Introduction
Few guitarists in rock history are as instantly recognizable as Angus Young. Marching across arena and stadium stages in a schoolboy uniform while unleashing blistering guitar solos, Young has spent more than five decades as the driving force behind AC/DC, one of the best-selling rock bands of all time. This article brings together verified facts about his life, family, career, and personal world, drawing on reliable, publicly available sources.
There are few guitarists so easily identified as Angus Young. Strutting back and forth across arena and stadium floors dressed in a schoolboy uniform and ripping out high-speed guitar solos, Young has powered rock veterans AC/DC for over 50 years. The band is one of the best-selling in history. This is a fact compilation about Angus Young’s life, family, career, and personal world gleaned from freely available, reliable sources.
Who is Angus Young?
Angus McKinnon Young is a Scottish-born Australian musician who co-founded AC/DC, a hard rock band that he established with his older brother Malcolm Young in 1973. He has been the band’s lead guitarist and is its main songwriter. Young is the only constant member of the band throughout its history. He gained recognition for his energetic stage performances, schoolboy outfit, and version of Chuck Berry’s duckwalk. He and his AC/DC bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. In 20 23, he was ranked 38th in Rolling Stone’s 250 greatest guitarists of all time list.
● Full Name: Angus McKinnon Young
● Date of Birth: March 31, 1955
● Age (2026): 71 Years Old
● Birthplace: Cranhill, Glasgow, Scotland
● Nationality: Scottish-Australian
● Profession: Guitarist, Songwriter
● Famous For: Co-founder & lead guitarist of AC/DC
● Genre: Hard Rock
● Years Active: 1973 – present
● Spouse: Ellen van Lochem (m. 1980)
● Height: 5 ft 2 in (157 cm)
Angus Young Age
Sir Angus Young was born on March 31, 1955. As of 2026, he is 71 years old. He was born in the working class neighborhood of Cranhill in Glasgow. His family would later move to Australia in 1963 when he was around eight years old.
Height, Weight or Physical Attribute
Angus Young’s height is listed on IMDb as 5 feet 2 inches (157 cm), something pointed out by fans due to how small he is when offstage compared to his larger-than-life stage character. His weight has not been verified but his profile on certain websites lists his weight as approximately 65 kg (143 lb). Young has lost several teeth early in his life, which he attributes to poor dental care while growing up in Scotland.
● Height: 5 ft 2 in (157 cm)
● Weight: Not officially confirmed (approx. 65 kg / 143 lb reported)
● Eye Color: Green
● Build: Slim Early Life
Angus McKinnon Young was born on 31 March 1955 in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, William Young (1911–1985), and mother, Margaret Young (1913–1988), had eight children, making Angus the youngest. The Young family emigrated to Sydney, Australia, in 1963 because of an extended Scottish winter and assisted- passage migration scheme sponsored by the Australian government. Elder brother George Young went on to become a member of popular Australian band the Easybeats, whose success inspired Angus and another brother, Malcolm, to learn to play guitar. Angus began with a banjo which he had re-strung with six strings, before being given an inexpensive second-hand acoustic guitar by his mother.
Family Background
Young was born into a family with nine siblings. His father had held manual labour jobs in Glasgow before emigrating to Australia. Young’s brother George Young found success as both a musician and producer for the Easybeats and later for several of AC/DC’s earliest albums. Malcolm Young co-founded AC/DC with Angus and remained the band’s rhythm guitarist until his retirement from the band in 2014 due to ill health; he died in November 2017. Malcolm’s nephew, Stevie Young, eventually replaced him as AC/DC’s rhythm guitarist. Angus married Dutch national Ellen van Lochem in 1980. According to widely reported accounts, the couple are childless.
● Father: William Young (1911–1985)
● Mother: Margaret Young (1913–1988)
● Notable Siblings: George Young, Malcolm Young
● Nephew: Stevie Young (AC/DC rhythm guitarist)
● Spouse: Ellen van Lochem
● Children: None publicly reported
Education
After the family relocated to Australia, Young attended Ashfield Boys High School in Sydney. According to Young himself, he was never very studious. Art was one of his few interests in school. Young left school at about age 15. He then worked briefly as a printer for a magazine publisher before deciding to become a full-time musician. Most of Young’s playing style was self-taught through years of practice.
Angus Young Career
Before AC/DC, Young was a member of several Sydney-based bands such as Kantuckee and Tantrum. In 1973, he formed AC/DC in Sydney with his brother Malcolm; their sister Margaret is said to have suggested the name after seeing the back of her sewing machine. Signing with Albert Productions, the band released its first album High Voltage in 1975.
After singer Bon Scott joined in 1974, he and the Young brothers went on to dominate charts with albums such as T. N. T. (1975), Let There Be Rock (1977), Powerage (1978) and the internationally successful Highway to Hell (1979). Scott died of alcohol poisoning in February 1980 and the future of the band was in doubt until it hired vocalist Brian Johnson and released Back in Black later that year.
That album has sold over 50 million copies worldwide and is the fourth best-selling album of all time. AC/DC has since released albums throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including For Those About to Rock We Salute You (1981) and The Razors Edge (1990). Another resurgence came in 2008 with Black Ice, which debuted at number one in nearly 30 countries. AC/DC faced several personnel changes in the 2010s.
Malcolm Young retired from the band in 2014 due to deteriorating health. Phil Rudd left the band in 2015 following legal troubles. Hearing problems forced Johnson to step down from touring in 2016, leading Angus to bring in Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose to finish the Rock or Bust World Tour dates. Power Up was released in 2020 featuring vocals by Johnson alongside Rudd, Williams, and nephew Stevie Young returning alongside Angus.
They were supported by drummer Matt Laug and bassist Chris Chaney. As of 20 26, they are touring in support of Power Up. They are currently made up of Angus Young, Brian Johnson, Stevie Young, Matt Laug, and Chris Chaney, playing stadium tours across Latin America and North America. Young has been associated with the Gibson SG almost exclusively throughout his career, and has had a signature version of the guitar manufactured for him by Gibson, complete with his own signature humbucker pickup. He has never recorded nor released any solo material outside of AC/DC.
● 1973 – Co-founded AC/DC with brother Malcolm Young in Sydney.
● 1975 – Released debut album High Voltage.
● 1979 – Released Highway to Hell, the band’s commercial breakthrough.
● 1980 – Released Back in Black following Bon Scott’s death.
● 2003 – Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
● 2014–2016 – Malcolm Young’s retirement and Brian Johnson’s temporary departure.
● 2020 – Released Power Up with the classic-era lineup largely reunited.
● 2023–2026 – Continued the Power Up World Tour across multiple continents.
Angus Young Personal Life
Angus Young met Dutch-born Ellen van Lochem in through mutual friends in 1979. They married in 1980, and have been married for over 40 years. Young and his wife keep their relationship private; no children have been confirmed by credible sources. He has stated he has been teetotal throughout his life. Interviews have depicted him drinking coffee or chocolate milk instead of alcohol while touring. Young is also noted to be a heavy smoker. Young maintains a private life outside of AC/DC. He is said to own homes in Australia, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Angus Young Social Media
Angus Young, unlike some of his contemporaries, does not have his own Instagram, X, or Facebook account. AC/DC serves as his public voice with posts on their socials and website acdc.com for upcoming tour dates, news, and products. He typically gives updates and comments in interviews around the time of album releases and tours.
Controversies
The best-known controversy associated with Angus Young and AC/DC concerns events which took place around the mid-1980s “Satanic Panic” period in the United States. Serial killer Richard Ramirez, known as the “Night Stalker,” was discovered to have worn an AC/DC cap at one of his crime scenes and was reported as a fan of the band’s song “Night Prowler,” which is from their 1979 album Highway to Hell.
At this time many media outlets began running articles suggesting that AC/DC stood for “Anti-Christ/Devil’s Child” and implying that their music promoted Satanism. Young has denied this interpretation on many occasions, insisting that he and the band members came up with the band name after noticing the letters “AC/DC” on the back of their sister’s sewing machine, and that “Night Prowler” was about sneaking into his girlfriend’s house when her parents were out.
During this period several shows were cancelled and much press coverage was negative, though the band was never actually charged with, or formally implicated in, Ramirez’s crimes. AC/DC has faced other controversies surrounding the band lineup from time to time, most notably drummer Phil Rudd’s legal issues in 2015, though Angus Young has not been directly involved.
Summary
Born into a working-class family in Glasgow and now selling out stadiums worldwide, Angus Young has spent upwards of five decades touring and playing with one band. Remaining the only surviving original member of AC/DC, Young has shepherded the band past the deaths of two lead singers, the retirement and passing of brother Malcolm, and numerous lineup shifts, all while packing arenas well into his 70s with AC/DC’s current tour, Power Up, all over the world. Young’s schoolboy outfit, signature SG, and signature duckwalk are some of the most iconic images in rock’n’roll, and his guitar playing for songs on Highway to Hell and Back in Black has impacted decades of players.
FAQ’S
Angus Young is a Scottish-born Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, and songwriter of the hard rock band AC/DC.
He was born on March 31, 1955, making him 71 years old as of 2026.
According to IMDb, Young stands about 5 feet 2 inches (157 cm) tall.
Yes, he has been married to Ellen van Lochem since 1980.
Reliable public sources indicate the couple does not have children.
No, he does not maintain personal social media profiles; AC/DC’s official channels are managed collectively by the band.
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