In 1990, AC/DC released “Thunderstruck,” a hard-rock anthem that would eventually become one of the most recognizable songs in rock history.
More than three decades later, the legendary track is once again climbing the charts.
The legendary AC/DC anthem currently sits at No. 13 on Billboard’s Rock Digital Song Sales chart, continuing one of the most remarkable long-term runs of any classic rock song in the digital era.
Even more impressively, “Thunderstruck” has now spent 554 weeks on Billboard’s Rock Digital Song Sales chart and previously climbed as high as No. 2, making it one of AC/DC’s most enduring modern-era hits.
Part of the song’s continued popularity comes from the way it has remained deeply embedded in pop culture through sports, movies, commercials, viral videos and streaming playlists. Few rock songs from the 1990s have maintained the same level of cultural visibility.
Over the years, “Thunderstruck” has also developed a reputation in Hollywood as one of the most expensive rock songs to license for films and television, a distinction music industry outlets have repeatedly referenced when discussing the track’s massive sync fees.
During a 2014 Variety round table discussion about music licensing costs, music supervisor Thomas Golubic recalled that the 1999 football film Varsity Blues paid roughly $500,000 to use “Thunderstruck.”
“I remember being absolutely horrified when I heard that number,” Golubic said during the conversation.
The song’s massive staying power has also helped make it one of AC/DC’s signature tracks despite arriving relatively late in the band’s career. While many fans primarily associate AC/DC with their late-1970s classics like “Highway to Hell” and “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” “Thunderstruck” was released in 1990 as the lead single from The Razors Edge.
The track ultimately became one of the band’s defining stadium anthems and one of the best-selling rock songs of all time, earning Diamond certification in the United States.
Rolling Stone Australia later included “Thunderstruck” on its list of AC/DC’s essential songs, recounting how guitarist Angus Young was inspired after surviving a frightening lightning storm while flying to a concert in the late 1980s, and he played it for his brother, fellow founding member Malcolm Young, and the rest is history.
“It started off from a little trick that I had on guitar,” Young recalled. “I played it to Mal and he said, ‘Oh, I’ve got a good rhythm idea that will sit well in the back.’ We built the song up from that.… We came up with this thunder thing, and it seemed to have a good ring to it. AC/DC = power. That’s the basic idea.”
The song’s iconic opening guitar lead almost sounded effortless in the studio. Mixer Mike Fraser later revealed that the version used on the final recording featured Young playing the lightning-fast riff in a single take all the way through the song.
Over the decades, the song has become almost unavoidable in sports arenas, action movies and rock playlists, helping introduce AC/DC to entirely new generations of listeners.
This story was originally published by Parade on May 26, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Credit: Source link