Since 1988 he has been awarded the Golden Guitar at Tamworth for best selling album eight times! And he hasn't even released an album every year.

In fact, most of his albums have reached platinum status with total sales of over 2.5 million albums in Australia.

He is perhaps the only country artist in Australia to have had both a number 1 single and a number 1 album on the pop charts.

He's a singer. John Williamson is one of the first people you think of to provide an Aussie voice at any major event. He has sung at the opening of the new Parliament House, the 1999 and 2003 Rugby World Cups; the 2000 Olympics. Corroboree 2000, the first Bali Memorial Service 2003, John was invited to represent Australia at Festival Interceltique de Lorient (Celtic Festival) in France, during July headlining 150 Australian performers, Parliamentary Reception for the Beaconsfield Miners and the Memorial Service for Steve Irwin in 2006.

He's a songwriter. True Blue, Cootamundra Wattle, Bill the Cat, Raining on the Rock, Mallee Boy, Wildlife Warriors: It's Time. These and others will be passed down through generations in the same way as Waltzing Matilda and Click Go the Shears.

He's an entertainer. An evening with JW around his stage campfire is to be captivated by a born storyteller. Every song is a story and every song has a story behind it - which is sometimes as entertaining as the song. He's played a string of characters over the years that bring an added element of fun to a concert, but he can also make you cry or make you think.

He's the conscience of the nation. Old growth forests, aborigines, koalas, the Snowy River, a flag of our own, the right to light a campfire on the road. Issues big and small have been addressed by John with the same passion he brings to everything else in his life.

And of course no one else captures the essence of us Aussies and our country in such a profound way. John Williamson is synonymous with what it means to be Australian.