State Champ Radio

by DJ Frosty

Current track

Title

Artist

Current show
blank

State Champ Radio Mix

12:00 am 12:00 pm

Current show
blank

State Champ Radio Mix

12:00 am 12:00 pm


Blog

Page: 42

Kevin Gates seems to be caught in a bit of beef with LeBron James after dissing the NBA baller’s wife, Savannah.
The turmoil started over the weekend when Gates hopped on Instagram Saturday (April 19) to share his thoughts on the couple’s marriage. Gates criticized Savannah for the way she conducts herself out in public with LeBron.

“He’s one of the greatest players to ever play the game, but I wouldn’t want to trade places with him,” Gates said in a video. “Because I don’t like the way Savannah look at LeBron. I like the way them white women look at Lebron. As soon he walks out there, they just be like … They be d—ked out. But I notice, when he go to do the handshake with the main player on his team … you act like I’m bothering you, b—h. I’m the greatest player in the world — one of ’em … And you act like the warden of the jail, like you came here to police me. … I couldn’t do it, bruh. When I been around that dude, his spirit is so loving and giving. It hurt me. It hurt me to see that … You dive on the floor behind that n—a, man!”

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

On Sunday (April 20), LeBron posted an Instagram photo of himself with his wife, writing in the caption: “Kings don’t concern themselves with the opinions of peasants. Where to next Queen?!?! Let’s get it!”

Trending on Billboard

Gates appeared to take this as a response to his opinion. He posted another video on Instagram Sunday, writing in the caption, “@kingjames, I’m way less than a peasant, im a simple servant of #Allah and I love you.”

“The truth hurts, but it heals. Bron, I love you ’cause you my n—a and I already know she was like, ‘You gonna let him say that!’” Gates said in the actual video. “As long as you being celebrated, that’s all I care about you. I don’t care if I gotta fall out with somebody that I love to get the results.”

LeBron has yet to respond to Gates, who himself just announced that he’s dating model Brittany Renner. Billboard has reached out to James for comment.

HipHopWired Featured Video

Getty Images / Ryan Coogle / Gillian Anderson / The X-Files

Ryan Coogler has set the world ablaze with his phenomenal vampire flick Sinners, and is now looking forward to his reboot of The X-Files, in which he hopes will feature one of the OGs from the original show.

Speaking on a recent episode of The Last Podcast on the Left, the Black Panther director discussed what’s next on his plate and revealed that it was the X-Files reboot.

“I’ve been excited about that for a long time, and I’m fired up to get back to it,” Coogler said about his “X-Files” reboot. “Some of those episodes, if we do our jobs right, will be really f—ing scary. We’re gonna try to make something really great, bro, and really be something for the real ‘X-Files’ fans, and maybe find some new ones.”

To get folks even more excited about his take on the iconic Fox show, he revealed that he’s “spoken to the great Gillian Anderson,” adding, “She’s incredible. Fingers crossed there.”

In the show, Anderson plays FBI Agent Dana Scully, who is initially very skeptical of her partner, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), but eventually becomes a believer in his conspiracies after experiencing them firsthand. At one point, she is abducted and offered to aliens.

Gillian Anderson Already Expressed Optimism That She Wants To Return

Speaking on the Today show, Anderson expressed optimism about returning for the reboot. “It’s so funny because for most of my life, since I have finished ‘The X-Files‘, every interview I do, people have asked and the answer has always been, ‘Nope, not going to happen, not going to happen,’” Anderson said. “Now, Ryan Coogler, who is the director of ‘Black Panther’ — brilliant, brilliant director — has approached Chris Carter to say that he wants to do a take on it, and I cannot think of a better way around for a reboot to happen.”

She continued, “Whether I am involved in it is a whole other thing. I’m not saying no. I think he’s really cool and I think if he did it, it would probably be done incredibly well. And maybe I’ll pop in for a little something something.”

Now, if Coogler can both Anderson and Duchovny back, he’s got another hit on his hands.

The 16th edition of IMS Ibiza happens this week on the Spanish island, with the event’s full program now revealed.
Taking place April 23-25 at Mondrian Ibiza and Hyde Ibiza Resort, the Summit’s 2025 theme is intergenerational exchange, with related programming focused on bridging generational gaps, reviewing dance music’s four-plus decades of history and bringing together pioneers and of-the-moment artists and industry figures. The Summit will once again be hosted by IMS co-founder Pete Tong and artist and BBC Radio 1 broadcaster Jaguar.

As always, the summit will include the keynote presentation of the IMS Business Report, which breaks down trends, growth sectors and more in the dance industry and presents a valuation of the global business. This year, the report has again been prepared by MIDiA Research, with MIDiA’s managing director Mark Mulligan presenting the findings Wednesday (April 23).

Other panel topics include a look at the rise of Afro-house and how the genre can stay grounded in the cultures that created it, the future of radio, a look at royalties generated when music gets paid in Ibiza clubs, a discussion on emerging opportunities in dance music in the Middle East, how managers break artists in 2025, a look at music publishing with Sony Music Publishing’s David Ventura, environmental action in Ibiza, tinnitus and hearing loss and much more.

Trending on Billboard

Along with agents, managers, producers and other figures from across the dance space, panelists also include artists Indira Paganotto, Shimza, Chloé Caillet, the team of managers and agents working with John Summit and more. IMS will also honor CAA’s Maria May with its annual legends award.

Additionally, the three-day event will features dinners, shows, parties, awards, health and wellness sessions and a flurry of other activities. See the complete schedule on the summit’s website.

On April 24, the third annual Billboard Latin Women in Music will honor Anitta, Belinda, Celia Cruz, Chiquis, Ha*Ash, Olga Tañón, Natti Natasha and Selena Gomez with special awards, celebrating these groundbreaking women who are shaping the future of Latin music.
The two-hour Latin Women in Music special, which will air live on Telemundo at 9 p.m. ET, will be hosted by 2024 Lifetime Achievement honoree Ana Bárbara, who will also be performing alongside Yahritza y Su Esencia on Thursday. As previously announced, Ivy Queen, La India and Tañón will perform a memorable tribute of Celia Cruz’s most iconic hits. The salsa star would’ve have celebrated her centennial this year.

Throughout the night, artists such as Adriel Favela, Amandititita, Eddy Herrera, Goyo, Lele Pons, Luis Fonsi and Aleyda Ortiz will present the night’s awards and recognitions to the celebrated women. This year’s honorees and honors are Anitta (Vanguard Award), Belinda (Evolution Award), Celia Cruz (Legend Award), Chiquis (Impact Award), Ha*Ash (Unbreakable Award), Natti Natasha (Unstoppable Artist), Olga Tañón (Lifetime Achievement Award) and Selena Gomez (Woman of the Year). 

Trending on Billboard

How to Watch

The 2025 Billboard Latin Women in Music special will air live on Thursday, April 24, at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. Central, exclusively on Telemundo, Universo, Peacock and the Telemundo App, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional.

Performers

Ana Bárbara

Yahritza y Su Esencia

La India

Ivy Queen

Olga Tañón

Presenters

Adriel Favela

Amandititita

Eddy Herrera

Goyo

Lele Pons

Luis Fonsi

Aleyda Ortiz

Read Billboard’s Latin Women In Music 2025 Executive List here.

Hoping to be nominated for an Oscar in one of the music categories next year? Listen up. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on Monday (April 21) announced key dates and various procedural changes for the 2026 Oscars, which included separate, significantly earlier submission deadlines in the two music categories.
Submissions for best original song must be made by Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 5 p.m. PT. Submissions for best original score are due no later than Monday, Nov. 3, at 5 p.m. PT. Last year, the submission deadline in both categories was the same as for general entry categories — Nov. 14, 2024.

This was one of many changes approved by the academy’s board of governors and announced on Monday.

Trending on Billboard

In the rules for film eligibility, the following language regarding generative artificial intelligence has been introduced, as recommended by the Academy’s Science and Technology Council: “With regard to generative artificial intelligence and other digital tools used in the making of the film, the tools neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination. The academy and each branch will judge the achievement, taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award.”

In a procedural change, academy members must now watch all nominated films in each category to be eligible to vote in the final round for the Oscars. All designated nominees will also be included on the final ballot.

Other substantive awards rules changes include:

For consideration in the best picture category, films released from Jan. 1 through June 30 must have shown proof of submission for Producers Guild of America mark certification or awards-only determination no later than Sept. 10. Films released from July 1 through Dec. 31 must have shown proof of submission to the PGA no later than Nov. 13.

In the international feature film category, the eligibility requirement regarding creative control has been updated to be inclusive of filmmakers with refugee or asylum status. The submitting country must confirm that creative control of the film was largely in the hands of citizens, residents or individuals with refugee or asylum status in the submitting country.

Category rules for eligibility and voting for the inaugural Academy Award for achievement in casting have been codified. There will be a preliminary round of voting to determine a shortlist of 10 films, and prior to nominations voting, casting directors branch members will be invited to view a “bake-off” presentation of the shortlisted achievements, including a Q&A with the designated nominees.

In the animated short film category, voting privileges in the nominations round will be extended to all academy members who opt in to participate. Members must view all 15 shortlisted films to be eligible to vote in the category.

​​​​​​In the cinematography category, there will now be a preliminary round of voting for the cinematography award to determine a shortlist of between 10 and 20 films.

The academy also updated and clarified formatting and language in the campaign promotional regulations for the 98th Oscars. The campaign promotional regulations specify how motion picture companies and individuals directly associated with Oscars-eligible motion pictures may promote such motion pictures, achievements and performances to academy members and how academy members may promote Oscars-eligible motion pictures, achievements and performances.

Substantive changes to the campaign promotional regulations include:

Public communications (including any social media posts, reposts, shares and comments) may not disparage the techniques used in or subject matter of any motion picture. Any academy member, motion picture company or individual directly associated with an eligible motion picture found to be in violation will be subject to penalization.

As previously announced, the 98th Oscars will air live on ABC on Sunday, March 15, 2026 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. Conan O’Brien will host for the second year in a row. Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan will return as the show’s executive producers for the third consecutive year. Jeff Ross and Mike Sweeney will return as producers for a second time. Sweeney will also serve as a writer.

It will also be the third year in a row that the telecast will start at 4 p.m. on the West Coast, in an effort to make it so that East Coast viewers can find out who wins the biggest awards before they go to bed. (This year’s show ended at 10:50 p.m. ET, making that goal a reality for all but the earliest risers.)

The academy stresses that all rules and dates for the 98th Academy Awards are subject to change. For the complete 98th Academy Awards rules and campaign promotional regulations, visit the academy’s website.

Key dates for the 2025 Oscars season are as follows:

First submission deadline for animated short film, documentary feature film, documentary short film and live action short film categories: Thursday, Aug. 14

First submission deadline for general entry categories, animated feature film, best picture and RAISE form: Wednesday, Sept. 10

Submission deadline for international feature film: Wednesday, Oct. 1

Student Academy Awards: Monday, Oct. 6

Final submission deadline for animated short film, documentary short film and live action short film categories: Thursday, Oct. 9

Submission deadline for music (original song): Wednesday, Oct. 15

Final submission deadline for documentary feature film: Thursday, Oct. 16

Submission deadline for music (original score): Monday, Nov. 3

Final submission deadline for general entry categories, animated feature film, best picture and RAISE form: Thursday, Nov. 13

Governors Awards: Sunday, Nov. 16

Preliminary voting begins 9 a.m. PT: Monday, Dec. 8

Preliminary voting ends 5 p.m. PT: Friday, Dec. 12

Oscars shortlists announcement: Tuesday, Dec. 16

Casting, makeup and hairstyling, sound and visual effects nominating screenings (bake-offs): Sat. Jan. 10/Sun. Jan. 11, 2026

Nominations voting begins: Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, at 9 a.m. PT

Nominations voting ends: Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, at 5 p.m. PT

Oscars nominations announcement: Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026

Oscars nominees event: Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026

Finals voting begins: Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at 9 a.m. PT

Finals voting ends: Thursday, March 5, 2026, at 5 p.m. PT

98th Oscars: Sunday,March 15, 2026

Scientific and technical awards: Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” scores a 17th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart. The song also adds a 14th week atop the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. survey. The ballad first led both lists last September.
The Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts, which began in September 2020, rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.

Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.

Trending on Billboard

“Die With a Smile” continues atop the Global 200 with 90.7 million streams (down 1% week-over-week) and 6,000 sold (down 3%) worldwide April 11-17. At 17 weeks, the song moves to within two weeks of tying the longest No. 1 run since the chart began:

19 weeks at No. 1, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Mariah Carey (2020-25)

17 weeks, “Die With a Smile,” Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars (2024-25)

15 weeks, “As It Was,” Harry Styles (2022)

14 weeks, “Flowers,” Miley Cyrus (2023)

12 weeks, “APT.,” ROSÉ & Bruno Mars (2024-25)

Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” ascends 3-2 for a new Global 200 high; “APT.” dips 2-3; Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” holds at No. 4 following three weeks at No. 1 last August; and Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” lifts 6-5 after reaching No. 3 in March.

“Die With a Smile” runs up a 14th week at No. 1 on Global Excl. U.S., with 73.5 million streams (down 1%) and 3,000 sold (up 2%) outside the U.S. The song ties for the second-longest command in the chart’s archives:

19 weeks at No. 1, “APT.,” ROSÉ & Bruno Mars (2024-25)

14 weeks, “Die With a Smile,” Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars (2024-25)

14 weeks, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Mariah Carey (2021-25)

13 weeks, “Flowers,” Miley Cyrus (2023)

13 weeks, “As It Was,” Harry Styles (2022)

“APT.” keeps at No. 2 on Global Excl. U.S.; “Ordinary” is steady at its No. 3 best; JENNIE’s “like JENNIE” rebounds 5-4 after hitting No. 3; and “Birds of a Feather” backtracks 4-5, after three weeks at No. 1 last August.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated April 26, 2025) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, April 22. For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

How did you get to the last concert you attended? 
If you’re like most music fans in the United States and Canada, you probably traveled by car. While taking public transportation would be more environmentally friendly, it’s less likely you went by bus or shuttle.You might be among the few that took the least environmentally friendly option and flew.  

Now a new study by REVERB, the longstanding organization focused on sustainability in touring and the broader music industry, is presenting a comprehensive report on all the ways concert attendees get to shows. The study aims to better understand fan travel – long known as the biggest carbon emitter in the live music space – and facilitate solutions to bring down concerts’ environmental impact.

This study was done by REVERB over the last two years at more than 400 shows in over 170 North American cities. REVERB representatives surveyed more than 35,000 fans, asking them about how they got to the show, how they would’ve preferred to get there and the barriers that prevented them from taking a more sustainable travel option.  

Out today (April 21), the results of REVERB’s Concert Travel Study aim to give a better sense of the playing field while demonstrating that fans want greener options, info that’s altogether meant to encourage collaboration on solutions among venues, promoters, artists and fans.  

Trending on Billboard

The study finds that driving is by far the most common way that fans get to shows, with 80% of respondents reporting taking a car. On average, 3,321 gas powered or hybrid vehicles were driven to any given show. On average, each car went 144 miles roundtrip and carried 2.5 people.  

Meanwhile, just 9% of attendees used public transportation, although 33% percent said they would if there were better options available. And while only 7% of fans flew to shows, those flights accounted for 60% of all fan travel emissions. 

All in, the study finds that fan travel creates 38 times more emissions than artist and crew travel, tour-related hotel stays and gear transportation combined. The average 11,000 capacity show creates 527 metric tons of fan travel-related carbon emissions, the equivalent of the energy it would take to power 110 homes for a year. On average, even larger concerts create 824 metric tons of carbon emissions. 

But 89% of fans would take more sustainable transit options if there were better options and almost everyone surveyed — 90% of participates — said they’re concerned about climate change. See the complete study here.  

“We’ve always known that fan travel is the biggest emitter, because you have thousands of fans versus a couple band members or crew members,” says REVERB’s director of impact Madeline Weir tells Billboard. “But the point isn’t to put pressure on fans or say its their fault; we want this to be an opportunity for artists, venues and the industry at large to acknowledge fan travel as the biggest source of emissions and work together with fans to see what solutions would make the fan experience better.” 

The study suggests solutions like incentivized carpooling, which would provide better parking spots and expedited exit lanes to fans who arrive with a certain number of people in the car. 

Weir also cites a desire to work with the aviation industry to help generate a bigger marketplace for sustainable aviation fuels, in order to bring down the cost of this fuel. Greener air travel is especially crucial when it comes to artist residencies, which typically entail most audience members traveling to see a stationary show.  

“We’re never going to say to a band, you shouldn’t do [a residency], because it’s a fan experience and we definitely work with bands that do them,” Weir says. “It’s about talking about solutions with a band and their teams. And a lot of the artists that are at that [residency] scale are already doing a lot for climate, whether it be the offsetting model or more the philanthropy-based model.” 

Weir also notes the importance of strategic routing, as emissions are naturally lower when fans travel shorter distances for a show. To wit, when an artist REVERB has partnered with provides the organization with their tour routing, REVERB provides them with information to send out to fans about various sustainable transit options, from carpooling to public transit to bike lanes. REVERB is also partnering with venues to provide tailored data from the study on what each specific venue can do to help fans arrive in greener ways.  

The study was co-funded by Billie Eilish, a longtime REVERB partner and of the greenest artists in music. At the Los Angeles and Phoenix dates for Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour this past December, Elish’s team provided shuttles from various park and rides for faster, greener transport to shows, demonstrating that there are straightforward options for artists who want to platform sustainability.  

“Artists, venues and fans all need to work together to improve our environment,” Eilish says in a statement. “From solar-powered live shows to more sustainable touring, my team is always looking for ways to help the planet. I have the greatest fans in the world, and I hope this study will be a helpful resource for those looking to learn more about transportation options that cut down on pollution and build a better future for live music.” 

REVERB is also helping venues and events look at what Weir calls sustainable “micro-mobility,” including gas powered shuttles, golf carts and other on-site transportation. (She cites Los Angeles’ Intuit Dome as a venue that’s currently enacting such measures.) REVERB is also currently working with Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, NY to create bike valets and promote the use of public transit.  

“At Forest Hills, we promote public transit options as the number one way to arrive at the venue,” says the venue’s co-manager Mike Luba. “We love when partners like REVERB and artists amplify this promotion to reduce the number of emitting vehicles driven to our shows. It’s truly better for fans, the community, and us.”  

Altogether, the study emphasizes the growing concern about, and push for, sustainability in the industry, with U.S. venues and events increasingly exploring clean energy technology, swapping single-use plastic cups for reusable options and encouraging artists, agents and promoters to incorporate green clauses in various contracts. This work is catching up the sustainability efforts REVERB has been enacting in the live sector since it was created in 2004, with the organization’s co-founder Adam Gardner saying that “listening to fans has always been key to our success.”

While the REVERB study encompasses a lot of data and many options for improvements, what it ultimately makes clear is that demand for greener travel options is significant, with 94% of fans saying they want to be able to take collective action on the issue. 

“Venues, artists, promoters and fans themselves all have responsibility to do this together,” says Weir. 

Taylor Swift only just wrapped up her two-year Eras Tour in December, but a recent mixup ahead of the upcoming 2025 Unbridled Eve Derby Gala led some fans to think that the pop star already had another trek set in stone. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news […]

Kendrick Lamar has signed on as a brand ambassador for Chanel, and he’ll appear in the French fashion house’s new eyewear campaign that will roll out on Tuesday (April 22). Business of Fashion exclusively reported the news on Monday. “I visited the Chanel ateliers and saw the process of how something goes from design to […]

Fifty-one years ago, after trying out Zorro, Superman and gorilla costumes, Angus Young took a suggestion from his sister, borrowed her son’s school uniform and wore it onstage. Since then, like his band AC/DC, the lead guitarist’s live persona has been insanely consistent — he once told Billboard that he packs 12 schoolboy costumes for tours.
“We’ve never tried to do something we’re not or looked around to see what the other bands were doing,” Angus said in a 1996 interview. “An audience can tell when you’re phony or you don’t want to be onstage.”

High Voltage, AC/DC’s debut album, set the band’s consistent musical template in 1975 when the record arrived in the group’s home country of Australia. Twelve months later, it reached the United States and, after a few years, established the act as international rock stars.

Trending on Billboard

Every AC/DC album since, from classics such as 1980’s Back in Black to lesser-known gems like 1995’s Ballbreaker, has exemplified what Billboard declared in a 2014 review of the Rock or Bust album: “Neither trends, age nor the passing of many decades has altered the basic blueprint the band laid out on its 1975 debut, High Voltage.”

“Some people might say that you guys have made the same record over and over 10 times,” an interviewer once suggested to Angus.

“That’s a dirty lie!” he responded. “We’ve made the same record over and over 11 times!”

Of AC/DC’s 19 studio albums, seven have hit the top 10 of the Billboard 200, including two No. 1s, 1981’s For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) and 2008’s Black Ice.

Phillip Rudd, Angus Young, Mark Evans, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott of AC/DC pose for an Atlantic Records publicity still in front of a graffiti-covered wall circa 1977.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Imag

Ten of the band’s tracks have earned more than 177 million streams, beginning with “Thunderstruck” at 1 billion, according to Luminate. AC/DC’s touring power has been similarly steady, from 1978, when it opened for Aerosmith for multiple sold-out arena dates, to 2010, when its four best-selling concerts ever grossed $11.7 million, $12.8 million, $24.6 million and $27 million, all in Australian stadiums, according to Billboard Boxscore.

Despite the loss of Angus’ brother, founding member and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, to dementia in 2017, AC/DC rocks on. The band opened its global Power Up tour on April 10 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

CAA books AC/DC, with agency veterans Rob Light, Chris Dalston and Allison McGregor overseeing dates. The tour takes its name from the 2020 Power Up album. (The band’s repertoire is released by Columbia Records in the United States and by Sony worldwide.) Alvin Handwerker of Prager Metis handles management.

On record, AC/DC began its loud and mighty run 50 years ago, with the release of High Voltage. The album was created in “a very economical two weeks,” as Jeff Apter writes in the 2018 biography High Voltage: The Life of Angus Young. The second week focused on Angus’ guitar solos and the controlled night-prowler shrieks of frontman Bon Scott, who died in 1980.

Angus has said of Alberts, the band’s Sydney studio, “I would have liked to have taken the f–king walls with me and kept them. A guitar just came to life in there. It was a little downtrodden, but it had a great vibe, this energy to it.”

The group’s pathway through the music business began with Sydney publisher Ted Albert, who lived in a mansion called Boomerang and sailed with his father on a yacht of the same name. His company, Albert Productions, had signed Australian rock’n’roll band The Easybeats in 1965, putting out classics such as “Friday on My Mind” and “St. Louis” before it broke up four years later. That act’s rhythm guitarist, George Young, turned out to have talented younger brothers, Malcolm and Angus, and the Albert connection led to AC/DC signing with the company in 1974. George and bandmate Harry Vanda, who served as High Voltage’s co-producers, had a knack for drawing the screechy rock rawness out of Angus and Malcolm.

“That was our first real album,” Angus told Guitar Player in 2003, “and it was the one that defined our style.”

The album’s opening track, “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ’n’ Roll),” began as a “jam,” Angus recalled in a 1992 interview, published many years later in Classic Rock. “We were just playing away, and my brother George left the tape rolling. After we finished, he was jumping up and down in the studio going, ‘Great, great, this is magic!’ And you’re thinking, ‘What’s he on about?’ And he played it back and there it was. It had that magic atmosphere.”

Although AC/DC became known for its lascivious vocals full of not-so-disguised euphemisms, “It’s a Long Way to the Top” is almost a folk ballad, lamenting endless hard work and “getting old, getting gray, getting ripped off, underpaid.” Country, folk and Americana singers including Lucinda Williams and Cody Jinks have covered it.

The droning track required a droning instrument — bagpipes — as its crucial final touch, the producers’ idea.

“Bagpipes!” exclaimed Steve Leeds, head of album promotion for AC/DC’s longtime U.S. label, Atlantic Records, as reported in Jesse Fink’s 2013 book The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC. “There are no bagpipes on the radio, even today. George and Harry were f–king geniuses. They figured it out. Conventional wisdom says, ‘You guys are crazy.’ ”

George knew how to communicate with musicians, and he recognized that the band’s imperfect quality in the studio could lead to spontaneous excitement on its recordings. At one point, while recording the title track, drummer Phil Rudd thought he had “messed up” during a fill, Angus recalled in 1992. “And George is signaling: ‘Keep going. Keep going.’ And we finish that take and we come in and go, ‘OK, we better try again.’ And he goes, ‘No. That was the take.’ And that was the one we used.” The track wound up closing the album.

From Australia to the United States, where it was released in 1976, High Voltage received almost no attention — other than negative attention. Critics were merciless. Rolling Stone’s infamous pan called the band “Australian gross-out champions,” declared hard rock “has unquestionably hit its all-time low,” referred to its rhythm section as “goose-stepping” and concluded the whole operation added up to “calculated stupidity.” A short feature two years later — written by Ira Kaplan, later frontman of Yo La Tengo — concluded, “There’s nothing new going on musically, but AC/DC attacks the old clichés with overwhelming exuberance.”

Many critics back then blooped over Malcolm’s steel-beam rhythms and Angus’ devotional reinterpretations of Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry and stripped-down arrangements that distilled The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and The Stooges into riffs that gained power with repetition.

“At that time, Rolling Stone was really into the punk genre and were matching up everything to what was the current flavor of the day,” Angus told Vulture in 2020. “What we did was rock’n’roll and we weren’t going to change anything.”

Malcolm Young, Bon Scott, and Angus Young of AC/DC performing at The Nashville Rooms on April 26, 1976 in London.

Dick Barnatt/Redferns

The vision paid off — eventually. Angus would criticize “really soft” Australian radio for being overobsessed with Air Supply and worse. But in the United States, programmers for a small San Antonio rock station picked up High Voltage and aired it immediately. This led to a show at Austin’s 1,500-capacity Armadillo World Headquarters and, later, airplay in the Bay Area and Boston.

“Up until that point, all we had really done was a lot of touring around Australia, so it was great to get into a studio and really hear how we sounded,” Angus recalled in 2003. “What was impressive about that album was that it sold on word-of-mouth alone.”

The band also played at CBGB, the New York punk fixture where the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie and Talking Heads first became famous. When Atlantic co-founder Ahmet Ertegun saw that gig, he agreed to sign AC/DC, steering the band at first to the label’s Atco imprint. “I’m not sure I would have signed them when I first heard them,” the late Ertegun told Billboard in 1998. “They were very modern; they were pushing the envelope. They were very young-looking then and very ratty-looking. A lot of those bands had disdain for anything that resembled authority.”

Angus responded, sort of. In a 2020 interview with Billboard, he said, “Some people would say, ‘Well, you have a very juvenile approach to what you’re singing.’ But good rock’n’roll is juvenile, in a sense.”

At first, High Voltage was hardly a blockbuster, neither in its native Australia nor the United States. Not even “T.N.T.” charted on the Billboard Hot 100. But it since has become one of the band’s most beloved tracks, with 436 million U.S. streams, as well as 826 million Spotify plays internationally.

AC/DC’s first track to hit the Hot 100 was “Highway to Hell,” in October 1979, at a modest No. 47. And its debut album didn’t crack the Billboard 200 until 1981, long after Highway to Hell broke into the top 20 and Back in Black followed by reaching No. 4. Album-oriented rock, indeed. High Voltage took five years to go gold in the United States in 1981, according to the RIAA, and hit quadruple-platinum in July 2024.

As it turns out, consistency is exactly half of AC/DC’s formula for commercial success. The other half is a combination of songs that sound perfect no matter how many times they’re played on the radio and onstage. Like the song goes, “If you think it’s easy doing one-night stands/Try playing in a rock-roll band.”

James Hetfield of Metallica put it a different way, describing the live Angus experience to Billboard in 2016: “That guy sweats so much every night. I can’t believe his head is still on his body.”

This story appears in the April 19, 2025, issue of Billboard.