UPDATE: In a public statement today, AC/DC has confirmed Malcom Young’s illness and stated that he will be taking a break from the band indefinitely. However, singer Brian Johnson had the following to say:

“We are definitely getting together in May in Vancouver,” he said. “We’re going to pick up some guitars, have a plonk, and see if anybody has got any tunes or ideas. If anything happens, we’ll record it.”

(original post below)

AC/DC founder Malcom Young, the older brother of the more-famous Angus Young, has reportedly suffered an illness that impairs his guitar-playing skills. As of now nothing has been officially confirmed, but we should be seeing an announcement soon. The Orstrahyun blog run by Darryl Mason is reporting that Malcom Young suffered a stroke which left a blood clot in his brain, affecting some of his motor skills enough to become problematic for the band. This information is claimed to be from friends’ and family members’ discussions over the last couple of weeks.

Fox News is now also reporting that Malcom Young is suffering from an “illness”. However an hour before the Fox News posting, Billboard seems to be refuting the claim.

After 41 years of rockin’ and rollin’, it’s not out of the realm of possibility to be looking at the end of a legendary career. Everything ends at some point, and this Australian rock band did more than its fair share of contributing to music history.

Since 1974 (the year AC/DC released their first studio album), the band has released 14 studio albums, 4 albums issued in Australia only, 2 compilations released as soundtracks, 3 live recordings, 12 video collections of concerts and music videos, and 2 boxed sets… according to Wikipedia. The band has always shied away from releasing any traditional Greatest Hits package.

Among those studio releases are some of the biggest-selling albums of all time. 1980’s Back In Black has since gone 22x Platinum, according to the RIAA data. In fact, almost every AC/DC studio album has gone Platinum.

We await an official announcement from the band still, but it could very well be the end of an era. For those that rocked for so long, we salute you.