John Paul Young

John Inglis Young, OAM (born 21 June 1950), known professionally as John Paul Young, is an Australian pop singer who is best known for having a worldwide hit with "Love Is in the Air" in 1978. His career was boosted by regular appearances as a performer and guest host on Countdown, a 1974–1987 TV series for Australia's national broadcaster ABC.

On 27 August 2009, Young was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame.

Career

1950–1974: Early life and early career

Young was born John Inglis Young in Bridgeton, Glasgow, Scotland to James and Agnes (nee Inglis) Young. Together with his parents, two sisters and a brother, Young emigrated to Australia on board the , arriving in Sydney on Australia Day (26 January) 1962 when he was aged 11. His family lived at East Hills Hostel before moving to Liverpool. He attended school at Hammondville Public School, Liverpool Boys High School and Westfields Sports High School. After finishing school, he started an apprenticeship as a sheet metal worker. Elm Tree gained a moderate following around Sydney, and after being spotted by producer Martin Erdman, they cut one single for his Du Monde label, a cover of UK band Marmalade's "Rainbow", which was released through Festival in November 1970, but did not enter the top 50 Australian singles charts. In mid-1971 they entered the New South Wales heats of Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds and got as far as the Sydney finals, but they didn't make it through to the national final, and so never managed to break out of the Sydney suburban dance circuit. The show premiered in Sydney on 4 May 1972, and, as well as established theatrical performers, the cast featured leading pop-rock artists: Trevor White, Robin Ramsay, Jon English, Doug Parkinson, Stevie Wright (ex-The Easybeats), Marcia Hines and Reg Livermore. Vanda & Young also produced AC/DC and other Albert Productions artists. All he had to do was sing over the demo tape Vanda/Young had sent from London. The single was released under the name, John Young, later releases used "John Paul Young" (Paul was his Catholic confirmation name) to avoid confusion with Johnny Young (no relation), the 1960s pop star and Young Talent Time (1971–1988 TV show) presenter. "Pasadena" peaked at No. 16 in the Australian Singles charts in early 1972. was released in March 1974, but failed to chart in the top 50. The single shot into the national charts in April and gave Young his first top ten hit, One of the key factors in the Australian success of "Yesterday's Hero" was the film clip made to promote it, which enabled the song to be given heavy exposure on Countdown, which had just switched to its new one-hour Sunday evening format, following the official start of colour TV broadcasting on 1 March 1975. Young's debut performance on Countdown had him miming "Yesterday's Hero" while dressed in a sailor's suit surrounded on an island stage with a studio audience of screaming teen girls. He was dragged off the stage three times by audience members and the microphone cord was ripped out but the song continued uninterrupted.

By mid-1975, Countdowns talent co-ordinator, Ian "Molly" Meldrum, had started appearing on-screen with a weekly rock report. (peaked at No. 4 in September 1975), "I Hate the Music" (No. 2, April 1976) and "I Wanna Do It with You" (No. 7, May 1977). and in South Africa where "I Hate the Music" and "Yesterday's Hero" were No. 1 hits, and "Keep on Smilin'" and "I Wanna Do It with You" were top ten hits. selling over 400,000 copies.

Young's next single, "Love Is in the Air", became a worldwide hit during 1978, and No. 5 in the UK singles chart.

The associated album, Love Is in the Air was released in October and reached the top 40 on the Australian albums chart. "Love Is in the Air" also won 'Most Popular Australian Single' and Vanda & Young won both 'Best Australian Record Producer' and 'Best Australian Songwriter' at the same awards. Televised across Australia, the event was viewed by over 10 million people and prompted an invitation to appear at World Expo 88 in Brisbane.

In late 1988, Young and his family moved to Lake Macquarie near Newcastle. Newcastle's first FM radio station, New FM, was preparing to open in 1989 and Young was asked to head their All-Australian programme, Oz Made Mondays. The programme was successful with Young moving through the ranks of the station to Morning Announcer garnering four No. 1 rating spots for his Breakfast and Drive Time programmes along the way. A compilation album titled Classic Hits was released in 1988, including the new single "Don't Sing That Song", but failed to chart.

1991–2003: Career revival, theatre, Olympic Games and Australian citizen

In 1992, an Australian comedy film titled Strictly Ballroom was released. The film and associated soundtrack featured new versions of "Love Is in the Air" and "Standing in the Rain", both of which were released as singles. "Love Is in the Air" peaked at No. 3 on the Australian Singles Charts and was a top 50 hit in the UK.

In 2000, he played to his largest audience as a featured performer at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics. Young was recorded on DVD for three songs at the Gimme Ted benefit concert held on 9 March 2001. From 8 August 2001, ABC-TV broadcast a six-part documentary, Long Way to the Top which chronicled 50 years of rock 'n' roll in Australia, Young featured in "Episode 4: Berserk warriors 1973–1981". For the associated Long Way to the Top Tour in August–September 2002, Young re-formed the All-Star Band with Juan Gonzales on guitar, Warren Morgan on piano, Ronnie Peel on bass guitar, Greg Plimmer on drums and Michael Walker on synthesiser. From 12 October 2003, ABC broadcast, Love Is in the Air, a five-part documentary on Australian pop music with "Episode 3: Strange Fruit" describing Countdown and how Young was made into a pop star.

2004–present: Popstars Live, In Too Deep and ARIA Hall of Fame

In 2004, Young became mentor for contestants on the music talent show, Popstars Live, which was broadcast on Seven Network from February 2004. Young left the show in April, a spokesperson for the producers of Popstars Live denied that he had been sacked.

On 27 August 2009, Young was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame alongside Kev Carmody, The Dingoes, Little Pattie and Mental As Anything. Sony Music Australia released the compilation I Hate the Music.

In 2012, Young was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the performing arts as a singer and songwriter, and through support for a range of charitable organisations. In a statement, John Paul Young said, "I give my time when I can to assist many charities and not-for-profit organisations, but this is a small contribution compared to the enormous amount of unpaid work volunteers undertake for the good of their communities and society in Australia."

In 2015, Young appeared on the fifteenth season of Dancing with the Stars. He was the first contestant eliminated.

Late in 2015, Young toured a show across Australia based on a complete set of Vanda and Young material. In 2016, Young joined Jon Stevens, Kate Ceberano and Daryl Braithwaite for the APIA Good Times tour.

In 2019, Young released his autobiography JPY ().

In 2022, he released his first new song in 15 years, "Felt Like Love", and performed nationally on his anniversary tour 50 Years Young. Young was forced to cancel much of the tour due to ongoing health issues.

Sporting associations

During the 1980s, Young's 1978 hit "Love is in the Air" was adopted by fans of Scottish Premier League football team Dundee United as an unofficial club anthem. Played since then at many home matches, it was sung in its entirety by an estimated 28,000 fans before and after the 2010 Scottish Cup Final held on 15 May at Hampden Park in Glasgow.

Community work

For many years, Young has supported children's charities. He participates in the NSW Variety Bash as a participant in one of the old cars and also to entertain along the way. He also supports the children's emergency transport service NETS through its 4WD4Kids fundraiser. Young is also an avid environmentalist, supporting Landcare projects in his local community.

Discography

Studio albums

Hero (1975)
J.P.Y. (1976)
Green (1977)
Love Is in the Air (1978)
Heaven Sent (1979)
The Singer (1981)
One Foot in Front (1983)
Now (1996)
In Too Deep (2006)

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. Young was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009.

| 2009

| himself

| ARIA Hall of Fame

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).

| 2004

| "Love Is in the Air" – Young – Vanda & Young

| Most Performed Australian Work Overseas

Helpmann Awards

The Helpmann Awards is an awards show, celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia since 2001. Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

| 2008

| John Paul Young – Shout! The Legend of The Wild One

| Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical

King of Pop Awards

The King of Pop Awards were voted by the readers of TV Week. The King of Pop award started in 1967 and ran through to 1978.

| rowspan="2" | 1978

| himself

| King of Pop

| "Love Is in the Air"

| Most Popular Australian Single

TV Week / Countdown Awards

Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards.

| 1979

| himself

| Most Popular Male Performer

Band members

Current members

Warren Morgan, Donovan Whitworth III, Greg Plimmer, Floyd Vincent, Darren Hoad and Paul Kirtley.

Allstars

Arranged chronologically: