AC/DC guitarist Stevie Young hospitalized in Buenos Aires

By Leila Miller and Cassandra Garrison

BUENOS AIRES, March 19 (Reuters) – Stevie Young, who plays guitar for legendary Australian rock band AC/DC, has been hospitalized in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires, but is still expected to perform next week, a spokesperson for the band told Reuters on Thursday.

“Out of an abundance of caution, he was admitted to a local hospital where he is undergoing a full battery of tests,” the spokesperson said of the 69-year-old Glasgow-born musician.

“Stevie is doing well and is in good spirits. He is looking forward to getting on stage on Monday.” 

AC/DC, one of the most influential rock bands of the past half‑century, is scheduled to perform in Buenos Aires on March 23, 27 and 31 as part of their international “Power Up” tour.

The band last played a show days earlier in Santiago, Chile. They are scheduled to play in Mexico City by early April.

ARGENTINE FAN BASE

Outside the luxury Four Seasons hotel, about a dozen fans gathered behind a perimeter fence waiting for band members to arrive as several hotel security guards stood at the entrances.

AC/DC has long maintained a strong following in South America, particularly in Argentina, whose President Javier Milei is a professed rock fan and has repeatedly belted out metal songs at rallies, donning a leather jacket.

AC/DC last traveled to Argentina in 2009.

There was such high demand for the first concert at the city’s Estadio Monumental – which can hold 85,000 people – that the band announced two more concerts, which rapidly sold out.

The stadium, home to the River Plate soccer team, has hosted acts including the Rolling Stones, Roger Waters, Coldplay and Argentine rock legends Soda Stereo. AC/DC attracted nearly 200,000 fans during their last visit over 16 years ago.

Over the years, band members have experienced health-related setbacks, pauses, and changes. 

Young himself replaced his uncle Malcolm Young – who co-founded the band – in 2014, three years before he died aged 64 after suffering from dementia. His uncle had founded the band in 1973 in Sydney with his brother Angus. 

Bon Scott, the lead singer during the band’s rise through the 1970s, died in 1980 after a night of heavy drinking. 

Current lead singer Brian Johnson stepped away in 2016 because of hearing issues before later returning. Drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Cliff Williams have also cycled in and out of the band over various periods.

(Reporting by Leila Miller and Cassandra Garrison in Buenos Aires, Danielle Broadway in Los Angeles and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Natalia Siniawski, Brendan O’Boyle and Rod Nickel)