Johnny Young

Who is Johnny Young?

Johnny Young is a Dutch Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Netherlands, his family settled in Perth, Western Australia in the early 1950s. Young had a career in the 1960s as a pop singer and had a number one hit with the double-A-side, "Step Back" and "Cara-lyn" in 1966. As a composer, he penned number one hits, "The Real Thing" and "The Girl That I Love" for Russell Morris, "The Star" for Ross D. Wylie and "I Thank You" for Lionel Rose. He presented and produced the popular television show, Young Talent Time, which screened on Network Ten from 1971 to 1988 – it launched the careers of teen pop stars Jamie Redfern, Debra Byrne, Dannii Minogue and Tina Arena – typically each episode closed with a sing-along rendition of The Beatles song "All My Loving".

On 9 March 1990, Young was inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards' Hall of Fame. On 27 October 2010, he was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame by Arena who performed his song, "The Star". He is the first, and so far only, person to be inducted in both halls.