John Williamson: 55 Years - My Travellin' Days Are Done!

What can be said about John Williamson that hasn’t already been said? 2025 will mark his 55th year in the industry. He will also turn eighty. Twenty-five, fifty-five, eighty. From his humble beginnings as the son of a wheat farmer in the small Victorian Mallee town of Quambatook, it’s quite an achievement. His first hit, ‘Old Man Emu’ is still as popular today as when he first performed it on Channel 9’s ‘New Faces’ TV program. It resulted in a recording contract and a number one hit that stayed number one for five weeks. Since that young age of twenty-four, John has traversed this country for fifty-five years from the tip of Cape York to the windy shores of Tasmania, from Newcastle to Perth and everything in between, performing to hundreds of thousands of Australians. He has written and recorded well over 500 songs and has a swag of awards too numerous to list. But let’s try for the top ones. John’s audiences regularly span four generations. His popularity is increasing and his streaming audience defies trends, with the younger male audience his biggest growing demographic.