The moment AC/DC’s Angus Young heard Jimi Hendrix for the very first time
Rock and roll is rich with moments that continue to captivate audiences, even decades later. One such moment is the idea of two icons meeting for the first time—a tantalising scenario where sparks fly, egos clash, and destiny seems to go into overdrive. In these instances, the actual details of the encounter often fade into legend. But what about when a future rock hero first hears the music of another legend? This was certainly the case when AC/DC guitarist Angus Young first encountered the inimitable Jimi Hendrix. The impact of that moment, when the needle first dropped on a Hendrix record, was nothing short of transformative for Young, igniting a passion that would shape his own legendary career.
Few people have enjoyed a greater impact on music after picking up the guitar than AC/DC’s Angus Young. The perennially school-uniformed guitar hero has soundtracked the teenage rebellion of countless generations, instilling within them a sincere desire to rock out whenever they can. But for Young, there was one guitarist who truly blew everybody away: Jimi Hendrix.
While his position as one of the greatest guitarists of all time has long since been affirmed, it isn’t easy to quantify the impact that Hendrix had on popular music. Away from the stage, he spoke gently and with authoritative spiritual intelligence as he continually encouraged people to fall into their art and find that art in the most mundane of places. He believed every single person had a talent waiting to be unlocked.
Hendrix’s mantra of performance became a beacon for countless guitarists, fundamentally shaping the rock scene of the 20th century. While many were inspired by his ethos, it was Hendrix’s live performances and recordings that left an unforgettable mark. His unbelievable solos and boundless creativity made him a transformative force in music, someone who could deliver the unimaginable with every note. For Angus Young, hearing that mercurial sound for the first time as it bled over the airwaves was a life-changing experience. The sheer power and innovation of Hendrix’s music struck a chord deep within him, igniting a passion that would drive Young to become one of rock’s most iconic guitarists.
Young was opening up about his favourite albums in an interview when he made the revelation. “The thing is a lot of what goes in those albums, when we were younger, that’s where a lot of it all goes back to, at that point — like when I was an early teenager, 13 or 14,” Young told Tiny TV. “Music excited me, still at that age.” It’s the time in our lives that we’re happy to push ourselves to the edge to indulge in pop culture, and it’s also a time that many of us fall in love with our idols, finding it simply impossible to escape their otherworldly allure.
“And I think back, in my time, what I liked music-wise, I had to wait up all night,” recalled the Aussie rocker with the pleasing smile of a young man reminiscing. “I would be there all night, and then at about two o’clock in the morning, there was a man on the radio, and he would play rock music of this time. He was an American man. And I had a little radio, and I would sit there in my bed and wake up just for this guy. And there I was. And he would bang out the latest stuff,” he added.
“I heard [Jimi] Hendrix on there, I heard Cream — people like this. And later on, you started to get your [Led] Zeppelins and bands like this. And especially when Jimi Hendrix, when I heard ‘Purple Haze’, boy, that was it. I was so excited,” the proverbial bell ringing in his ear; Young likely felt utterly captivated by Hendrix’s sonic presence.
That wasn’t enough for Young, after hearing Hendrix he needed more. “And then I thought, ‘How am I gonna find out about Jimi Hendrix?’ I was out walking anywhere. I went up to a magazine store, and I’m trying to look if they’ve got a magazine from England, ’cause I knew he was in London. And I found a little picture of this guy with a guitar, and I was going, ‘Wow! I wanna look that cool.’”
We’re not entirely sure how Young went from that notion to deciding to wear a school uniform for the majority of his adult life, but it’s clear that Hendrix inspired the guitarist to be one of the century’s most prominent musicians.
