John Williamson

In 1973, the singer got married to Mary-Kay, whom he met in the Leichhardt suburb of New South Wales. The singer dedicated several love songs to his wife, and the couple were married for thirty-four years, before they decided to separate. Mary-Kay and Williamson have two daughters, Georgie and Ami.

In 2013, the musician married his girlfriend Meg Doyle, with whom he usually lives in Sydney.

Recently this singer has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but the talented musician shows no signs of slowing down.

John Robert Williamson was born to Keith and Shirley, at Australia's Kerang Bush Nursing Hospital, on November 1, 1945. Though he was born in Kerang, the child was raised in the town of Quambatook, in northern Victoria. Both Keith and Shirley, who had five sons, were farmers and occasional singers.

When he was as young as seven years of age, John was taught the string instrument ukulele, by his father, Keith. Soon, in a matter of five years, the young boy had learnt the nuances of playing the guitar and harmonica.

The musically-inclined child formed his own music group, while he was studying at Melbourne's 'Scotch College'. However, he returned home after college to help his father at his farm. In 1965, he began singing at a restaurant when the family shifted to a place called Croppa Creek.

By 1969, the singer began pursuing a full-fledged career in music, penning his first song 'Old Man Emu'. He performed the song on a talent show the next year, and bagged the first place.

He went ahead and released the song 'Old Man Emu' in 1970 under the banner of 'Fable Records', owned by Ron Tudor. The song was an instantaneous hit and featured on Australian newspaper, 'Go-Set', as one of the top songs of the year.

Soon, he released his debut album titled 'John Williamson', which did not see much success despite featuring the hit number 'Old Man Emu'. The album also contained other singles like 'Beautiful Sydney', and 'Under the Bridge'.

In 1973, a music show on television was presented by Williamson, and it also featured artistes like Emma Hannah, and Ricky & Tammy. In the next few years, he released albums like ‘The Comic Strip Cowboy’, ‘Road to Town’, and a compilation entitled ‘Country Greats’, which too did not fare well on the charts.

The singer then went on to start a band called 'Crow', in 1978, which performed regularly at pubs all over the country. The band began playing a fusion of rock and reggae, and came to be known as 'Sydney Radio'.

Though this Australian singer has produced some of the best songs in the history of country music, it is his album ‘Mallee Boy’, released in 1986, that brought him fame. At the first ceremony of ‘ARIA Music Awards’, held the following year, this collection was named the 'Best Country Album'