Former AC/DC bassist Paul Matters has died.
His friend Rod Wescombe announced Matters’ death on Facebook, writing that he was “shocked and saddened” by the news.
Matters joined the band in 1975, after the recording of their album High Voltage. However, he was fired by Bon Scott just weeks later, being replaced by Mark Evans.
“I first met Paul in 1973 when he was playing bass in ‘Armageddon’ at a gig in Hamilton, Newcastle N.S.W.,” Wescombe wrote.
“When I was living in Toronto he would drop into the house in the late hours to party and he loved to party.
While Matters didn’t record on AC/DC’s debut album, he performed with the band in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney on tour. He retired from music in 1975.
“In late ’75 after he departed AC/DC we played together in a one off band called ‘Miss Australia Band’ at a gig on a ferry on Lake Macquarie,” Wescombe continued.
“I moved to Sunshine on the lake further south and Paul would drop in to chill whenever he was in the area. I recall he could always make me laugh when he was in the mood.”
Matters’ cause of death has not been confirmed, but Wescombe said his old friend had “ailing health”.
Matters previously spoke about his departure from the band for the book The Last Highway: The Untold Story of Bon Scott and AC/DC’s Back in the Black.
“Bon got out of the back of the truck and told me I wasn’t going back to Melbourne with them," he said. “We were up in Sydney doing a concert for school kids. So I didn’t play that day. I just turned around and didn’t say a word to him. I turned around and walked out.”
