Tommy Emmanuel, CGP - Living In the Light Tour

He was born in Muswellbrook, New South Wales, and received his first guitar in 1959 at the age of four. By the age of six he was already a working professional musician. His father formed a family band with him and his older brother Phil, and much of his childhood was spent touring Australia.

After his father died in 1966, Australian country musician Buddy Williams took the Emmanuel brothers on the road with his touring show. In his teen years he moved to Sydney and won a string of talent contests. In July 1999, Chet Atkins awarded Tommy and four others the "Certified Guitar Player" title.

In June 2010, Emmanuel was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), and in 2011 he was inducted into the Australian Country Music Roll of Renown. In 2012, Governor Steve Beshear awarded him the state of Kentucky's honorific title of Kentucky Colonel. In 2025, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Newcastle.

His playing incorporates jazz, blues, bluegrass, folk and rock, with country finger-style playing at the core of his technique. As a solo performer, he never plays to a setlist and uses a minimum of effects onstage.