Angus Young

Young married Ellen in 1980. They live in Kangaroo Point, Sydney. They also own a home in Aalten, Netherlands. Angus is a heavy smoker, but does not drink.

Angus Young was born on 31 March 1955 to William and Margaret Young, and was the youngest of eight children. In 1963, he and his parents migrated to Sydney, Australia, along with his siblings, Malcolm, George and Margaret.

He first started playing a banjo, and then the guitar on a cheap acoustic model purchased second-hand by his mother. His first Gibson SG was also bought second-hand.

At 15, he dropped out of Ashfield Boys High School. Initially, he played in a local group called Kantuckee. The band split, and was later called Tantrum.

In 1973, he and his brother Malcolm formed AC/DC with Angus on lead guitar, Malcolm on rhythm guitar, Colin Burgess on drums, Larry Van Kriedt on bass guitar and Dave Evans as vocalist.

Their first single was “Can I Sit Next To You”. It was later re-recorded with Bon Scott as their vocalist as “Can I Sit Next To You Girl”.

After trying a number of stage costumes, he finally settled on his signature schoolboy look as suggested by his sister Margaret who created the original uniform. Later he used his school uniform.

In 1975, AC/DC released their debut album, “High Voltage”. They followed it up by “T.N.T.”, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”, “Let There Be Rock” and “Powerage” over the next three years.

“Highway to Hell”, a studio album, became their best-selling in 1979, and launched them to new heights of fame. The group’s lead singer Bon Scott died from alcohol poisoning shortly afterwards.

The album, “Back in Black” became the second highest-selling album worldwide, behind only Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. It reached 22x multi-platinum in the US alone, and sold 50 million copies worldwide.

In 2008, AC/DC brought out “Black Ice” which debuted at number 1 in 29 countries, and was certified multi-platinum in 14. It became one of their most successful albums worldwide.