"The suggestion is being put to me that tour will never happen and we will never see AC/DC perform again or record again," he said. Malcom Young (right) is suspected of being in too poor health to continue with AC/DC .. Younger brother Angus Young, left, is also in the iconic rock group. Credit:AP The rumour mill soon added that this was due to a terminal illness. The claims were originally made in an email to Perth radio station 6PR by a person identifying himself as ''Thunderstruck''.

''My information is that Malcolm Young has moved himself and his family back to Australia, he's very very ill and that AC/DC may well be history,'' Thunderstruck told 6PR on Tuesday morning. The email sent on Monday and read out on 6PR said: ''I have extremely good contacts in Europe that are very close to AC/DC. I have it on very good authority that one of the band members is quite ill and has returned to Australia with his family. AC/DC with lead singer Brian Johnson and Angus Young on guitar, in Munich in 2003. Credit:AP ''AC/DC members have previously made a pact that no band members will be replaced should someone need to leave the band. ''No more is currently being said, however the particularly ill member of AC/DC's son has stated that AC/DC may well be over.''

Reports that the band has a booking at a Vancouver studio for May 1 both contradict and yet leave open the possible truth of the rumours. The booking may suggest a new album is on the cards but it's also possible that circumstances have changed since the studio booking. Albert Music, headquarters for AC/DC in Australia since 1973, has virtually shut down to media enquiries. No one is taking calls or answering emails, let alone talking. This may be a sign they are as blindsided by the rumour as anyone else, or are trying to confer with the band and overseas management. Or it could be they were caught short before the official announcement and are working out a new media strategy. AC/DC was formed by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young, siblings of the Easybeats songwriter and guitarist George Young, in 1973.

Original singer Dave Evans was replaced by Bon Scott in 1974 before the recording of the band's first album, High Voltage. Scott became the principal lyricist for the music written by the guitar-playing Young brothers. AC/DC's first international album, also titled High Voltage, was a compilation of their first two Australian albums, High Voltage and T.N.T, and would go on to sell three million copies. Two more albums were released internationally before their major breakthrough, Highway To Hell, which reached the US top 20 and established the band as the new wave of hard rock. However, Scott died in 1980 just as the band started work on a new album. He was replaced by British hard rock journeyman Brian Johnson, although the first of what would turn out to be many premature obituaries of the band were being written. AC/DC's 1980 album Back In Black, the first to feature Brian Johnson, reached number one in the UK, number four in the US and became one of the biggest-selling albums of all time. Songs such as You Shook Me All Night Long, Rock 'n' Roll Ain't Noise Pollution and Back In Black became not just staples of their set for the next 30 years, but staples of rock radio. AC/DC were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1988, though their sales were starting to slip at that time.

1990's The Razor's Edge - recorded in Vancouver where the next, now in question, album is meant to be recorded – featured their biggest hits in a decade, including Thunderstruck. Even as album sales seemed to plateau – admittedly at a fairly high level and with more than 100 million sales and growing, even in years where they didn't release anything – the band became one of the most lucrative touring acts in the world. Their last world tour, which ran between 2008 and 2010, reportedly played to almost 5 million people and grossed more than $450 million. The band has sold more than 200 million albums, with the Young brothers estimated to be worth $255 million. In 2013, AC/DC was No. 13 on BRW’s Rich List, earning $5.8 million that year from royalty payments of their bestselling albums and DVDs.

Loading VIDEO: How Angus Young got his school uniform: in 2013 AC/DC's original lead singer, Dave Evans, reflected on the early days to mark 40 years since the band's first ever live gig, in 1973. - with AAP