"Power Up (PWR/UP)" is the seventeenth studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC, released on 13 November 2020 through Columbia Records. It marks the return of vocalist Brian Johnson, drummer Phil Rudd, and bassist Cliff Williams to the band, and is the first album released since the death of co-founder and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young in 2017. The album serves as a tribute to Malcolm, with posthumous songwriting credits given to him for all the tracks, which were unreleased songs written by Malcolm and his brother Angus.
Power Up received generally positive reviews from music critics and reached number one in 21 countries. It was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards but lost to Foo Fighters' Medicine at Midnight (2021). To support the album, the band announced the Power Up Tour, scheduled to begin in May 2024, with Matt Laug and Chris Chaney replacing Rudd and Williams as touring members, respectively.
Following the 2014 album Rock or Bust, AC/DC endured a challenging period marked by drummer Phil Rudd’s legal troubles and Brian Johnson’s hearing loss. Rudd was replaced by Chris Slade during the 2015–2016 tour, and Johnson was temporarily replaced by Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose for the remainder of the tour. In 2016, bassist Cliff Williams also announced his retirement from the band after the tour, citing health concerns.
In 2018, rumors began circulating that AC/DC were working on a new album with Johnson, Rudd, and Williams returning to the band. The band was seen recording at Warehouse Studio in Vancouver in August 2018, where they had worked on their previous albums. These rumors were confirmed, and the album was recorded over a six-week period in 2018, with additional tweaking done in Los Angeles in 2019. Producer Brendan O'Brien, who had worked with the band on their 2008 and 2014 albums, returned to produce Power Up. The songs on the album are credited to Angus and Malcolm Young, with the latter’s contributions sourced from the band’s vault of unreleased material.
The songwriting process proved challenging for Angus, who had to work with riffs and ideas he and his brother had written prior to Malcolm’s death. Angus’s nephew, Stevie Young, assisted with arranging the riffs before the band entered the studio.
Ahead of the album's release, the band teased the album’s title with the cryptic acronym PWR/UP on their website. On 7 October 2020, the title was revealed to be Power Up, and the album was officially released on 13 November 2020. The band’s first single from the album, "Shot in the Dark," was released on 7 October 2020, and its music video followed on 26 October. The song topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart for two weeks starting in November 2020.
Additional singles, including "Demon Fire," "Realize," "Witch’s Spell," and "Through the Mists of Time," were also released, with music videos for "Realize" and "Witch's Spell" following in 2021. Power Up was met with strong commercial success, with projections that it would top both the US and UK album sales charts in its first week.
To support the album, AC/DC announced the Power Up Tour, which is set to begin in May 2024. The tour will feature two songs from Power Up, "Shot in the Dark" and "Demon Fire," and will see Chris Chaney and Matt Laug replacing Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd, respectively, as touring members. The tour is anticipated to be a major event for the band, continuing their legacy of high-energy live performances.
Overall, Power Up serves as a fitting tribute to Malcolm Young while marking a return to the band's classic hard rock sound. It reinforces AC/DC’s place in rock history, blending familiar riffs with new energy.
