10 Best Rhythm Guitarists You Need To Know
4. Malcolm Young
From the first time you heard the band, AC/DC was the embodiment of everything great about rock and roll. From the thunderous solos to the madman vocals, the band felt like watching a street gang, with madman Angus Young wielding a sonic assault weapon with his guitar.
Right at his side, guitarist Malcolm Young made every riff for what would become classic AC/DC. Throughout the band's tenure, Malcolm approached each riff with a take-no-prisoners attitude which meshed perfectly with Bon Scott's sleazy lyrics. While many hard rock bands were content with just playing power chords, Young's use of open chords made the guitar sound feel like a train about to run you over. The way his guitars would leap out of the speakers with a ferocious bite made each AC/DC record sound both dangerous and irresistible.
Even when the band was down and out after Bon Scott's death, it was Malcolm's strumming of three simple chords that brought the band back to life when he wrote the riff for the unstoppable "Back In Black." In 2017, Young passed away due to complications battling dementia, but AC/DC plays on with the same rock and roll attitude that Malcolm had in his prime.