Cliff Williams
| Cliff Williams | |
|---|---|
Williams live with AC/DC in 1982 at the Manchester Apollo
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Clifford Williams |
| Born |
14 December 1949 Romford, Essex, England |
| Origin | Hoylake, Merseyside, England, UK |
| Genres | Hard rock, heavy metal, blues rock, rock and roll, progressive rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1966–2016 |
| Labels | Columbia |
| Associated acts | Sugar, Home, Al Stewart Band, Stars, Bandit, Alexis Korner, AC/DC |
| Website | www |
| Notable instruments | |
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Music Man StingRay Fender Jazz Bass Fender Precision Bass Steinberger Spirit XT-2 Bass Guitar Gibson EB-3 Gibson Thunderbird |
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Clifford "Cliff" Williams (born 14 December 1949) is a British musician who was a member of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC as their bassist and backing vocalist from 1977 to 2016. He had started his professional music career in 1967 and was previously in the British groups Home and Bandit. His first studio album with AC/DC was Powerage in 1978. The band, including Williams, was inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Williams's playing style is noted for basic bass lines which follow the rhythm guitar. Williams' side projects, while a member of AC/DC, include benefit concerts and playing with Emir & Frozen Camels on their album San (2002) and a European tour. In 2016, Williams announced his retirement from the music industry after AC/DC's Rock or Bust World Tour.
Clifford Williams was born on 14 December 1949 in Romford, Essex, on the outskirts of London. The Williams family moved to Hoylake, near Liverpool, in 1961, where he was influenced by the local Merseybeat movement and decided to become a rock musician. At the age of 13, he and some friends formed a band. Williams has listed The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks and blues musicians such as Bo Diddley as influences for his style. He mostly learned to play bass guitar by "listening to records and picking out notes", with formal training limited to some lessons from a professional Liverpool bassist. Williams left school when he was 16 years old, becoming an engineer by day and musician by night.
In 1966, Williams became a professional musician and moved back to London, where he worked at a demolition site and in supermarkets, and played in short-lived bands. Williams met guitarist Laurie Wisefield (later a member of Wishbone Ash), and the two became members of a band, Sugar, which soon broke up.
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