Whenever musicians are asked about the best rhythm guitarists who ever existed, AC/DC’s late guitarist Malcolm, older brother of Angus Young, is often mentioned. Over the decades, he was praised by Angus multiple times, who said he was his favorite in that style. But besides Malcolm, who are the others he admires? The guitarist once named two rhythm guitarists who, in his opinion, are great.
The 2 rhythm guitarists Angus Young said are great
Keith Richards
The first one mentioned by Angus is his good old friend Keith Richards, who is a big fan of AC/DC. “The more I look at (rhythm guitarists), the more I admire people like my brother Malcolm, the rhythm playing, you know. Because they seem to be a dying species, good rhythm guitarists. There’s not many of them coming up in this new style music world. But there are some great ones (like) Keith Richards,” Angus Young said in an interview with Noise 11 in 1992.
The AC/DC brothers were always big fans of The Rolling Stones and during Malcolm’s final years, when he was battling with Dementia, Angus used to play him songs of the band. “I’d play him a bit of guitar. He was happy whenever we were doing that. One of the last records I ever played him was The Rolling Stones when they were doing a lot of old blues tracks (2016’s ‘Blue And Lonesome’). He just thought it was great,” Angus Young told NME in 2020.
Keith Richards said AC/DC was impressive
They had the chance to play with The Rolling Stones back in 2002 when the British band was promoting their 40th anniversary compilation album “Forty Licks”. They played three concerts in Sydney, Australia. Richards told the band’s tour manager that he would like to see Angus and Malcolm. So the brothers were invited to the band’s rehearsal, and they joined them on stage later that night, playing a cover of B.B. King’s “Rock Me Baby”. Later on, AC/DC ended up being the Stones’ opening act in Germany and Canada.
At the time, Keith Richards praised them saying: “There are bands that you can’t tell who is doing what. Angus and Malcolm in a way, you know Angus gonna play the leads but their tightness is always impressive. Being a guitar player is one thing, being a guitar player with another guitar player it’s to the power of. It’s not two guitars, it becomes five, six, ten.”
“Doing these gigs together, we all enjoyed each other. I kind of like being taller than another guitar player as well (laughs). Bless their hearts, they are a great little bundle of energy,” Keith Richards said in an interview made for the Stones tour DVD “Four Flicks“.
Ike Turner
The second guitar player mentioned by Angus was Ike Turner, famous for his work with his ex-wife, the legendary Tina Turner. Curiously, one of the songs that Brian Johnson first sang with AC/DC during his audition to the band was “Nutbush City Limits”, released by Ike & Tina Turner on their album of the same name in 1973.
“I sang two songs or something. Then, there were some nods and smiles. I guess it was just this wonderful moment when, you know, the stars align or something like that. It was pretty good,” Brian Johnson said in an interview with Dan Rather. The other two songs he performed with Malcolm and Angus that day were “Whole Lotta Rosie” and “Highway to Hell”.
Tina Turner recorded a song co-written by George Young
Curiously, Tina Turner recorded in her solo career a song co-written by Angus and Malcolm’s older brother and producer George Young. Her version of “Hot For You Baby” was previously undiscovered and was only released in 2025, although it was part of the sessions for the successful 1984 album “Private Dancer”. The track was co-written by George and his longtime working partner Harry Vanda, who, like him, had previously been a member of The Easybeats.
Ike & Tina Turner were a duo from 1960 until 1976, releasing 20 studio albums (married from 1962 to 1978). Some of their most famous tracks are “Proud Mary”, “River Deep – Mountain High” and “3 O’Clock in the Morning Blues”. On his own, Ike released seven studio albums that didn’t reach the same level of success as Tina’s solo records. As a sideman, he played on albums in the 1960s by Howlin’ Wolf, Albert King and Earl Hooker. In 2005 he appeared on the Gorillaz album “Demon Days”. Ike passed away in 2007 at the age of 76.
Dubbed the “Queen of Rock”, Tina became one of the most successful singers of all time. She sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide. Some of her most famous songs are “The Best”, “What’s Love Got to Do with It” and “We Don’t Need Another Hero”.