The 1988 AC/DC tour Malcolm Young had to pull out of: “I don’t want to see you dead”
There are many things that AC/DC have always been famed for as a group, but arguably, standing tall at the top of this list was the fact that they were a phenomenal live band.
Regardless of the lineup, they’ve always been electrifying live and known how to simply dial up the levels of carnage on stage to the maximum possible amount. For a band to still be able to do this after 20 years of working together, let alone 50, is quite a remarkable feat, and when the time finally comes for the band to call it a day, nobody is going to be able to look back and think that AC/DC didn’t put their entire selves into the project.
They’ve never really found themselves diverting away from the formula that made them popular in the first place, either, always staying true to their identity of making their no-nonsense amalgamation of hard rock, heavy metal and blues, or as they preferred to refer to it, good old-fashioned rock and roll music.
However, another thing they were known for was their raucousness off stage, indulging in all sorts of antics and living a life of unbridled hedonism. It wasn’t until the death of frontman Bon Scott in 1980 due to alcohol poisoning that they had their first real reality check in terms of how unhinged they could really afford to be as individuals, and it gave them a sign that things couldn’t continue in exactly the same way forever.
They didn’t exactly tone things down, but they were certainly made more aware of the consequences of their actions when it came to imbibing on the excesses of their rock and roll lifestyles, and for guitarist Malcolm Young, he experienced his own close call with alcohol abuse that forced him to come to terms with the declining state of his body.
In 1988, as AC/DC were preparing themselves for the North American leg of their tour in support of Blow Up Your Video, Young had to check into a facility to be treated for alcohol dependency, and was forced to withdraw from the tour entirely in order to receive specialist treatment.
Rather than cancel or postpone the shows, it was his nephew, Stevie Young, who would step in and deputise for him on the tour, and while Malcolm was obviously disappointed not to be able to make it on tour, he reflected upon the situation in 2004 as being something that ultimately saved his life.
“The funny thing was I never drank heaps, I just drank consistently, and it caught right up on me,” the guitarist recalled. “Angus was going, ‘I’m your brother; I don’t want to see you dead here. Remember Bon?’ So I took that break and cleaned myself up.”
It’s a remarkably mature approach from a band known for their occasionally juvenile attitudes, and while Malcolm was able to return after he’d taken a break, he would eventually find himself being replaced by Stevie on a full-time basis after he was diagnosed with dementia in 2014, with him passing away three years later.
