Thunderstruck (song)

"Thunderstruck" is the lead single on the 1990 album The Razors Edge by Australian hard rock band AC/DC.

For the 2004 film, see Thunderstruck (2004 film).

"Thunderstruck"
Single by AC/DC
from the album The Razors Edge
B-side"Fire Your Guns"
Released10 September 1990
RecordedJanuary 1990
Genre
Length4:52
LabelATCO
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Bruce Fairbairn
AC/DC singles chronology
"That's the Way I Wanna Rock 'n' Roll"
(1988)		 "Thunderstruck"
(1990)		 "Moneytalks"
(1990)
Music video
"Thunderstruck" on YouTube

The song was released as a single in Germany, Australia, and Japan, and peaked at No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. In 2010, "Thunderstruck" topped Triple M's Ultimate 500 Rock Countdown in Melbourne, Australia. The top five were all AC/DC songs.[2]

Background

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

It started off from a little trick I had on guitar. 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 fiddled about with it for a few months before everything fell into place. Lyrically, it was really just a case of finding a good title ... We came up with this thunder thing, based on our favourite childhood toy ThunderStreak, and it seemed to have a good ring to it. AC/DC = Power. That's the basic idea.[3]

The song has sold over a million digital copies since it became available for digital download.[4]

In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Thunderstruck" was ranked number 8.[5]

Music video

The video directed by David Mallet, which accompanied the single 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.[6]

Charts and certifications

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[36] 5× Platinum 350,000
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[37] Gold 45,000
Italy (FIMI)[38] Platinum 50,000
Mexico (AMPROFON)[39] 3× Platinum+Gold 210,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[40] Platinum 600,000
Ringtones
Canada (Music Canada)[41] Platinum 40,000^
United States (RIAA)[42] Platinum 1,798,000[43]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Personnel

Cyber attack of the Iranian nuclear program

The song was used as part of the payload of a computer virus which attacked the Iranian nuclear program between 2009 and 2010. Reportedly developed by the US and Israeli governments, Stuxnet took control of centrifuge controls in nuclear facilities across the country causing extensive damage to machinery. Additionally, various workstations were hijacked with the song playing randomly at high volume late at night.[44] In an email sent to Finnish computer security expert, Mikko Hypponen of F-Secure, one of the scientists involved in the program was quoted as saying:

...There was also some music playing randomly on several of the workstations during the middle of the night with the volume maxed out. I believe it was playing 'Thunderstruck' by AC/DC.[45]

References
  1. Brown, Jake (16 July 2013). AC/DC in the Studio - The Stories Behind Every Album. John Blake Publishing, Limited. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-78219-677-8.
  2. "Triple M's Ultimate Rock 500". Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.. Triple M. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  3. Young, Angus (2003). The Razors Edge (booklet). AC/DC. Epic Records.
  4. Grein, Paul (14 January 2015). "Nick Jonas's 'Jealous' Hits a New Peak". Chart Watch. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  5. "Here Are The Songs That Made Triple M's 'Ozzest 100'". Musicfeeds. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  6. "Music video". YouTube. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  7. "Australian-charts.com – AC/DC – Thunderstruck". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  8. "Austriancharts.at – AC/DC – Thunderstruck" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  9. "Ultratop.be – AC/DC – Thunderstruck" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  10. "Top Singles - Volume 53, No. 3 Dec 01, 1990". RPM. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  11. "Danishcharts.com – AC/DC – Thunderstruck". Tracklisten. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  12. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  13. "Lescharts.com – AC/DC – Thunderstruck" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  14. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Thunderstruck". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  15. "Offiziellecharts.de – AC/DC – Thunderstruck". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  16. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  17. "Nederlandse Top 40 – AC/DC" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  18. "Dutchcharts.nl – AC/DC – Thunderstruck" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  19. "Charts.nz – AC/DC – Thunderstruck". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  20. "Spanishcharts.com – AC/DC – Thunderstruck" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  21. "Swedishcharts.com – AC/DC – Thunderstruck". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  22. "Swisscharts.com – AC/DC – Thunderstruck". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  23. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  24. "AC/DC Chart History (Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  25. "AC/DC Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  26. "AC/DC – Chart history". Billboard Rock Digital Songs for AC/DC. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  27. "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 50 Singles 1990". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  28. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1990". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  29. "Jaaroverzichten - Single 1990". Single Top 100. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  30. "Jaaroverzichten 1991". Ultratop. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  31. "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  32. "Single Top 100 - eladási darabszám alapján - 2017". Mahasz. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  33. "Single Top 100 - eladási darabszám alapján - 2018". Mahasz. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  34. "Single Top 100 - eladási darabszám alapján - 2019". Mahasz. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  35. "Top AFP - Audiogest - Top 3000 Singles + EPs Digitais" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  36. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2017 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  37. "Certificeringer" (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  38. "Italian single certifications – AC/DC – Thunderstruck" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 16 January 2017. Select "2017" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Thunderstruck" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli online" under "Sezione".
  39. "Certificaciones" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Retrieved 10 December 2020. Type AC/DC in the box under the ARTISTA column heading and Thunderstruck in the box under TÍTULO
  40. "British single certifications – AC/DC – Thunderstruck". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 July 2019. Select singles in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Thunderstruck in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  41. "Canadian single certifications – AC/DC – Thunderstruck". Music Canada. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  42. "American single certifications – AC/DC – Thunderstruck". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 31 December 2015. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
  43. "Nielsen SoundScan charts – Digital Songs – Week Ending: 09/28/2017" (PDF). Nielsen SoundScan. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  44. McCormick, Rich (7 August 2014). "Hackers made Iran's nuclear computers blast AC/DC". The Verge.
  45. "Emails from Iran". F-Secure Labs. 23 July 2012.
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