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Song · AC/DC

“For Those About to Rock” by AC/DC

Released 1982

“For Those About to Rock” by AC/DC appears on 79 radio countdowns from 28 stations between 1981 and 2026. It was first released in 1982. Its best result is #1 on the KISW 25 Biggest Rock Songs from 1981. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #152 classic rock song of all time.

79countdowns
28stations
#1best position
1#1 finishes
4top 10 finishes
1981–2026years charted

Watch

AC/DC - For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) (Official Video)

Video from YouTube (acdcVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" gave AC/DC's eighth studio album its title in 1981 and went out as a single the following year, and it takes its big idea from ancient Rome: the salute that prisoners about to be executed in the Colosseum offered to Caesar. Angus Young said in 2021 that the real spark was the poet and classicist Robert Graves, a twist on one of his lines.

Brian Johnson sings it and wrote it with Angus and Malcolm Young, who play the guitars, while Cliff Williams plays bass, Phil Rudd drums, and Williams and Malcolm sing backup. Robert John "Mutt" Lange produced. The video was shot at a late-1981 show in Landover, Maryland, the same gig that gave the single its live B-side, and the song resurfaced on Who Made Who, the 1986 soundtrack to Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1981 1 KISW Seattle-Tacoma, WA KISW 25 Biggest Rock Songs from 1981 25

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1982 300 95.5 KLOS KLOS Memorial Day 500 (1982) 499
1990 129 Z-Rock Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990) 1000
1994 108 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) 1000
1995 79 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) 1000
1996 108 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) 1000
1997 413 104.5 KZEP KZEP Memorial Weekend Top 500 (1997) 500
1998 55 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) 1000
1999 101 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
2002 14 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2010 132 97.9 The Loop The Loop USO Rock 'N' Roll 500 (2010) 500
2011 4 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2011 212 97.9 The Loop The Loop Rock N Roll 500 (2011) 500
2012 4 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2012 257 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) 885
2013 90 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2013 180 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR CT 500 (2013) 500
2014 68 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 400 (2014) 400
2014 199 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2015 223 I-95 I-95 Memorial Day Weekend Top 500 (2015) 500
2015 488 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2015) 500
2015 85 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2015) 499
2015 90 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2016 291 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2016) 500
2016 194 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2016) 500
2016 431 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2016 118 103.5 The Fox The Fox Memorial Day 500 (2016) 299
2017 310 97.9 The Loop 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017) 540
2017 208 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2017) 500
2017 6 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR AC/DCember 25 (2017) 25
2018 251 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2018) 500
2019 288 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2019) 500
2019 234 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2019) 500
2019 104 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2019) 499
2019 197 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2019) 500
2019 169 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2020 123 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2020 149 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2020) 500
2020 90 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2020) 500
2020 297 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2021 407 WCSX WCSX Rock & Roll 500 (2021) 499
2021 134 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2021) 500
2021 280 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) 1043
2021 323 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2021) 500
2021 357 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2021) 499
2021 260 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2021) 500
2021 58 WCSX WCSX Rock & Roll 500 (2021) 499
2022 141 94.1 KRNA KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 63 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 500 97.1 The River River 500 (2022) 500
2022 292 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2022 127 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2022) 500
2022 179 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 149 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2022 410 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 133 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2022) 500
2022 83 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) 500
2023 141 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2023 200 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 237 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2023) 500
2023 179 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 166 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) 1043
2023 168 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 352 97.1 The Drive 97.1 The Drive Memorial Day Weekend Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 116 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2024 279 KQRS KQRS KQ 500 (2024) 499
2024 452 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 61 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2024) 500
2024 191 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2024) 500
2024 543 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2024 83 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 499
2024 124 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2024) 498
2025 121 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2025) 498
2025 70 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2025) 500
2025 84 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2025) 500
2025 195 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2025 223 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2026 108 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2026) 500
2026 74 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2026) 500
2026 125 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: For Those About To Rock (We Salute You); For Those About to Rock (We Salute You); For Those About To Rock...; For Those About to Roc; For Those About To Rock; For Those About To Rock We Salute You.

Charting alongside it in 1981

Best songs of 1981 →
  1. 1Start Me UpThe Rolling Stones
  2. 2Tom SawyerRush
  3. 3I Love Rock-N-RollJoan Jett
  4. 4Every Little Thing She Does Is MagicThe Police
  5. 5Jukebox HeroForeigner
  6. 7Mental HopscotchMissing Persons

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