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English musician (born 1949)

Clifford Williams (born 14 December 1949) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. He started his professional music career in 1967 and had previously been in the English groups Home and Bandit. His first studio album with AC/DC was Powerage in 1978. Williams was inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of AC/DC in 2003. Williams announced his retirement from AC/DC in 2016, but returned for their 2020 comeback album Power Up along with band mates Brian Johnson and Phil Rudd. His side projects include benefit concerts.

Clifford Williams was born on 14 December 1949 in Romford, Essex. In 1961, he moved with his family to Hoylake, Merseyside, where he was influenced by the local Merseybeat movement and decided to become a musician. At the age of 13, he and some friends formed a band. He listed The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, and blues musicians such as Bo Diddley as influences, and mostly learned to play bass by "listening to records and picking out notes", with his formal training limited to some lessons from a professional bassist in nearby Liverpool. He left school when he was 16 years old, working as an engineer by day and musician by night. In 1970, Williams and Wisefield joined with singer Mick Stubbs, keyboardist Clive John, and drummer Mick Cook to form the progressive rock group Home.

Williams considered retiring from music following Bandit's breakup, but one of the group's guitarists, Jimmy Litherland, convinced him to audition for the Australian group AC/DC, who were looking for a bassist after firing Mark Evans shortly after recording their 1977 studio album Let There Be Rock. AC/DC had formed in Australia in 1973 and by mid 1977 the line up was Malcolm Young on rhythm guitar and backing vocals alongside his brother Angus Young on lead guitar, Phil Rudd on drums and Bon Scott on vocals. Shortly after deciding to audition for the band, Williams saw AC/DC on Top of the Pops and was impressed, and on 27 May 1977 was officially asked to join AC/DC. Angus declared the decision was partially motivated by the bassist's good looks, which the band hoped would attract more women to their concerts. As Williams was replacing an Australian musician, there were issues resulting in problems obtaining a work permit to enter the country. His first performances with AC/DC were in Australia supporting the Let There Be Rock album, with two secret gigs at Sydney's Lifesaver. The album Powerage (1978), produced by Vanda & Young, marked Williams's studio debut. Williams remained in AC/DC from that time onwards until 2016, On 7 July 2016, Williams announced his plans to retire from the music industry following AC/DC's Rock or Bust World Tour. He cited his opinion that AC/DC was now "a changed animal" with the recent departures of several core band members; Malcolm Young could no longer contribute due to dementia, Phil Rudd could not tour due to being under house arrest, and Brian Johnson was forced into retirement due to hearing problems. On September 30, 2020, AC/DC officially confirmed that Williams, along with fellow band mates Brian Johnson and Phil Rudd, have rejoined the band. Despite performing with the band at the Power Trip Festival in October 2023, Williams decided not to tour with the band on their upcoming Power Up Tour and will be replaced by Chris Chaney.

In 1984, Williams played bass and backing vocals on Adam Bomb's song "I Want My Heavy Metal", for the album Fatal Attraction. During AC/DC's hiatus in the 2000s, Williams joined Bosnian musician Emir Bukovica's band Emir & Frozen Camels. The group recorded the album San in 2002 and played in some European clubs. In 2005, Williams and AC/DC singer Johnson played in a hurricane relief event in Florida, promoted by the John Entwistle Foundation. There Williams met drummer Steve Luongo, president of the foundation and former member of the John Entwistle band. Luongo later brought Williams, Johnson, and guitarist Mark Hitt for the Classic Rock Cares charity project. The quartet composed and recorded ten tracks in the studio in 2007, and followed that with a tour to raise funds for the foundation. In 2011, Williams played on a benefit concert organized by Mark Farner. Williams said he also occasionally plays with a rhythm and blues band from Fort Myers called The Juice. and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (in 2003). In 1982, Williams was chosen as "Bassist of the Year" in a vote conducted by Kerrang! magazine.

Williams married his American wife Georganne in 1980. They have two children: model and actress Erin Lucas (born 1984) and Luke (born 1986). The couple initially settled in Hawaii, flying,

Williams' role in AC/DC was to provide steady but basic basslines which followed the rhythm guitar of Malcolm Young, consisting mostly of eighth notes. His basslines were sometimes written by Malcolm and Angus Young during composition, and at other times Williams developed them based on the other instrumental tracks. Williams has said of his playing, "It's not the [bass] line that counts. It is the feel. My favorite AC/DC tune to play is 'Down Payment Blues', because it's so simple. I play four notes throughout the song, but I get off on the whole thing—not me noodlin' away." He added that "complex [bass] lines wouldn't add anything to a guitar oriented band like [AC/DC], so [he tries] to create a bottom layer that drives what [AC/DC's] guys are doing on top". In October 2020, Ernie Ball Music Man announced that they are releasing a Cliff Williams Signature Bass which will be a genuine replica of his 1979 Music Man StingRay bass. Williams states that despite trying other basses over the years, he always went back to Music Man's instruments, which he described as "a tremendous work horse of a bass". the Steinberger L series, a Gibson EB 3 and at least two LAG Custom basses. Williams used 3 Ampeg SVT 810E cabinets with 2 SVT 4PRO Heads, but if there was any interference with the wireless systems, he used cables in his live performances.