AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young  were born in Glasgow, Scotland, and moved to Sydney with most of their family in 1963. In November 1973 Malcolm and Angus Young formed AC/DC and recruited bassist Larry Van Kriedt, vocalist Dave Evans, and Colin Burgess, ex-Masters Apprentices drummer. Malcolm and Angus Young developed the idea for the band's name after their older sister, Margaret Young, saw the initials AC/DC on a sewing machine which means alternating current/direct current electricity. The brothers felt that this name symbolised the band's raw energy, power-driven performances, and a love for their music. The Young brothers decided that Evans was not a suitable frontman for the group, because they felt he was more of a glam rocker. On stage, Evans was occasionally replaced by the band's first manager, Dennis Laughlin, who was the original lead singer with Sherbet  before Daryl Braithwaite joined the band but unfortunately Evans did not get along with Laughlin.

In September 1974 Ronald Belford Bon Scott, an experienced vocalist and friend of George Young, replaced Dave Evans. The band had recorded only one single with Evans, Can I Sit Next to You, Girl / Rockin' in the Parlour; eventually, the song was re-recorded with Bon Scott. In 1976, the band signed an international deal with Atlantic Records. The first AC/DC album to gain worldwide distribution was a 1976 compilation of tracks taken from the High Voltage and T.N.T. LPs. Also titled High Voltage, and released on the Atlantic Records label, the album, which has to date sold three million copies worldwide. The band's next album, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, was released in the same year in both Australian and international versions. Following the 1977 recording Let There Be Rock, bassist Mark Evans was replaced by Cliff Williams due to some personal differences with Angus Young. The 1978 release of Powerage marked the debut of bassist Cliff Williams.

As 1980 began, the band began work on a new album that would eventually become Back in Black, but Bon Scott would not live to see the project being finished. On 19 February 1980, Scott passed out in the car on the way back to friend Alistair Kinnear's house after a night of heavy drinking at the Music Machine club in London.Upon arrival at his home, Kinnear was unable to move Scott from the car into his home for the night, so he left him in the car overnight to sleep off the effects of the alcohol's. The next morning  unable to wake Scott Kinnear rushed to  the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Pulmonary aspiration of vomit was the cause of Scott's death. Following Scott's death, the band briefly considered quitting; they eventually concluded, however, that Scott would have wanted AC/DC to continue, and various candidates were considered for his replacement and finally ex-Geordie singer Brian Johnson was chosen. With Brian Johnson the band completed the songwriting that they had begun with Bon Scott for the album Back in Black. The album was certified platinum three months after its release. The follow-up album, 1981's For Those About to Rock We Salute You, also sold well and was positively received by critics. In 1983 AC/DC released the self-produced album Flick of the Switch, which was less successful than their previous albums, and was considered underdeveloped and unmemorable. In 1985 the band was also regarded as uninspired and directionless. In 1986, the group returned to the charts with the made-for-radio Who Made Who. The album Who Made Who was the soundtrack to Stephen King's film Maximum Overdrive. AC/DC's 1988 album, Blow Up Your Video, was recorded at Studio Miraval in Le Val, France, and reunited the band with their original producers, Harry Vanda and George Young. The next album, The Razors Edge, was recorded in Vancouver, Canada and released in 1990. It was a major comeback for the band. In 2000, the band released Stiff Upper Lip, produced by brother George Young at the Warehouse Studio, again in Vancouver. On 18 August 2008, Columbia Records announced 18 October Australian release, and 20 October worldwide release, of the studio album Black Ice.