Community
19 December, 2025
Johno’s 80th birthday
LEGENDARY busker and musician Ian ‘Johno’ Johnson is celebrating his 80th birthday later this month with a free public party at The Barrier Reef Hotel.
Johno is inviting the community to join the celebrations, which will run from 2pm to 6pm on Saturday 28 December.
“Everybody’s invited to come to my birthday party at the Barrier Reef Hotel. It’s going to start from two o’clock to six or something and I’ve got a band playing and a gong show,” he said.
“And everybody can get up and they can dance to the music, and people can get up and play music. It’s all free and you don’t have to give me any presents.”
When asked if he would accept gifts, Johno joked: “Well, you know, if it was a really good-looking chick and she wanted to give me a present ...”
Johno will perform alongside a backing band featuring keyboardist Bob Howard, who previously played on Johno’s song ‘Cape Trip’, and a bass player from the Montgomery Brothers.
The party will also include Johno’s signature gong show.
“It’s going to be a backing band. Really good. Looking forward to playing. Keyboard player’s going to be Bob Howard. He’s fantastic. And Ric Montgomery will also play,” Johno said.
Musician Ric Montgomery, an old friend of Johno’s, described him as “an enigma … he lives for the moment”.
“He’s very happy within himself. He’s very happy with life at the moment. He doesn’t worry about yesterday, doesn’t think about tomorrow, it’s just what is happening now, and what makes him happy now is what he’s all about,” he said.
Mr Montgomery said Johno was well known across the music scene.
“He was the front manager of Johno’s Blues Bar for 20 years … he used to bring American bands over from New Orleans and Chicago every couple of weeks. All the tourists loved him … he still gets messages from Europe and America from people asking about Johno’s welfare,” he said.
“Everybody knows him. In Australia, if you were in the music business, you knew Johno, that’s all there was to it.
“All the pop stars, all the managers, knew Johno because he was the one.”
The birthday event offers locals a chance to celebrate Johno’s decades-long contribution to music, with live performances, dancing and an open stage for guest musicians.
Mr Montgomery encouraged the community to attend: “It’s a good chance for people just to pop in and say, ‘Happy Birthday’. He’s going to be playing all day long and he’s going to be running a gong show in the afternoon.
“So, it’ll be a pretty big event.”
