Former AC/DC singer Brian Johnson has paid tribute to band founder Malcolm Young, who died at the weekend.
Writing on the Brian Johnson Racing website in a piece headlined, “For 32 years we stood side by side on stage”, Johnson said: “I am saddened by the passing of my friend Malcolm Young, I can’t believe he’s gone.
“We had such great times on the road.
“I was always aware that he was a genius on guitar, his riffs have become legend, as has he.
“I send out my love and sympathy to his wife Linda, his children Cara and Ross, and Angus, who will all be devastated…. as we all are.
“He has left a legacy that I don’t think many can match.
“He never liked the celebrity side of fame, he was too humble for that.
“He was the man who created AC/DC because he said “there was no Rock’n’Roll” out there.
“I am proud to have known him and call him a friend, and I’m going to miss him so much.
“I salute you, Malcolm Young.”
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Over the weekend, artists including Guns N’ Roses, Ozzy Osborne, Eddie Van Halen, Tony Iommi, Def Leppard, David Coverdale, Lars Ulrich and many more paid tribute to Young, who founded AC/DC in 1973 with younger brother Angus.
Onstage, artists including Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, Billy Joel and Sepultura paid their own respects by covering AC/DC songs.
Johnson left AC/DC in 2016 after being ordered to stop touring by doctors, but he returned to the stage in May this year, appearing alongside Robert Plant and Paul Rodgers in Oxford, then hit the stage in August at the Reading Festival, singing AC/DC’s classic 1980 hit Back In Black with Muse.
Malcolm Young - a tribute to the man who drove AC/DC to the top
