AC/DC former bassist Paul Matters dead

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Former AC/DC bass guitarist Paul Matters has died.

Matters was briefly in the band in 1975 while recording the album, "High Voltage." He was replaced by Mark Evans just weeks later apparently at the request of Bon Scott, the band's lead vocalist. 

Matters' friend Rod Westcome revealed his death on Facebook. He wrote, "Shocked and sad to hear of the passing of Paul Matters. I first met Paul in 1973 when he was playing bass in 'Armageddon' at a gig in Hamilton, Newcastle N.S.W. When I was living in Toronto he would drop into the house in the late hours to party and he loved to party."

"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," he continued.

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"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. After leaving New South Wales I lost contact with him as did many other people over the years. From all reports he lived a reclusive life in his later years and his early rock n' roll life style led to ailing health. He will be missed by all who knew him," Westcome concluded.

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Matters' cause of death is unknown.

He reportedly led a reclusive life in Australia and only spoke about his time in AC/DC to author Jesse Fink. 

In Fink’s 2017 book "Bon: The Last Highway," Matters admitted, “I was only with them a short time. I did the High Voltage tour around Australia.”

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He also recalled how Scott fired him.

 “He got out the back of a truck… and he told me I wasn’t going back to Melbourne with them. We were up in Sydney doing a concert for schoolkids. 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," he said. 

Reps for the band didn't immediately return Fox News' request for comment.