As Australia processes the shock of Sunday’s mass shooting on Bondi Beach, John Williamson has used song to help heal the nation.
The ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted singer, songwriter and “bush music” legend sang “True Blue” for a full house at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday, Dec. 17, in dedication to the victims of the massacre.
The powerful musical moment happened prior to day one of the third Test cricket match in the 2025-26 Ashes Series between Australia and England at Adelaide Oval.
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Williamson later remarked that he “was so relieved and so honored” to perform the song in remembrance to those whose lives were lost.
Speaking with the Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Williamson said he canceled his Christmas holiday plans on the Gold Coast to dash to the South Australian capital. “It’ll be one of the most memorable occasions for me in my career,” he told the ABC. “I was sort of waking up this morning thinking, was it a dream? That’s how incredible it was for me.”
He added, “for me to perform it, I really had to be a professional and do the job that I had to do. I didn’t allow myself to be too emotional. I just wanted to make sure that I sang it strongly. Because I knew what I was doing (was so important).”
In a career spanning more than 50 years, the 80-year-old has sold more than 5 million albums and accumulated upwards of one billion streams. Over time, he has collected 28 Golden Guitar awards, four ARIA Awards, and on Australia Day 1992, was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) “for service to Australian country music and in stimulating awareness of conservation issues.”
Williamson performed at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and in 2010 he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
Since its release in 1982, “True Blue” song has become part of the fabric of Australian culture, and is regularly played at sporting events and ceremonies, including Steve “Crocodile Hunter” Irwin’s public memorial service, where he performed it twice on acoustic guitar, and for the funeral of Williamson’s late “mate,” the broadcaster John Laws.
Williamson has, in the past, called “True Blue” a “song for all Australians.”
The country has been in a state of mourning following the attack, when two gunmen attacked a Hanukkah celebration. The death toll from the attack has risen to 16, including one of the suspected gunmen, who was killed at the scene.
Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese described the attack as an act of antisemitic terrorism and the New South Wales Parliament will be recalled in the week before Christmas to tighten gun and protest laws.
