Tributes honoring the legacy of the late music icon, Malcolm Young have poured out with intensity from both fans and industry figures over the weekend. Now, longtime ACDC frontman, Brian Johnson has taken to his personal website to remember his bandmate, who lost his ongoing battle with dementia on Saturday.

Johnson has said that he is ‘deeply saddened’ by the passing of Malcolm and that he was a ‘genius’. Read the full statement below:

“I am saddened by the passing of my friend Malcolm Young, I can’t believe he’s gone.
We had such great times on the road.
I was always aware that he was a genius on guitar, his riffs have become legend, as has he.
I send out my love and sympathy to his wife Linda, his children Cara and Ross,
and Angus, who will all be devastated…. as we all are.
He has left a legacy that I don’t think many can match.
He never liked the celebrity side of fame, he was too humble for that.
He was the man who created AC/DC because he said “there was no Rock,n,Roll” out there.
I am proud to have known him and call him a friend, and I’m going to miss him so much.
I salute you, Malcolm Young.

– Brain Johnson, November 2017″

Both Johnson and Young had faced ongoing health problems in ACDC’s recent years, with Johnson facing a potentially deafening ear problem before the recording of Rock Or Bust. Johnson has also said previously that Malcolm was ‘the one that was behind AC/DC. He was our spiritual leader. He was our spitfire.’

In a recent stop in Mexico, the Foo Fighters have taken to the stage to celebrate Malcolm’s life with a performance of ‘Let There Be Rock’. 

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