One of the original members of AC/DC Malcolm Young, was successfully operated on for lung cancer and was treated for a heart condition.
Malcolm co-founded AC/DC in November 1973, with his younger brother Angus, they were 18 and 20 years-old.
Malcolm played with the band for 40 years as the rhythm guitarist. He was heavily involved in the band’s sound, developing many of the band’s signature guitar riffs and co-writing material with Angus.
In April 2014, it was announced that the 61-year-old guitarist was taking a break to focus on his health. Then in October 2014, it was revealed that the guitarist was suffering from dementia and was forced to leave the Australian band.
However, it turns out that not only was Malcolm battling dementia, he was also fighting heart problems and lung cancer.
In an interview with Q magazine, AC/DC’s singer Brian Johnson revealed that the guitarist joked about his operation.
Johnson said: “This is typical Malcolm — he got a hold of my hand and went… [bangs repeatedly on his chest] He says, ‘Pacemaker. F**king good, mate.’ He scared the shit out of us! And there’s a twinkle in his eye, he was tickled pink. It’s like he was showing us a new fuzzbox or something!”
Speaking to GMI Rock about his brother, Angus Young said it was a very difficult decision to carry on with his sibling. “Besides the mental side with the dementia, he had physical problems also. He had a lung operation, which was pretty critical, but he got treatment for that because they got to it. It was like a cancer. So they got that early and then later on he had also a heart problem. So it was like everything hit him at once. The physical side of him, he got great treatment for all that so he’s good with all that, but the mental side has deteriorated. He himself had said, ‘I won’t be able to do it anymore.’”
AC/DC recently released the album Rock Or Bust, their first LP without Malcolm since Black Ice released six years ago. It was the first AC/DC record without Malcolm Young.
They released a very cool promo video for the record, that was shot in Dublin.
The Aussie rockers will play the Aviva stadium on July 1st 2015.
