AC/DC FACTS AND INFORMATION

FACTS AND INFORMATION about the band's achievements in the music business, album sales, special honors, and chart positions through their career.

AC/DC are the #1 Selling Hard Rock(and Heavy Metal included) band in the WORLD. Selling now well over 220 million albums worldwide- more than Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, The Who, Kiss, Metallica and The Rolling Stones. In the U.S.A. alone, AC/DC have surpassed 71 million albums sales to date, placing them as the 10th best selling band or musical act of ALL TIME, right along the ranks of Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Garth Brooks, Michael Jackson, The Eagles, & Led Zeppelin in the United States for albums sold.
"BACK IN BLACK"- on a WORLDWIDE basis, is the #1 selling Hard Rock/Heavy Metal album of all time, topping over 49 million copies worldwide. It falls only to the SECOND BEST SELLING ALBUM EVER RECORDED, after Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album which remains at #1 at an estimated 57 Million copies worldwide. "BACK IN BLACK" is the best selling ROCK album or album by any BAND in the world. Jackson's "Thriller" tops it, but is the best selling album by a single artist, not band (and certainly is not rock!)
"Back In Black" has sold over 22 million copies in the USA alone, the DOUBLE DIAMOND seller is now the FOURTH Best selling album in the USA of ALL TIME, following sales of Michael Jacksons "Thriller" album, The Eagles "Greatest Hits" album, and Led Zeppelins "IV" album.
"FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK WE SALUTE YOU" was the very first Hard Rock/Heavy Metal style Album to EVER reach the #1 Position on the Billboard charts in the U.S.- in 1981. Thus, opening the doors for other bands for YEARS to come..This is also a genuine FACT as stated by Billboard magazine...no other hard rock or metal genre album had been #1 on the billboard charts before this. The album sold an amazing ONE MILLION COPIES in the first week of its release!
"BACK IN BLACK" was AC/DC's first album to reach #1 on the U.K. Music charts, which happened on August 9th, 1980 where it would remain for 2 weeks straight. "BLACE ICE" would be the bands second album to reach #1 in the United States Billboard charts, selling an amazing 1,762,000 copies in the FIRST WEEK of its release alone!! The album also went to #1 in 29 different countries around the world, making it the decades BIGGEST ALBUM release by any artist by far!
"HIGHWAY TO HELL" reached the top 10 in the UK and #17 on the American Billboard charts soon after its release.
AC/DC were one of the first bands to receive the new R.I.A.A. "DIAMOND AWARD" in March of 1999 for album sales of a single title of over 10 Million copies- for "BACK IN BLACK". (Now DOUBLE DIAMOND at 21 million copies sold!)
AC/DC Have Headlined Donningtons MONSTERS OF ROCK festival in the U.K. 3 times- in 1981, 1984, and 1991- always the Headliner, with such bands as: Whitesnake, Blackfoot, Slade, and More in '81, Van Halen, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne in '84, and Metallica, Motley Crue, Queensryche, and the Black Crowes in '91- all opening acts for AC/DC at this Fest. In '91 they also went on a small festival tour with this same lineup: ROC AROUND THE BLOC.
In 1992, AC/DC also headlined a similar festival in MOSCOW, Russia, with opening acts: Metallica, The Black Crowes, And Pantera; performing for over 500, 000 people. Many people that attended claim AC/DC Stole the show.
AC/DC Have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, a LONG LONG OVERDUE recognition that the band has deserved without question.
AC/DC's "Back In Black" received a PLATINUM award for a Ringtone of the song. This was one of the first songs to receive this new RIAA award, which is given to songs that reached 1 million downloads.
The street formerly known as "Corporation Lane" in Melbourne was renamed "ACDC Lane" on October 1st, 2004 in honor of the band. AC/DC's famous "It's A Long Way To The Top" video was filmed on "Swanston Street", which is not far from the new "ACDC Lane". A fan customized the sign by designing a metal lightning flash and attaching it to the top and bottom portion of the sign to finish it off properly.
"AC/DC Street" (Calle De ACDC) was named after the band in Leganes, Spain during March of 2000.
In May 2003, Malcolm Young accepted the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Service to Australian Music and paid special tribute to Bon Scott.
AC/DC's highest charting singles on the US Billboard charts would be "Money Talks" (at #23, their highest charting single to date), "You Shook Me All Night Long" (#35), and "Back In Black" (#37). The band otherwise did not have any USA singles to pass into the top 40.
In February, 2008, a life-sized bronze statue of Bon Scott was unveiled in Perth, Australia where it now stands to further immortalize Bon's memory in Fremantle..
January 2010- AC/DC are awarded their first GRAMMY award of their career in the "BEST HARD ROCK PERFORMANCE" category for the song "War Machine". They were also nominated for BEST ROCK ALBUM of the year with "BLACK ICE".
AC/DC set Australian record in 2010 for the biggest outdoor band in Australia, selling 212,729 tickets for their three concerts at Sydney's ANZ stadium, surpassing the previous record held by U2 of 211,747 for their Vertigo tour in 2006.
AC/DC's BLACK ICE tour is destined to be one of the largest grossing (and attendance) tours in music history. Since 2008, and not including any of the 2010 tallies, the BLACK ICE tour has grossed an estimated $220+ million and counting.