Australia hard rock band AC/DC may have angrily sang they were on the Highway to Hell, but now a winding, cobblestone lane in Melbourne has been named after the band that boasts more than 140 million album sales.
"Welcome to the Highway to Hell, said AC/DC guitarist Angus Young in a statement issued on Friday to commemorate Corporation Lane changing its name to AC/DC Lane.
In their famous song Highway to Hell,AC/DC sang: "No stop signs, speed limit. Nobody's gonna slow me down...Hey Satan, payin' my dues. Playin' in a rocking band".
But you'd be hard pressed to break the speed limit driving down AC/DC Lane or meeting Satan or hard rockers like the late lead singer Bon Scott, who died in 1980 after a drinking binge.
The AC/DC Lane is a short, cobblestone lane which winds gently down to a nightclub called the "Cherry Bar", a retro dance club more suited to Nick Cave tunes and some old Johnny Cash. The tiny lane eventually branches off a busy retail sector.
But it was in Melbourne, just around the corner from AC/DC Lane, that the band filmed their breakthrough rock anthem It's A Long Way To The Top, which started their journey to become one of the world's biggest rock bands.
Formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scotland-born brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, AC/DC later enlisted Scotland-born lead singer Bon Scott. Two band members were born in Melbourne.
On Friday, Melbourne Lord Mayor John So unveiled AC/DC Lane before a crowd of about 100 fans, including teenagers and forty-somethings who sipped beer and wore faded black T-shirts.
The city council decided on the name change last month despite fears of "undesirable behaviour" in the lane.
"As the song says, this is a highway to hell, but I say this is a lane to heaven - let us rock," declared So in officially opening AC/DC Lane.
AC/DC can boast fan websites in more than 20 countries including Japan, Brazil, Italy and Scotland.
