NEED TO KNOW
- In an exclusive interview with New Idea, Aussie showbiz great Normie Rowe opens up about saying goodbye to his late friend, Johnny Young.
- Young Talent Time host Johnny died on August 13, 2026 aged 79 after a brief pancreatic cancer battle.
- Princes of 1960s pop, Normie and Johnny’s friendship spanned 60-plus years.
- Normie paid a final visit to Johnny shortly before his passing.
Normie Rowe’s voice is filled with heartfelt emotion as he recalls the last time he saw his great mate, Johnny Young.
The former ’60s pop sensation turned beloved TV legend died aged 79 on August 13 at his Perth home after a brief cancer battle.
“The week before his passing I had flown over to share some precious time with Johnny and his family,” Normie, also 79, tells New Idea from his home on the Gold Coast.
“His cherished wife of 16 years, Marisha, had notified close friends the end may be near.”
When Normie walked into Johnny’s bedroom, his friend’s signature smile, which had beamed from millions of TV screens during his stellar six-decade career, lit up his face.
“He reached out and we held hands,” Normie continues. “I wanted him to know how much he meant to me… how much I loved him as a close friend and as someone that I had admired enormously since the first day we met.”
How long were Johnny Young and Normie Rowe friends for?
Normie can still picture the moment he first met Johnny like it was yesterday.
It was 1965. He and Johnny were both 17, and Johnny was hosting the Perth-based music show Club Seventeen. Normie had just released ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’ and was booked on Club Seventeen to “hype the song”.
“I remember being struck by his incredible charisma, plus how naturally at ease he was in front of the cameras,” Normie shares. “From the get-go, I admired Johnny’s incredible depth of knowledge, abundant compassion and empathy.
“Yes, he was the ultimate showman who did it all – from trailblazing pop star to revered songwriter, to TV compere and radio host. But on the occasions we’d talk late into the night, we covered the lot, from sport to politics and everything in between.”
Born on March 12, 1947 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as Johnny Benjamin de Jong, Johnny’s family moved to Perth when he was six. He started his first band aged 14.
“He wrote some now iconic songs … ‘The Real Thing’ which became a huge hit for Russell Morris and ‘Smiley’ for Ronnie Burns,” Normie explains.
“When Johnny took over hosting The Go!! Show after Ian Turpie quit, I’d often appear and he always made it so easy.
“He was the ultimate pro, with no fuss or ego.
“That smiling face you saw on TV, that was the real Johnny Young … not a phoney bone in his body.”
What was Johnny Young’s cause of death?
No matter what life threw at them, Johnny and Normie were always there for each other.
In 1979, Normie’s eight-year-old son Adam tragically died after being hit by a motorist. Johnny was among the many close friends who became “a support squad”.
They were once again there for each other when Normie’s daughter Erin unexpectedly passed away four years ago, and when Johnny’s son, Craig, died.
“When Johnny’s son Craig died of pancreatic cancer in 2014 – ironically the same insidious disease that took Johnny – we quickly rallied,” Normie says.
Normie confesses he was “shell-shocked” in April when Johnny told him that he had been diagnosed with cancer.
But “typical” of Johnny, “he was so calm and centred,” Normie adds. “He’d been practicing meditation since the ’70s.”
That was the decade Johnny created and began hosting Young Talent Time, which provided a showcase for performers to hone their skills on national television.
“He was a visionary, a star-maker and exceptional at everything he did,” Normie concludes.
“A deeply loving father to Craig, daughters Anna and Fleur, his grandkids and great- grandkids, and steadfastly devoted to Marisha.
“To those who were lucky enough to know him well, Johnny was a bloody great mate … the best.”
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