The group was formed in Sydney, Australia in 1972.
Born in Scotland, the brothers Angus and Malcolm Young moved with their family to Australia as children. Malcolm began playing guitar first, soon followed by Angus. Malcolm first played with a band called "The Velvet Underground" (not the Lou Reed group). Their older brother George had some success with his band "The Easybeats", and asked the boys to do some session work for a project he was doing. Angus then formed a band called "Tantrum". After The Velvet Undergound, Malcolm decided to form a more pure rock-n-roll band, and enlisted Angus. The name "AC/DC" (alternating current/direct current) was suggested by their sister Margaret after she read it on a vacuum cleaner label. Apparently the term had a bisexual connotation that they were unaware of, and they often had to deny they were a gay band. The early lineups were changed often, but the enlistment of their driver, Ronald "Bon" Scott as frontman signified the beginning of real success. Upon his death in 1980 after choking on his own vomit after a night of hard drinking (an unfortunate fate shared by the legendary Jimi Hendrix 10 years earlier), the band decided that the last thing Bon would want was for them to quit. They brought in singer Brian Johnson, and released their biggest selling album to date, the unmistakeable "Back In Black", named in tribute of Bon.
AC/DC is generally divided into "Bon Scott era (1975-80)" and "Brian Johnson era (1980-present)". Some fans have a preference, but die-hard devotees point to the merits of both singers and love them equally.
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