Johnny Young dies aged 79 after four marriages
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Australian singer, songwriter, producer and television host Johnny Young has died aged 79, his family announced on 14 August. They said he died after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer and asked for privacy, with memorial-service details to follow. Young is survived by his wife Marisha, his sister Cornelia, daughters Anna and Fleur, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; his son Craig died previously. Reports have also noted that he had been married four times.
Young was best known as the creator, producer and host of Young Talent Time, the Australian television variety programme which ran from 1971 to 1988 and provided an early platform for performers including Tina Arena, Debra Byrne and Dannii Minogue. Before and alongside his television work, he had a successful music career: his recording of Step Back was a major 1960s Australian hit, while he wrote songs including Russell Morris's The Real Thing and Ronnie Burns's Smiley. His contribution to Australian music was recognised with induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2010.
- Johnny Young has died aged 79 after pancreatic cancer.
- He created and hosted Young Talent Time, which launched several Australian performers.
- The singer-songwriter was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2010.
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Johnny Young was an Australian singer, television presenter and songwriter who became well known during the 1960s and 1970s. He had hit records in Australia and later presented the children’s music programme Young Talent Time, which introduced many young performers to television audiences.
His career made him a familiar figure in Australian entertainment for several decades. Accounts of his life have also referred to his four marriages, although the available reporting does not give verified details about those relationships.
Full account
Johnny Young, the singer, songwriter and television presenter best known as the creator and host of Young Talent Time, has died aged 79 after a short illness with pancreatic cancer. His family confirmed the news in a statement issued on Friday, describing him as the driving force behind 'the much-loved television show' and crediting him with writing and producing hit songs including The Real Thing and Smiley. The family asked for privacy while a memorial service is arranged, and said Young was survived by his wife Marisha, his sister, his two daughters, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, as well as by the memory of his son, who had predeceased him.
Born Johnny Benjamin Arthur de Jong in the Netherlands, Young emigrated to Australia as a child and settled with his family in Perth, where he first found work as a trainee radio disc jockey before drifting into performing at local dances. He went on to enjoy his own recording success, notably with the chart-topping single Step Back, and fronted a band before establishing himself as a television personality, hosting the Go!! Show, for which he won a Logie, ahead of a brief and unsuccessful attempt to break into the entertainment industry in London. Back in Australia he turned increasingly to songwriting, penning tracks for artists such as Russell Morris and contributing material used by The Seekers and Herman's Hermits.
It was Young Talent Time, which he devised, produced and hosted from 1971 until 1988, that secured his place in Australian cultural history. Modelled loosely on the Mickey Mouse Club, the programme ran for hundreds of episodes across nearly two decades and became a launching pad for a string of young performers who went on to substantial careers, among them Dannii Minogue, Tina Arena, Debra Byrne, Jamie Redfern and Jane Scali. The show's popularity endured long after it left air, prompting a revival in 2012 and a reunion special taped in 2023 to mark its 52nd anniversary. In recognition of his broader contribution to Australian music, Young was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, an honour at which Arena spoke movingly of him as a mentor who had shaped her childhood.
Young's private life was markedly less settled than his public career, and by his own account was touched repeatedly by loss. He married four times, beginning with a childhood sweetheart who died of leukaemia in her twenties, and losing his only son to pancreatic cancer in 2015. A second marriage lasted twenty years before the couple separated amicably, and a third, to Rose McKimmie in Bali in 1999, ended within a few years; he was married to his fourth wife, Marisha, at the time of his death. Tributes flowed from across Australian public life following the announcement, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praising Young for giving the country 'the gift of joy', while former Young Talent Time star Tina Arena and musician Russell Morris both spoke of him as an intelligent, generous mentor whose influence on Australian entertainment ran far deeper than his on-screen persona suggested.
Where outlets differ
The Daily Mail-style report (Source 1) foregrounds Young's complicated personal life, notably that he had four marriages but publicly referenced only three in a 2018 interview, and provides the most detail on his family background, including the revelation about his biological father.
The music-industry report (Source 2) concentrates on his professional career and legacy, giving extensive detail on Young Talent Time's run, episode count and reboot, his ARIA Hall of Fame induction, and anecdotes such as Steve Kilbey's tribute speech.
The broadcaster report (Source 3) emphasises reaction to his death, leading with tributes from Tina Arena, Russell Morris and the Prime Minister, and highlights lighter details such as the show's closing singalong of All My Loving.
Source 4 does not concern Johnny Young at all; it describes a separate 2026 ARIA Hall of Fame event honouring different artists (Gurrumul, Jenny Morris, Kate Ceberano, Spiderbait, The Living End, Vika & Linda) and appears unrelated to this story.
More coverage
- Billboard — Johnny Young, ARIA Hall of Fame-Inducted Entertainer Who Nurtured Generations of Australian Stars, Dies at 79
- ABC News — Young Talent Time host Johnny Young dies, aged 79
- ARIA — ARIA Hall Of Fame
- Daily Mail — Johnny Young dies aged 79 after four marriages
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Inside Johnny Young’s complicated love life before his death aged 79 and how he married four times”.