Thunderstruck (song)

Background

Angus Young stated in the liner notes of the 2003 re-release of The Razors Edge:

Critical reception

"Thunderstruck" is widely considered one of the band's best songs. In 2020, The Guardian ranked the song number eight on its list of the 40 greatest AC/DC songs, and in 2021, the British rock magazine Kerrang! ranked the song number six on its list of the 20 greatest AC/DC songs. In 2010, "Thunderstruck" topped Triple M Melbourne's Ultimate 500 Rock Countdown in Australia.

In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the "most Australian" songs of all time, "Thunderstruck" was ranked No. 8. In 2025 the song was voted 13 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of Australian Songs.

Music video

The video which accompanied the single, directed by David Mallet, was filmed at London's Brixton Academy on 17 August 1990. The audience members were given free T-shirts with the words "AC/DC – I was Thunderstruck" on the front and the date on the back, and these T-shirts were worn by the entire audience throughout the filming of the video.

Track listings

• Single-CD: ATCO Records / 7567-96427-2 XS Europe Music By, Lyrics By – Angus Young, Malcolm Young

1. "Thunderstruck" – 4:55
2. "Fire Your Guns" – 2:55
3. "D.T." – 2:54
4. "Chase The Ace" – 3:01 https://www.discogs.com/de/release/641207-ACDC-Thunderstruck

Personnel

• Brian Johnson – lead vocals
• Angus Young – lead guitar
• Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Cliff Williams – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Chris Slade – drums, percussion

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

!scope="col" colspan="3"| Ringtones |-

Release history

Legacy

The track is a popular song to learn among beginning guitarists. Writing for WRKR in 2025, Joe Davita expressed resentment towards children who play the riff in music stores, such as Guitar Center. He said: "You've probably heard AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck' so many times that you change the station whenever it comes on the radio. Nothing against it, it's a monster song, but unless Angus Young is playing that riff, nobody needs to hear it, not even from you, kid who plays it pretty well." He included the song on his list of the "10 Worst Guitar Center Songs Ever".

Cyber attack of the Iranian nuclear program

The song was reportedly used as part of the payload of a computer virus which attacked the Iranian nuclear program in 2012. In an email sent to Finnish computer security expert, Mikko Hypponen of F-Secure, one of the scientists involved in the nuclear program was quoted as saying:

Wolf deterrent

In 2025, it was revealed that the US Department of Agriculture in Oregon was using drones playing the song to deter wolves from attacking livestock.

References

References

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33. "AC/DC {{!}} サンダーストラック". [[Oricon]].
34. DiVita, Joe DiVitaJoe. (2019-06-06). "10 Worst Guitar Center Songs Ever".
35. (23 July 2012). "Emails from Iran". F-Secure Labs.
36. (4 August 2025). "Audio of Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson arguments from Marriage Story used to scare off wolves in the US".