AC/DC were supposed to rock Toronto today, Sept. 16, with the band scheduled to take the stage at Rogers Stadium as part of their PWR/UP Tour. But a severe storm that badly damaged the venue forced the show to be canceled.
There is a silver lining, though: Two of the rockers’ biggest songs from 1980 are suddenly back on the charts again.
🎬 SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬
View this post on Instagram
According to Billboard, “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Back in Black” have re-entered the Hard Rock Streaming Songs survey at Nos. 23 and 24, respectively. Together, the songs have spent 553 weeks on the chart. And seeing as both hits are currently part of the band’s setlist on tour, it’s understandable that they’d make a comeback on the streaming tally.
Coincidentally, “You Shook Me All Night Long” first entered the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1980, meaning the song is also celebrating the 46th anniversary of its original chart debut. The song debuted at No. 89 and eventually peaked at No. 35, becoming the band’s second-highest-charting hit on the all-genre chart, behind “Moneytalks,” which reached No. 23, and followed by “Back in Black,” which hit No. 37.
Both “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Back in Black” are from AC/DC’s seventh studio album, Back in Black, but present two sides of one of the most remarkable comeback stories in rock history. Released in July 1980, just five months after the death of their then-frontman, Bon Scott, Back in Black was AC/DC’s first album with Brian Johnson, who joined the band after Scott’s death, and it could easily have been the end of AC/DC. Instead, the record with the black cover and logo became their defining album.
Written by Johnson, Angus Young, and Malcolm Young, the title track pays tribute to Scott, with lyrics that reference his death while celebrating his larger-than-life spirit.
“I remember ‘Back in Black’ was particularly difficult because the boys were saying, ‘Listen, we want this song in memory of Bon, but we don’t want it to be sad or maudlin; we want it to be a good, positive song’,” Johnson told NME. “So it was pretty tough, but I think we managed it pretty well. It’s kinda slow, but it’s got a great riff. It was tough, that one.”
Meanwhile, the band’s love anthem got the same songwriting treatment, with Johnson helming the lyrics. According to Johnson, the Young brothers came to him with a title, “You Shook Me All Night Long,” and chords, and the first things that popped into his head were women and cars.
“The rest was just filler, the verses, and it all worked out smashing,” he said, adding that the song is still one of his favorites. “I still think it’s one of the greatest rock and roll riffs I’ve ever heard in my life.”
With Robert “Mutt” Lange, who worked with AC/DC on their previous album, Highway to Hell, Back in Black was a massive commercial success. One of the bestselling albums in music history, with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide, it was a great triumph. And so is this new chart news, nearly 50 years after Back in Black first made its mark.
Related: ’90s Hard Rock Legends Announce New US Shows for ‘The Rise of Rock World Tour’
