AC/DC Australia's Family Jewels

1952: The Scott Family emigrates from Scotland to Australia arriving in Melbourne and then moving to Fremantle, Western Australia in 1956

1963: The Young Family emigrate from Glasgow in Scotland to Australia and settle in Sydney

1964: George Young meets Harry Vanda and Stevie Wright at the Villawood Migrant Hostel and subsequently forms The Easybeats. The Easybeats sign with Albert Productions in 1965

1969: Bon Scott singing with the Valentines releases the Vanda & Young written EP ‘My Old Man’s a Groovy Old Man’, before joining Fraternity in 1970

1973: Fraternity (then known as Fang) support Brian Johnson’s band Geordie during their UK tour

December 31 1973: AC/DC featuring Dave Evans, Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Larry van Kriedt and Colin Burgess play first gig at Chequers in Sydney In July 1974 the band who took their name from the electrical safety plate on the family vacuum cleaner, released their first single ‘Can I Sit Next To You Girl’.

September 1974: Bon Scott joins AC/DC as lead singer Without question Bon Scott and AC/DC found in each other the proper union of good hard rock & roll and a steely resolve to succeed. No time was wasted and in November the band recorded its debut album, ‘High Voltage’, in Sydney’s Albert Studios. The album is produced by Harry Vanda and George Young (see discography)

January 1975: AC/DC move to Melbourne but continue to tour the Eastern States’ pub and club circuit constantly. Phil Rudd joins AC/DC from Melbourne band Buster Brown With constant gigging – sometimes doing up to five shows a day – AC/DC were soon a local phenomenon, with performances at the 5,000 capacity Festival Hall turning into exercises in mass hysteria.

March 1975: Mark Evans joins AC/DC as bass player

February to September 1975: High Voltage Australian tour

October 1975 to March 1976: ‘T.N.T’ Australian tour, ‘Lock Up You Daughters Summer Vacation Tour’ and numerous club dates The December 1975 release of their ‘TNT’ album saw the band sign a worldwide recording deal with Atlantic Records in London. AC/DC was flying high, but that didn’t stop them from getting down and dirty in a flat bed truck and belting out ‘It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n Roll)’ while doing laps through downtown Melbourne.

April 1976: AC/DC move to London UK and commence constant club dates and European touring including ‘Lock Up You Daughters’ UK tour; and the ‘Rainbow European tour’

October 1976 to March 1977: ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’ UK tour and ‘A Giant Dose of Rock ‘n Roll’ Australian tour In September 1976, AC/DC celebrated their first US release as ‘High Voltage’ finally hit American shores. The first half of 1977 saw the release of the ‘Let There Be Rock’ album and another tour of the UK and Europe. In late July the band kicked-off their first US tour.

May – July 1977: Bassist Mark Evans leaves AC/DC and is immediately replaced by ex Home and Bandit bass player Cliff Williams. last two Australian club dates at the Bondi Lifesaver

July – December 1977: first inroads into the US market with the US, European and UK ‘Let There Be Rock’ tours

April – October 1978: UK, US and European ‘Powerage’ tours with 65 dates on the US tour alone, including opening at the legendary Day on the Green concerts in Oakland California

October 1978 – August 1979: ‘If You Want Blood’ UK and US tours The band’s blistering schedule resumed with the recording of the ‘Powerage’ album, which was released in May 1978, but it was the August 1979 release of ‘Highway To Hell’ that really kicked the doors wide open. It was everything that AC/DC had always promised to deliver.

August 1979 – January 1980: ‘Highway To Hell’ European, North American and UK tours including performing as special guests at The Who and Friends Roar In Wembley Stadium concert

February 1980: Bon Scott, much loved larrikin, friend and performer dies in London Just as they were prepared to finally capitalise on all of their years of hard work and long nights on the road, AC/DC experienced tragedy with the sudden death of their singer Bon Scott on 19 February 1980. In honour of the front man, they decided to continue, and Brian Johnson, a spiritual brother to Bon, was perfect for AC/DC right from his first audition.
Brian officially joined the band in April 1980, starting a new chapter in the group’s history. AC/DC would remain the band that everyone knew and loved, but with Brian onboard they were soon to be known on a level never before dreamed.

May 1980: Brian Johnson, former lead singer of Newcastle hard rock outfit Geordie, joins AC/DC as the new lead singer and front man The band went on to record one of the greatest rock n’ roll albums ever created. ‘Back In Black’ was an undeniable tour de force. Within twelve months of its release, ‘Back In Black’ had catapulted AC/DC to international fame as sales of the album tipped the scales at 12 million units. Now over 21 million sales in the USA alone

June 1980 – February 1981: Back in Black world tour conquers North America, the UK, Europe, Japan and Australia – finally winding up after 152 shows.

November 1981 – December 1982: ‘For Those About To Rock’ North America, Japan, UK and Europe tours The band’s next album, ‘For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)’ was released in November 1981. The tour that followed was the band’s biggest in terms of audience attendance, staging and – thanks to the addition of on-stage cannons which thundered to life during the new album’s title track – it was also the loudest to date.

October 1983 – September 1984: ‘Flick of the Switch’ North America and Europe tours

January 1985: AC/DC headline the Rock in Rio Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

September 1985 – February 1986: Fly on the Wall: North America, UK and Europe tours

July – September 1986: Who Made Who North America tour

February – November 1988: Blow Up Your Video Australia, Europe and North America tours

November 1990 – November 1991: ‘The Razors Edge’ North America, Europe and Australia tours AC/DC kicked off the nineties with a huge bang and ‘The Razor’s Edge’ album, the band’s biggest album since ‘Back In Black’. Released in September 1990, it roared into action on the world charts, clocking up sales of three million copies in America alone in just a matter of weeks. Following the huge demand for the band’s latest release was the publics near insatiable desire to see AC/DC in concert live.

August 1991: In the midst of ‘The Razors Edge’ world tour, AC/DC headlined the Monsters of Rock Festival at Donington Park racetrack in England for the third time. The AC/DC set was filmed by David Mallet with 26 cameras in 35mm Panavision, resulting in the film AC/DC Live at Donington.

28 September 1991: AC/DC plays their Monsters in Moscow show to almost a million people at the Tushino Airfield just outside Moscow

November 1990 – November 1991: ‘The Razors Edge’ North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan tours

January – November 1996: ‘Ballbreaker’ North America, Europe, Latin & South America and Australia tours

July 2000 – July 2001: ‘Stiff Upper Lip’ North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan tours By 2000 AC/DC were nothing short of a global phenomenon. With the release of ‘Stiff Upper Lip’ in February 2000 that mania reached a new level. Not only did the album chart quickly and strongly around the world, but it brought with it unforeseen honours, including the christening of a street in Madrid, Spain as Calle De AC/DC that March, later to be joined by Melbourne’s AC/DC Lane.

March 2003: AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by an old friend, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith The 2005 DVD release of ‘Family Jewels’ became one of the biggest selling music DVDs of all time. In 2008 came the news that everyone had been waiting eight years to hear – AC/DC released their new album ‘Black Ice’, which debuted at #1 in 31 countries, and then embarked on a world tour that continues today.

October 2008 – July 2010: ‘Black Ice’ North America, Europe, Latin & South America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand tours. AC/DC’s Black Ice World Tour of 2008 to 2010 is one of the biggest in history, with around $477 Million in gross revenue and approximately 5.1 Million tickets sold in 168 dates, including 117 sold out shows. The Black Ice World Tour spanned 20 months, across 31 countries, starting in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania on 28 October 2008 and ended in Bilbao, Spain on 28 June 2010.