The Unusual Way AC/DC's ANGUS YOUNG Came Up With the Chorus of 'HIGHWAY TO HELL'

Angus Young, lead guitarist and founding member of AC/DC, shared a rather unexpected story about how he wrote one of rock’s most iconic choruses.

Speaking in a 2021 interview with Essentials Radio on Apple Music (via Kerrang), Young explained how the chorus of “Highway to Hell” came to him, not in a studio or during rehearsal, but while he was on a bathroom break.

The track, which opens the band’s sixth album and remains one of their most recognizable songs, didn’t exactly have a glamorous beginning. In fact, according to Angus, the spark came during a moment most of us wouldn’t consider especially creative.

He recalled that he and his brother Malcolm Young had already written most of the music. What they didn’t have yet was the chorus. Malcolm asked if Angus had any ideas for lyrics.

“I said, ‘Give me a few minutes.’ I went to the bathroom, just sitting there thinking. Sitting on the throne, you know? And I was like, ‘I’ve got it. I’ve got it. The idea just popped in my head,’” Angus said.

Once the… creative session was over, he rushed back to Malcolm. “I went out and told him: ‘I’ve got it. Highway to Hell.’ Then I sang it over the chords we had worked out for the chorus. He said, ‘Yeah, that works, we can stretch that a bit to make it a full vocal line.’ So he added his own spin, singing ‘Highway to Hell’,” Angus explained.

And that’s how one of AC/DC’s biggest anthems was born, straight from the toilet to the top of rock history.

“Highway to Hell” became the title track of the band’s 1979 album and is still a staple of classic rock playlists around the world.

The song also marked a bittersweet moment in AC/DC’s story. It was the last album recorded with singer Bon Scott, who died in early 1980.

His death came just months after the album’s release, making the track’s legacy all the more significant.

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