John Williams was born in Melbourne, Australia, where he was taught the guitar by his father. Later he attended summer courses with Segovia at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, and studied music at the Royal College of Music in London. He has lived in London since 1952. He plays tennis (badly), chess (quite good), table tennis (better), badminton and snooker (not so good), and he likes talking (about anything).