Malcolm Young

Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian musician who was a founding member of the hard rock band AC/DC. Young was a rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and backing vocalist in the band. Except for a brief absence in 1988, Young was a member of AC/DC from its formation in 1973 until his retirement in 2014. As a member of AC/DC, Young was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2023, Rolling Stone named Young and his younger brother and fellow AC/DC member Angus Young the 38th-best guitarists of all time.

Malcolm Mitchell Young was born on 6 January 1953 in Glasgow, Scotland. Young's father, William Young (1911–1985), lived with his family at 6 Skerryvore Road in the Cranhill district of Glasgow. William Young worked as a machine and saw operator in an asbestos and cement business; served in World War II as a flight engine mechanic in the Royal Air Force; and later worked as a yard man and as a postman. He married Margaret (1913–1988; maiden name also Young), who was a housewife.

The "big freeze" of 1963 was one of the worst winters on record in Scotland, with snow 8 feet (2.4 m) deep. A TV advertisement shown in Scotland at that time offered assisted travel for families to start a new life in Australia. Fifteen members of the Young family left Scotland in late June 1963, including fifth son George (1946–2017) and younger brothers Malcolm and Angus (b. 1955). Another elder brother, Alex (1938–1997), who was a member of Tony Sheridan's backup group The Bobby Patrick Big Six, stayed in Europe and was later a member of London-based group Grapefruit.

Malcolm Young later detailed the family's musical background as follows: "All the males in our family played, Stevie, the oldest played accordion, Alex and John were the first couple to play guitar, and being older it was sort of passed down to George, then myself, then Angus."

Initially staying at Villawood Migrant Hostel (a site later turned into Villawood Immigration Detention Centre) in Nissen huts, George Young met and became friends with another migrant, Harry Vanda. The Young family then moved into a semi-detached house at 4 Burleigh Street in the Sydney suburb of Burwood.

Both Angus and Malcolm Young were in a band with their brother George and his musical partner Harry Vanda called the Marcus Hook Roll Band. The project released an album in Australia called Tales of Old Grand-Daddy. Malcolm Young played guitar on the 1974 release "Evie" by Stevie Wright, written and produced by Vanda and Young. The song is 11 minutes long and has three parts. Young played the guitar solo in Part One of the song. Malcolm Young was in a short lived Newcastle-based band The Velvet Underground (not the well-known 1960s band).

Malcolm Young was 20 when he and younger brother Angus formed AC/DC in 1973. Angus was on lead guitar, Malcolm on rhythm guitar, Colin Burgess on drums, Larry Van Kriedt on bass guitar and Dave Evans on vocals. Malcolm Young was also a songwriter and backing vocalist in the band. "Can I Sit Next To You Girl", their first single, was later re-recorded with Bon Scott as their vocalist. They decided upon the name AC/DC after seeing the letters "AC/DC" on the back of their sister Margaret's sewing machine. In 1975 AC/DC had moved to Melbourne.

In early 1977 they returned to Britain and began a European tour with Black Sabbath. While Bon Scott and Ozzy Osbourne quickly became friends, some other members of the two bands did not get on so well. In one incident, Young alleged that Geezer Butler pulled a knife on him, although Butler has since refuted that.

Towards the end of 1977, bassist Mark Evans was fired; Evans cited disagreement with Angus and Malcolm as a contributing factor. He was replaced by Cliff Williams.

Guitar Player magazine has stated that the secret to Young's guitar technique was playing open chords through a series of Marshall amplifiers, set to low volume without high gain. This is contrary to a common practice for many rhythm guitarists who use loud and overdriven power chords. In an interview with Guitar World, Angus Young described Malcolm has "the band's foundation", with hard-hitting right hand picking style devoted to each song's groove, subtle variations in the chord structure and knowing when to temporarily stop playing to enhance the song. Malcolm preferred unusually thick guitar strings made by Gibson Guitar (gauge .012-.058).

Young was married to his wife, Linda. The Youngs had two children: Ross and Cara.

Young sought treatment for alcoholism in 1988.

Influenced by 1950s rock and roll and blues-based rock guitarists of the 1960s and 1970s, Young was regarded as a leading rock exponent of rhythm guitar.

Dave Mustaine of Megadeth stated in a 2004 interview that he considered himself, Young, Rudolf Schenker of Scorpions, and James Hetfield of Metallica to be the best rhythm guitarists in the world.

As a member of AC/DC, Young was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

On the day of Young's passing, several of the biggest names in rock and metal sent out tributes to him. Those artists included Eddie Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Lars Ulrich of Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Billy Idol, Paul Stanley of Kiss, Joe Walsh, Joe Satriani, Def Leppard, Scott Ian of Anthrax, Foo Fighters, Alice Cooper, Muse, and Vince Neil and Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe and many more. Many of these artists covered an AC/DC song at their concerts on the day of or around the time of Young's passing as part of their tribute, including Cheap Trick, Foo Fighters and Guns N' Roses.

In 2023, Rolling Stone named Young and his younger brother and fellow AC/DC member Angus Young the 38th-best guitarists of all time.

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". They commenced in 1982.