John Stratton was a born August 1, 1931 in Toronto, Ontario. He earned his BA (1954), MA (1958) and Ph.D in Philosophy (1969) from the University of Toronto. In 1971 he joined Ryerson's Department of Philosophy, retiring from Ryerson in 1997.

Aside from his career teaching at Ryerson, John Stratton is a specialist in the history of recordings of dramatic singing and has contributed articles to the Journal of the British Institute of Recorded Sound, Record Collector, and Opera Quarterly. In 1968, he delivered the inaugural lecture ('Crisis in the art of singing') at the new quarters of the British Institute of Recorded Sound. In 1986, he received a Grammy nomination for his work on the Mapleson Cylinder Project, published by the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives, Lincoln Center. He is the founder Cantilena records, Toronto, for whom he has also recorded several albums of songs, opera excerpts, and sacred works. He is a distinguished landscape photographer. His photographs of Tibet were published in the book Tibet: Journey into a Still Land (1997). His co-authored book, Seventy Years of Issues: Historical Vocal 78 rpm Pressings from Original Masters 1931-2001, was shortlisted for the 2002 Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research.