Clint Eastwood‘s impact on pop culture can’t be exaggerated and there’s even a great rock song he inspired. From his memorable Spaghetti Western dialogue to his diversified portfolio as a director, he’s left an indelible mark on cinema. Despite rumors of retirement, the veteran has shown no signs of stopping, as Clint Eastwood is currently working on a new movie.

Movies like Million Dollar Baby, The Bridges of Madison County, and Trouble With the Curve showcase the man’s acting talents beyond the Western genre that he popularized and revolutionized, both as a director and as an actor. The best performances in Clint Eastwood-directed movies demonstrate his skills as a filmmaker who can bring out the best in his actors.

Beyond acting and directing, Eastwood has another talent that he often showcases in his films. He has composed the scores of some of his movies, and he even once sang an entire country album! However, that’s not where his contribution to music stops. The best movie ending in Clint Eastwood’s career as an actor inspired an AC/DC song.

Clint Eastwood’s Final Shootout In The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Inspired AC/DC’s “Shoot To Thrill”

The Breakdown Was Inspired By The Climax Of The Movie

Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy has the rare reputation of being a trilogy that improves with each movie. Not only is The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly the best Western, but it might also be the most influential Western movie ever made. However, beyond other Westerns, it surprisingly also inspired one of the most memorable rock songs of the 1980s.

The climactic shootout in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is among the most iconic and memorable scenes in Western history. Similarly, long before its use in Iron Man II and the official music video featuring footage from the movie, Shoot To Thrill was one of the most iconic songs by the Australian band AC/DC.

AC/DC’s Back in Black, released in 1980, is perhaps their most famous album ever. The second track on that album, Shoot to Thrill, was inspired by Clint Eastwood’s shootout in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The scene’s iconic status is in no small part due to Ennio Morricone’s score, but it’s linked to this iconic song too.

As Angus Young explains on Ultimate Albums: Back in Black, which initially aired on VH1, watching Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef in their Mexican standoff inspired the band. Shoot to Thrill‘s unforgettable breakdown, which comes just after the main solo, was specifically inspired by that unforgettable shootout scene at the end of the movie.

While it’s only a subtle nod, the breakdown was written to mirror Ennio Morricone’s score that plays in the background during the scene. The guitarist said that Il Triello was the inspiration for the breakdown. Morricone’s score and Young’s breakdown have a similar sense of buildup that is easy to catch if you know to look for it.

AC/DC Isn’t The Only Band To Pay Tribute To Clint Eastwood

He’s An Iconic Figure In Music As Well As Movies

Someone with Clint Eastwood’s stature and reputation has naturally been the subject of tributes from filmmakers, actors, writers, painters, musicians, and designers. While AC/DC’s Shoot to Thrill is the best and most memorable tribute to the actor and his most iconic movie scene, there are tributes by other bands to him and his unforgettable on-screen heroic moments.

Back in 2001, Gorillaz released a song literally тιтled “Clint Eastwood“ whose lyrics are clearly inspired by the actor’s archetype in the Western genre, and the themes in his Western movies. My Chemical Romance’s “Hang ‘Em High” was inspired by Eastwood’s movie of the same name, and its lyrics follow Eastwood’s arc in the film.

Another noteworthy song written as a tribute to Clint Eastwood is the late musician Toby Keith’s “Don’t Let The Old Man In.” As he told Billboard, Eastwood’s simple answer to Keith’s question about the veteran actor’s energy at the age of 88 in his film The Mule inspired the song. Eastwood’s impact on pop culture thus goes far beyond cinema.