Former AC/DC singer Brian Johnson says last weekend was a "lousy" one after he learned of the death of Malcolm Young, the band's founder and rhythm guitarist.
He shared with Rolling Stone many memories of their time together.
"In 1981 or '82, Malcolm said, 'Let's go to Loch Ness. Let's go see if there is a monster!' ... We are walking down [to the lake and] I said to Malcolm, 'What's that you got?' He said, 'I've got a box of fireworks.' I said 'What for?' He said, 'Well, we will set them off and it may get the attention of the monster.' I said, 'Ah, that is a great idea.' We walked straight into the water; we didn't even take our shoes off. And there we were giggling and laughing trying to set these fireworks. Everything got soaked in the water and we all fell down, and of course we thought we had seen it. We weren't sure."
"Malcolm gave rock and roll a fist. He'd give it a kick in the ass."
"Many times on the road, Angus would tell me, 'Hey Brian, I got to rehearse in my room every day...' And I said, 'Why? You are just so natural at it.' And he said, 'No, because of him [Malcolm] behind me. If I don't do it right, he will just pick it up and play better than me. I am just in constant fear of it!'"
"In the 1980s, we had just suddenly become unfashionable because of the hair bands. Atlantic threw our new album on the table in front of Mal and Angus and said, 'There are no singles, there is nothing.' Mal just went, 'That is the way it is going to be. We are not going to be a singles band.' People were telling us to change, get some leather jackets and that mid-'80s hair band stuff. Malcolm had two black T-shirts and a pair of jeans. Malcolm always looked cool in whatever he was doing."
"Malcolm would have been absolutely stunned at the outpouring of tributes and grief. He didn't think of himself in that way, that he was great and all that. I learned the team spirit from Malcolm. You are just a cog in a well-oiled machine. If we all pulled together at the same time, you get this amazing thing happening. And it worked, you know. Mal is not here anymore, but if I ever have a problem I stop and go, 'What would Mal do?' He just always seemed to do the right thing."
Johnson, who left AC/DC last year following hearing issues, says he has undergone nine operations on his ears. "You got to take it like a man. But when it hurts, you know that's it -- you're done, pal. But Malcolm had it way worse -- another invisible thing. I call it the invisible disease that nobody can see or touch."
Malcolm was 64 and had numerous health issues, including dementia. His funeral will be held Tuesday in Sydney, Australia.