Molly Meldrum health update as 50th anniversary of iconic TV show Countdown looms

Molly Meldrum is “struggling” but “enjoying a quieter life” according to a longtime friend and former Countdown colleague.

Molly Meldrum interviews Elton John in 1979 on Countdown.

Music guru Molly Meldrum is “enjoying a quieter life” as a “normal person” as the 50th anniversary of the launch of his iconic show, Countdown, looms.

Meldrum’s extraordinary influence on the Australian music scene through Countdown has been celebrated with the release of a coin marking half a century since he put Australian music and international stars into prime time on the ABC. Countdown premiered on the ABC on November 8, 1974 and ran until July 19, 1987.

The Royal Australian Mint in partnership with the ABC launched the Countdown coin at the Australian Music Vault in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Meldrum, 81, did not attend the launch with Gavin Wood — who was the voice of Countdown for seven years — representing the TV legend.

“He is struggling,” Wood said of Meldrum, noting his well publicised health battles in recent years linked to a horror fall at his home in 2011.

Molly Meldrum pictured at home in 2024. Picture: Facebook.

“Countdown would not have happened if it was not for Molly’s enthusiasm and foresight.

“He lived it, breathed it, drank it, consumed it, everything.

“The fall, it is all down to the fall, was a horrible thing to have happened.

“He is 82 in January. He has been a public figure all his life and I think he is just enjoying a quieter life.

“He is still Molly, still interested in music and still has it turned up to 11. He is still naughty, he has still got that spark that we love, but I think he is enjoying life being a normal person.

“He would be chuffed to have something as beautiful and as imaginative as this recognising the show.

“He is my hero.”

Molly with Dolly Parton on Countdown in 1984.

Wood said you never knew who you were going to bump into Molly’s house or at the Countdown set.

He revealed one of the wildest performances the show ever put to air, an apparently out of his head Iggy Pop swinging the mic stand around and nearly hitting an audience member, was not quite as it seemed.

Molly Meldrum interviews Prince Charles on the set of Countdown in 1977

After the performance Pop invited Meldrum and Wood to the venue Bombay Rock in Brunswick where he was playing later that night.

“We went backstage and here is Iggy sipping on a cup of tea,” Wood recalled.

“I said ‘Iggy, that is not rock ’n’ roll sipping on a cup of tea’ and Iggy said, “If I drank that much I would have died years ago, nothing like a cup of tea before a show’.”

He said Countdown and Meldrum were responsible for making numerous international artists successful in Australia, including ABBA.

David Bowie and Molly Meldrum in 1983 Picture: Supplied

“The great thing about Countdown is that Molly and I wanted to make a great show every week,” he said.

“We never took it for granted. We could have done so, because it was such a powerful show, and we knew it was a powerful show, but with the ABC crews behind us and all the support we had we did not want to let anybody down.”

Originally published as Molly Meldrum health update as 50th anniversary of iconic TV show Countdown looms