AC/DC – Highway to Hell

The song ‘Highway to Hell’ is the opening track of AC/DC’s 1979 album ‘Highway to Hell’.

The song ‘Highway to Hell’ is the opening track of AC/DC’s 1979 album ‘Highway to Hell’ and is also the twelfth track on AC/DC Live. It was initially released as a single in 1979.

The song was written by Bon Scott, Angus Young and Malcolm Young while the main guitar riff was created by Angus Young. In 2009, ‘Highway to Hell’, won the ‘Most Played Australian Work Overseas’ category at the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) Awards.

The song and album’s title supposedly came after a reporter asked band members if they could describe what life was like being constantly on tour. Angus replied that it was “a fucking highway to hell”. He stated in the magazine Guitar World that when you are out on the road on a bus sleeping with a guy’s smelly sock in your face, it’s like you’re on the highway to hell. However, rumours circulated that the band members were Satanists and the cover of the album named after the song, depicting Angus with devil horns and tail, added fuel to the fire. The band has denied having anything to do with Satanism, with Malcolm Young commenting: “my mum would kill me for that!”
The single spent 45 weeks on the German Singles Chart, even though it peaked at only No. 30, in its 19th week on that chart.