John Schumann

John Schumann
AM
Birth nameJohn Lewis Schumann
Born (1953-05-18) 18 May 1953 (age 71)
North Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
GenresRock, Australian folk
Occupations
  • Musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • guitarist
  • politician
Years active1975–current
LabelsABC Music
Larrikin
CBS
Epic
Columbia
Sony
Websiteschumann.com.au

John Lewis Schumann[1] AM (born 18 May 1953)[2] is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist from Adelaide.[3] He is best known as the lead singer for the folk group Redgum, with their chart-topping hit "I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green)", a song exploring the psychological and medical side-effects of serving in the Australian forces during the Vietnam War. The song's sales assisted Vietnam Veterans during the 1983 Royal Commission into the effects of Agent Orange and other chemical defoliants employed during the war.[3] Schumann was an Australian Democrats candidate in the 1998 federal election, narrowly failing to unseat Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer for the Division of Mayo.[4]

Since 2005 he has been performing as part of John Schumann and the Vagabond Crew, including fellow ex-Redgum member Hugh McDonald.[5]

  1. ^ "Australasian Performing Right Association". APRA. Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2007.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Birth Notice was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Tuoi, Tre (6 September 2006). "John Schumann – an artist of anti-war songs". VietNamNet Bridge. Archived from the original on 28 March 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2007.
  4. ^ Kirk, Alexandra (4 July 2001). "John Schumann will not stand at next elections". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 24 April 2008.
  5. ^ Lawson album website Main page