AC/DC’s Johnson ‘overwhelmed’ by success

‘Black Ice’ made its debut at the top of the U.S. album charts

	It's time for Angus Young and Brian Johnson of AC/DC to celebrate. Their new CD, "Black Ice" has topped the charts in more than two dozen countries.
Jim Cooper / AP

Interviews, performances

Obama pays tribute to Kennedy honorees
Dec. 6: Before being honored at a special gala at the Kennedy Center, five of the nation's best in entertainment and the arts were lauded by President Barack Obama. NBC's Lester Holt reports.

Choir sings lullaby Christmas songs

‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’

The doc who rocks

Ron Wood arrested

updated 5:51 p.m. ET Oct. 29, 2008

NEW YORK - AC/DC made their new album, “Black Ice,” available only at Wal-Mart and through their Web site, but that hasn’t limited its success: The CD not only has topped the charts in more than two dozen countries, it debuts atop the latest U.S. album chart with sales of more than 780,000 copies.

“It’s overwhelming, and quite hard to take in,” the legendary group’s lead singer, Brian Johnson, said Wednesday after learning his group had 2008’s second-biggest album debut.

“Even an old dog like me has a few more surprises in life, I guess,” he said, chuckling.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

The group beat out “High School Musical” for the No. 1 spot. According to figures released Wednesday by Nielsen SoundScan, “Black Ice” sold some 784,000 copies in its first week of release; the teen-oriented movie soundtrack sold about 297,000 copies. (The year’s biggest album debut so far belongs to Lil Wayne, with a million copies sold of “Tha Carter III.”)

In making Wal-Mart the only retailer for their album, AC/DC joined the likes of the Eagles and Journey, who have all had strong success.

Click for related content

AC/DC makes a deal with ... Wal-Mart

“It was a win-win situation, and they decided to make it into a big thing with AC/DC merchandise and good deals with the other albums with the catalog,” Johnson said. “This has been a wonderful thing.”

The CD has topped the charts in 29 countries since its release in the recent days.