1981

• 8 - 25: 2nd leg of the European Tour, 14 dates covering France, Spain and Belgium.

• 16: Single, "Rock And Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution / Hells Bells", released in Germany.

• 25: The tour ends at Brussels Forest National where AC/DC brings Atlantic Record’s Phil Carson (on bass) to jam on "Lucille". To this day, this is the only known time where the band lets another musician share their stage.

• 27: Single, "Rock And Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution / Hells Bells", released in Australia.

• "High Voltage" released in Japan for the first time.

• 1 - 5: First ever tour in Japan, 4 dates.

• 13 - 27: Australian Tour, 5 dates. Their first tour in their homeland in 4 years. It is a massive success.

• 23: "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" released in the US. The album is also released for the first time in Canada and Japan.

• 18: "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" enters the US Billboard charts, eventually peaking at #3 on May 23rd, staying there for three consecutive weeks.

• 7: The re-released "High Voltage" enters the US Billboard charts, eventually peaking at #146.

• Worldwide sales of "Back In Black" reach 12 million units, with 5 million sold in the US alone.

• Recording of "For Those About To Rock We Salute You" in Paris. The band starts the sessions at EMI-Pathe Marconi studios, but after two weeks move to a rehearsal studio right outside Paris (H.I.S.) and record the backing tracks with the Mobile One Studio. Vocals are recorded at Family Sound Studio later. Robert John "Mutt" Lange is producing once again. The sessions last until September.

• AC/DC terminates manager Peter Mensch, but remain with the management firm, Leber-Krebs.

• 22: AC/DC headline the second "Monsters Of Rock" festival at Castle Donington Park in the UK in front of 65,000 people. Other acts on the bill are Whitesnake, Blue Oyster Cult, Blackfoot, Slade and More.

• 14 - December 21: 1st leg of the US/Canadian Tour, 28 dates. The band headline’s in arenas all over the country for the first time.

• 23: "For Those About To Rock We Salute You" released worldwide.

• 2: First concert headlining Madison Square Garden in New York.

• 7: "For Those About To Rock We Salute You" released in Australia.

• 12: "For Those About To Rock We Salute You" enters the US Billboard charts, eventually peaking at #1, staying there for 3 consecutive weeks. It peaks at #3 on the UK charts.

• 20 - 21: 2 dates at the Capital Center in Largo, MD. The concerts are recorded and filmed. Live promo videos for "Back In Black", "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)", "Let’s Get It Up" and "Put The Finger On You" are taken from these concerts.

• The band is being sued by a couple from Chicago, IL, who demand $250,000 in damages because they’ve been receiving obscene phone calls at their number 36-24-36, the phone number mentioned in the song "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap".

• "For Those About To Rock We Salute You" is certified Platinum in France (400,000 units sold) just 2 weeks after its release.

• Single, "Let’s Get It Up / Snowballed", released in the US and Canada.