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Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM is an Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer and musical entrepreneur. He was the talent co-ordinator, on-air interviewer and music news presenter on the former popular music program Countdown and is widely recognised for his trademark Stetson hat, which he has regularly worn in public since the 1980s. On 15 December 2011, Meldrum had a life-threatening fall from a ladder in the backyard of his Melbourne home. He was placed under intensive care in a critical condition at the Alfred Hospital and had surgery for his head and spinal injuries.
Meldrum has featured on the Australian music scene since the mid-1960s, first with his writing for Go-Set, a weekly teen newspaper, then his tenure with Countdown and subsequent media contributions. He produced top ten hits for Russell Morris, Ronnie Burns, Colleen Hewett, Supernaut and The Ferrets.
Meldrum hosted the Australian leg of Live Aid in July 1985, Oz for Africa, and was made a Member of the Order of Australia, for service to the fostering of international relief and to youth in January 1986. Meldrum has earned a reputation as a champion of Australian popular music both in Australia and internationally; his contributions have been acknowledged with an Australian Recording Industry Association Award for "Special Achievement" in 1993, and the "Ted Albert Award" in 1994 at the Australasian Performing Right Association Awards. Music journalists, Toby Creswell and Samantha Chenoweth describe him as "The single most important person in the Australian pop industry for forty years" in their 2006 book, 1001 Australians You Should Know.
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