AC/DC FACTS
Genre: Hard rock, blues rock, rock and roll
Hometown: Sydney, Australia
Albums: High Voltage (1976), Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976), Highway To Hell (1979), Back In Black (1980), Fly On The Wall (1985), Ballbreaker (1995), Stiff Upper Lip (2000) and Black Ice (2008).
Awards: 1 Grammy Award, 6 ARIA Music Awards, 1 Rock On Request Award
Hits: "Highway To Hell," "Shook Me All Night Long," "Thunderstruck," "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," "T.N.T."
Other: Despite selling more than 200 million albums worldwide, AC/DC has never posted a Top 20 hit.
Ever since AC/DC made their debut in a crowded rock landscape in the late 1970s, they have never strayed from their classic formula of soaring guitar riffs, macho bravado and energetic music that captured the hearts of fans worldwide. The group has seen plenty of members over the years, but its current lineup of guitar-playing brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, drummer Phil Rudd, bassist Cliff Williams and Brian Johnson has proven to be a stellar group that still enthralls audiences today.
AC/DC burst onto the scene with their first album in 1975, dubbed High Voltage, which built plenty of momentum for the group's following albums, Highway to Hell in 1979 and Back In Black, which many consider to be the band's finest record and also its most successful. Amazingly, AC/DC followed up the massive success of Back In Black with For Those About To Rock, We Salute You, which was the band's first No. 1 album in the U.S.
After a down period during the 1980s, AC/DC came roaring back in the 1990s with the release of the successful album, The Razors Edge. The group showed that they would continue to get better with age with the release of Ballbreaker in 1995 and followed that up with Stiff Upper Lip in 2000. In 2008, the group released the surprise hit of the year, Black Ice, which was the group's only other No. 1 album and the second-highest selling record during 2008.
With more than 200 million albums sold and the second-highest selling album (Back In Black) in history behind Michael Jackson's Thriller, AC/DC has a laundry list of accomplishments that ranks them as one of the most influential rock bands in history. The group still has plenty left in the tank with a major tour planned for 2013 and another highly anticipated album hitting the market very soon that is sure to satiate the appetites of AC/DC fans everywhere.