# Sad news...AC/DC's Malcolm Young



## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

*AC/DC guitarist 'suffering from dementia'*

_Saturday, September 27, 2014 - 12:18 PM_









AC/DC's Malcolm Young is believed to be "suffering from dementia".
The 61-year-old guitarist and founding member of the rock band - whose retirement was announced last Wednesday - has reportedly been admitted to Lulworth House, a full-time care home in Sydney.
Malcolm's wife, Linda, is believed to have made the decision to move him after the care he needed at home became too difficult.
A statement released by AC/DC's labels, Albert Music and Sony, earlier this week confirmed Malcolm's departure from the band.
It read: "Unfortunately due to the nature of Malcolm’s illness, he will not be rejoining the band."
Meanwhile, the labels also confirmed that Malcolm's nephew, Stevie Young, would replace him as rhythm guitarist and that the rock band would be touring next year.
The statement read: "AC/DC will undertake a world tour in support of 'Rock or Bust' in 2015.
"Stevie Young, nephew of founding members Angus and Malcolm Young, plays rhythm guitar on 'Rock or Bust' and will accompany the band on tour."

Dave


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

Wow...I had not read that piece. An earlier snippit in the press from this year had said something about him suffering from some sort of incident or condition (perhaps a stroke?) but that he would do limited touring and still record.

Hey, not everyone is Keith Richards - I saw a photo of him recently and he looked like some sort of hybrid of a lizard and a demon.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Fan or not, Malcolm Young has been a huge influence on generations of music lovers, directly and indirectly. A monster riff composer, a self made guitar stylist if you like, and the rock on which AC/DC was built, in my opinion.

I wish him and his loved ones well, this is a major challenge.

Peace, Mooh.


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## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

smorgdonkey said:


> Hey, not everyone is Keith Richards - I saw a photo of him recently and he looked like some sort of hybrid of a lizard and a demon.


Keith hasn't changed he looked that way when he was born.


:sAng_scream: :sSc_eeksign:


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## Stonehead (Nov 12, 2013)

Always liked Malcolms' playing its a shame it has to end this way for him.

Keith, Lemmy & cockroaches will be the only things to survive a nuclear holocaust! :smile-new:


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I've never been much of a fan of the band--but that news sucks.
61 is way to young for something like that.
(Although it would suck at any age--I've known people in their 80's that were real sharp and then the got dementia and it was a quick slide--and very sad.)


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

man, you know, i have alot of respect for malcom. everybody loves angus, but malcom was the biggest piece pf that band.


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## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

For those who have rocked and cannot any longer, we salute you!


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## doriangrey (Mar 29, 2011)

well said Mooh



Mooh said:


> Fan or not, Malcolm Young has been a huge influence on generations of music lovers, directly and indirectly. A monster riff composer, a self made guitar stylist if you like, and the rock on which AC/DC was built, in my opinion.
> 
> I wish him and his loved ones well, this is a major challenge.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

cheezyridr said:


> man, you know, i have alot of respect for malcom. everybody loves angus, but malcom was the biggest piece pf that band.


The sad part is it's really only musicians, specifically guitar players, that know how great his playing was and what a massive part of their sound he was.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

There are degrees of dementia, and there are different kinds of dementia. If it's multi-infarct dementia - the kind that results from reaching the tipping point after a series of teeny tiny strokes - then that can be prevented from worsening, but the person doesn't get "better". It it's a neurodegenerative disease, like Alzheimer's, then it is generally progressive. The epidemiological stats I'm familiar with note that life expectancy, post-diagnosis, tends to lengthen, the older you are when diagnosed, up to a maximum of around 7-8 years in your early-to-mid 70's, after which life expectancy starts to shrink again. So, someone diagnosed when they are in their late 30's may be something on the order of another 2 years, where someone diagnosed in their late 60's would, on average, live another 6-7 years. Understand that these are averages. Some folks go faster, and some go slower, since there are a lot of things to die from, and the disease doesn't have a fixed timetable. That said, the fact that it attacks younger people more "aggressively" was part of what led some researchers in past to consider Alzheimer's as possibly an auto-immune disease, since the immune system is more efficient at younger ages.

Of course, all that information is woefully out of date, now, and while diagnosis is certainly not at the same state as identifying chlamydia or strep throat, it is several steps better than it was 30 years ago, and able to be more certain much earlier in the progression. None of us here has any clear sense of Malcolm's current state. It says he's in a care facility, but we don't know what level of "care" is needed or being provided. He may presently be in a much better state than we presume (though a state incompatible with responding reliably to stage cues, or getting out of the way of flash pots quickly).

Still, sad. I'm always heartened by guys older than me still rocking. Less so when they stop rocking at a younger age.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

mhammer said:


> There are degrees of dementia, and there are different kinds of dementia. If it's multi-infarct dementia - the kind that results from reaching the tipping point after a series of teeny tiny strokes - then that can be prevented from worsening, but the person doesn't get "better". It it's a neurodegenerative disease, like Alzheimer's, then it is generally progressive. The epidemiological stats I'm familiar with note that life expectancy, post-diagnosis, tends to lengthen, the older you are when diagnosed, up to a maximum I your earl-to-mid 70's, after which life expectancy starts to shrink again. So, someone diagnosed when they are in their late 30's may be something on the order of another 2 years, where someone diagnosed in their late 60's would, on average, live another 6-7 years. Understand that these are averages. Some folks go faster, and some go slower, since there are a lot of things to die from, and the disease doesn't have a fixed timetable. That said, the fact that it attacks younger people more "aggressively" was part of what led some researchers in past to consider Alzheimer's as possibly an auto-immune disease, since the immune system is more efficient at younger ages.
> 
> Of course, all that information is woefully out of date, now, and while diagnosis is certainly not at the same state as identifying chlamydia or strep throat, it is several steps better than it was 30 years ago, and able to be more certain much earlier in the progression. None of us here has any clear sense of Malcolm's current state. It says he's in a care facility, but we don't know what level of "care" is needed or being provided. He may presently be in a much better state than we presume (though a state incompatible with responding reliably to stage cues, or getting out of the way of flash pots quickly).
> 
> Still, sad. I'm always heartened by guys older than me still rocking. Less so when they stop rocking at a younger age.


My Mom is going through dementia. You are likely right, but when you have been exposed to it first hand it makes it tough to many positives in the situation. It's horrible.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

One of the gerontology courses I taught 20 years ago had a big chunk devoted to dementia and cognitive decline (with other big chunks devoted to other challenges in later life, like retirement, spousal loss, loss of status indicators, living arrangements, etc.). Many of the students were taking the course out of some personal association with the subject matter. Believe me, we heard some stories that didn't leave a dry eye in the house.


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## Rick31797 (Apr 20, 2007)

Malcolm was the foundation of that band,not only in music, but had the final say on decisions made....... seen them once and it was a great show...so sad.. i guess his short term memory is gone.. seem to happen so fast but, maybe they just kept it a secret...
i guess if a person goes into his room and talks to him and leaves, and comes back just in a few mins, he doesn't remember them.


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## Guest (Oct 2, 2014)

Rick31797 said:


> i guess if a person goes into his room and talks to him and leaves, and comes back just in a few mins, he doesn't remember them.


knock, knock. hey Malcolm, got that $20 you owe me? thanks man. later.
knock, knock. hey Malcolm, got that $20 you owe me? thanks man. later.
knock, knock. hey Malcolm ..

I know. not appropriate. couldn't resist.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Rick31797 said:


> Malcolm was the foundation of that band,not only in music, but had the final say on decisions made....... seen them once and it was a great show...so sad.. i guess his short term memory is gone.. seem to happen so fast but, maybe they just kept it a secret...
> i guess if a person goes into his room and talks to him and leaves, and comes back just in a few mins, he doesn't remember them.


Not necessarily. They're problematic, to be sure, but memory difficulties are not necessarily _that_ profound. The content of the conversation may not be recalled, but the visit might be. Even profound amnesia is a slippery beast, with people remembering more than we suspect.

The classic case is that of early 20th century physician Edouard Claparede. He visited with an amnesic patient in an asylum. On each return visit, the patient would declare they'd never met the good doctor before. He'd try and job the patient's memory regarding their meeting the previous day, but to no avail. Finally, one day he concealed a hatpin in his hand, and when they went through the (now-standard) introductions and "Pleased to meet you", and shook hands, Claparede jabbed the patient with the pin. When Claparede returned the next day, they went through the whole no-I-don't-believe-we've-ever-met-before ritual, Claparede extended his hand to shake, and the patient quickly withdrew theirs. When asked why they were reluctant to shake hands, the patient said "Sometimes people hide pins in their hands".

Similarly, the late major contributor to neuroscience, patient Henry Molaison ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Molaison HM to those familiar with the research) was able to show progressive learning in things like "How many hidden animals can you find in this drawing?", finding more animals, faster, with each day's practice, despite having no recollection of ever having done it before.


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