  4. His older brother George was a member of the Easybeats and co-produced early AC/DC albums.
  5. He has never drunk alcohol.
  6. Despite performing on elevated platforms, he has a fear of heights.
  7. He has been married to Ellen van Lochem since 1980.
  8. He is the only member of AC/DC to have played with the band continuously since 1973.
  9. His stage duckwalk is his own spin on Chuck Berry's famous move.
  10. In 2012 he was voted the best Australian guitarist of all time in a national poll.

Sources