Rock fans furious after developers tear down band members’ childhood home
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Company behind the demolition said it was not aware of the historic importance of the building until after it was torn down. A historic Sydney house that was once the childhood home to not one but two rock stars has been demolished, despite being listed on Australia’s National Trust register.
![[From left: Brian Johnson, Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams, Angus Young and Phil Rudd of AC/DC being honoured at the Rock Walk handprint ceremony at the Guitar Center in Hollywood, California, 2000]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/08/09/GettyImages-779695.jpg)
The property formerly located at 4 Burleigh Street in the Sydney suburb of Burwood was once the home of AC/DC’s Angus and Malcolm Young. Their family moved into the house in 1965, the year that elder brother George Young and his band The Easybeats released their debut, Easy.
George had met his future bandmate, Dutch musician Harry Vanda, in the Villawood Migrant Hostel where the Young family first stayed after moving to Australia from Scotland. He and Vanda achieved a hit single with “Friday on My Mind” in 1967, and also scored a Top 10 when they wrote “Love is in the Air”, which was recorded by John Paul Young (no relation) in 1977.
In 1973, AC/DC – one of Australia’s biggest rock exports – were formed at the Burleigh Street house, which was added to the National Trust Register of Historic Houses in 2013. However, the building was reportedly demolished in late 2024 after being sold in February the previous year for AUD $5.8m (£3.34m).
AC/DC fans and members of the local community have expressed their outrage at the demolition. However, Burwood Council said in a statement that “as it is not heritage listed or protected under local or state legislation, and because the National Trust is a community-based, non-government organisation, with no statutory authority, the property does not have enforceable protections”.
