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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Reanna Smith

Who is Slim Dusty as Google Doodle celebrates Australian country singer

Google Doodle is celebrating the life and career of singer Slim Dusty.

Slim Dusty was an Australian icon whose long-running country music career spanned nearly seven decades and saw him release over 100 albums.

During his career he became the face of Australian country music and was recognised for contributions to Australian culture, even being named the country's Father of the Year and inaugural Senior Australian of the Year in 1999.

The Google Doodle features on homepages in the UK and Australia and includes an illustration of the late musician holding a guitar in the Australian bush land that he was known for writing songs about.

Here's who Slim Dusty is, why he's famous and when he died.

Who is Slim Dusty?

Slim Dusty had a vastly successful career with over 70 gold and platinum album certifications (Getty Images)

Slim Dusty was a legendary Australian country singer, songwriter and guitarist who rose to fame in the 1950s.

His real name was David Kirkpatrick and he was born on a cattle farm in Kempsey, New South Wales in 1927.

He wrote his first song, The Way The Cowboy Dies, when he was just 10 years old, and shortly after that he took on the stage name Slim Dusty because he felt it was much better suited to a singing cowboy.

Eventually, Dusty signed a record deal with Columbia Graphophone Records, who he stayed signed to throughout the rest of his career.

He was known for writing "bush ballads", songs that paid homage to his Australian roots and bush life.

During his career he released over a hundred albums, sold more than seven million records and achieved over 70 gold and platinum album certifications.

His music was also far reaching and he became the first Australian to have a song that hit gold record status with his 1957 track A Pub With No Beer, which peaked at number three in the UK charts.

In 1983 Dusty claimed another first, becoming the first singer to have his voice sent to Earth from space when astronauts on the Columbia spaceship transmitted the singer's rendition of Waltzing Matilda to Earth as they passed over Australia.

In 2000 he also performed Waltzing Matilda at the Sydney Olympic games.

When did Slim Dusty die?

Slim Dusty died in 2003 (Reuters)

Slim Dusty died on September 19, 2003 at the age of 76 after a two-year battle with cancer.

His wife, fellow singer and songwriter Joy McKean, was at his bedside when he passed and so was his son, David, and daughter, Anne.

A state funeral was held for the Australian icon, with thousands attending a service at St Andrews Cathedral in Sydney on September 23, 2003.

Following his death the Australian Federal Government also committed $6 million (£3.3million) towards a Slim Dusty Centre at Kempsey, his home town.

Dusty had been working on his 106th album at the time of his death and in March 2004 it debuted at number five in the Australian charts and achieved gold status after being on sale for less than two weeks.

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