AC/DC, the Thunder from Down Under, were formed in Sydney, Australia, in 1973 by Malcolm Young and his schoolboy uniform wearing little brother Angus. After finding international success in 1979 with the seminal Highway to Hell album, they were suddenly struck by mortality. However, when lead singer Bon Scott died aged 33 in February 1980 they replaced one legendary front man with another. With Brian Johnson at the microphone they soon released their landmark Back in Black album, which transformed them into superstars of the Hard Rock genre.
Today, the future of the band is uncertain. Brian Johnson almost lost his hearing, forcing AC/DC to finish their latest tour in 2016 with singer Axl Rose of Guns ‘N Roses stepping in. Add to this, sadly, in November 2017 Malcolm Young died following years of dementia, leaving Angus Young as the only member left from the classic line-up.
Many claims have been made about AC/DC‘s record sales. Supposedly they’re over 200 million. Back in Black has been heralded by some as the 2nd biggest album of all time behind Michael Jackson‘s Thriller. While this may not be the case, we do know AC/DC are one of the strongest catalog sellers in the business. But how do they stack up against other Hard Rock behemoths like Metallica and Led Zeppelin? It’s time to find out.
As usual, I’ll be using the Commensurate Sales to Popularity Concept in order to relevantly gauge their results. This concept will not only bring you sales information for all AC/DC‘s albums, physical and download singles, as well as audio and video streaming, but it will also determine their true popularity. If you are not yet familiar with the CSPC method, the next page explains it with a short video. I fully recommend watching the video before getting into the sales figures. Of course, if you are a regular visitor feel free to skip the video and get into the figures.
Today AC/DC’S classic song “Back in Black” became their first to pass 1 Billion plays on Spotify (1.000.087.000)!
The track is now 1 of 16 pre-2000 tracks to pass that threshold.
The next in line are likely AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” (962.2M) and Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” (961.4M). “Thunderstruck” is also well on it’s way to make it 3 for AC/DC (919.2M).
Leading track is Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” with 1859.2M. So far Queen is the only act with multiple tracks on the list. They have 4 (Bo Rhap, Don’t Stop Me Now, Another One Bites & Under Pressure).
Not that Rumours is not insanely popular anyway, but Dreams has went crazy, since that Tik Tok guy on the skateboard.
I’ve not really been following the pre 2000 songs much of late, will AC/DC have 3 over 1B, before anybody else has 2?
Yes they will. Besides Queen of course. They already have 4.
Yeah, that’s what I meant, excluding Queen.
After AC/DC next in line to have 2 pre 2000 songs over 1B are the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Under the Bridge 908.1M
Californication 895.1M
And then Nirvana’s 2nd song is Come as You Are with 835.7M.
Of course by then Queen are gonna have 5 songs top 1B!
We Will Rock You 887.2M
Californication was released in the summer of 2000 though, the album is from 1999 but I think the most important thing is when did these songs became famous.
About AC/DC, let’s not forget that they arrived late on Spotify (2015), if not Highway To Hell would’ve probably reach 1B already, and Thunderstruck would be very close.
Californication was indeed released as the 4th single from the album in may 2000. But the album, and first 3 singles, were released in 1999. The album debuted and peaked at #3 in June 1999. Therefore I consider all it’s songs released pre-2000. However, it is possible the song benefitted from being fairly recent when Spotify began. I have a list of top pre-2000 songs dated feb. 2018 on which Californication rank as #10. 4 years later (jan. 2022) it’s down to #25. So it’s popularity is fading somewhat compared to the other oldies on the list. But the same… Read more »
Yeah it’s possible that Under The Bridge’s popularity is partly explained by the Chilis’ massive success during the 1999-2006 period, so even though the song is from 1991 its trajectory might be closer to a song from 2000 or so.
Btw I truly have no idea why my post got so many downvotes… I’m gonna assume there’s some weirdo out there with fake accounts who doesn’t like me 😆
Today “Hells Bells” passed 250M plays on Spotify (250.142M). That’s a big threshold for any song, any song that old anyway (1980). But it’s also the 3rd song from “Back in Black” to reach this mark. That’s big for a catalog album, but not unheard of. I know of 15 other pre-2000 albums reaching that. “Hells Bells” always kinda went toe-to-toe with “Shoot to Thrill” though, also from BIB. And sure enough, that one stands at 249.614M plays and will become the 4th song from BIB above 250M in just a few days! THIS is rare as just one other… Read more »