"Hells Bells" is the first track of ''

Back in Black ''Back in Black'' is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC, released on 25 July 1980, by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It was the band's first album to feature Brian Johnson as lead singer, following the death of the ...

'', the seventh studio album by Australian

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

and their comeback album after the death of lead singer

Bon Scott Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer who was the second lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. In the July 2004 issue of ''Classic Rock (m ...

. "Hells Bells" is the second single from ''Back in Black'', released on 31 October 1980. The song also appears on ''

Who Made Who ''Who Made Who'' is a soundtrack album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. Released on 24 May 1986, the album is the soundtrack to the Stephen King film ''Maximum Overdrive''. The album was re-released in 2003 as part of the ''AC/DC Remasters' ...

'', AC/DC's 1986 soundtrack to the

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

film ''

Maximum Overdrive ''Maximum Overdrive'' is a 1986 American horror film written and directed by Stephen King, in his only directorial effort. The film stars Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, John Short, Yeardley Smith and Christopher Murney. The scr ...

'' and on both versions of 1992's '' AC/DC Live''.

Composition

"Hells Bells" begins with the slow, funereal tolling of a bronze bell. Manufactured by

John Taylor & Co John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell (instrument), bell foundry. It is locat ...

Bellfounders in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

, the sound of the bell was recorded by Tony Platt using

Ronnie Lane Ronald Frederick Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was an English musician and songwriter who was the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Small Faces (1965–69) and Faces (band), Faces (1969–73). Lane formed Small Faces in 1965 afte ...

's mobile studio inside the bell foundry following the completion of the ''Back in Black'' tracking sessions at

Compass Point Studios Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musicians, producers ...

the Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

Reception

"Hells Bells" is widely regarded as one of the band's best songs. In 2020, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' ranked the song number six on their list of the 40 greatest AC/DC songs, and in 2021, ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'' ranked the song number seven on their list of the 20 greatest AC/DC songs.

Charts

Certifications

Use in sports

"Hells Bells" was used as the

entrance music The use of music at sporting events is a practice that is thousands of years old, but has recently had a resurgence as a noted phenomenon. Some sports have specific traditions with respect to pieces of music played at particular intervals. Others ...

for former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) player Trevor Hoffman at home games from 1998 to 2010. The song is played prior to every

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

home game as the players come out on the ice. The German football club

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St. Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St. Pauli (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg. The team plays in the Bundesliga from the 2024–25 Bundesli ...

from Hamburg, French rugby club

RC Toulonnais Rugby Club Toulonnais (), also referred to as Rugby Club Toulon or simply Toulon, is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon and competing in the Top 14. Located on the French Riviera, in the Provence region, the club plays its h ...

from Toulon and Greek football club

PAOK FC PAOK FC (, ), short for "Pan-Thessalonian Sports club, Athletic Club of Constantinople, Constantinopolitans" (), and commonly known as PAOK Thessaloniki, PAOK Salonika or simply PAOK, is a Greek professional Association football, football cl ...

from Thessaloniki open all home matches walking out to "Hells Bells", the former often with large fan displays and pyrotechnics. During the Bells Beach surf competition in Victoria, Australia, "Hells Bells" is played on the loudspeakers at the beginning of the first heat of each competing day. In American football, 3 of the bells from the beginning of the song are commonly used when opponents are on third down.

Use in film

"Hells Bells" has been featured in a number of films most notably appearing in the Stephen King directed cult classic ''

'' and the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

film ''

Deadpool & Wolverine ''Deadpool & Wolverine'' is a 2024 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Deadpool and Wolverine (character), Wolverine. Produced by Marvel Studios, Maximum Effort, and 21 Laps Entertainment, and distributed ...

''.

References

{{authority control 1980 singles 1980 songs AC/DC songs Atlantic Records singles Song recordings produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange Songs written by Brian Johnson Songs written by Angus Young Songs written by Malcolm Young Halloween songs Sports anthems