Google Doodle is honouring the late Australian country singer and songwriter Slim Dusty, 22 years after he won the Outstanding Achievement award at the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Music Awards.
Also in 2000, he became the first performer to have his voice broadcast to Earth from space. Astronauts in the spaceship Columbia beamed Dusty’s recording of Waltzing Matilda, the song he sang to close the Sydney Olympic Games, back to Earth as they orbited over Australia.
The Royal Australian Mint issued a coin celebrating his life and the Slim Dusty Centre and Museum in his hometown of Kempsey opened in 2015.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Australian star.
Who was Slim Dusty?
Dusty was an award-winning Australian singer and songwriter. He was one of the first inductions into the ARIA Hall of Fame and was regarded as a national treasure by the Australian public.
Born in the northern New South Wales coastal town of Kempsey, he grew up on a dairy farm in Nulla Nulla Creek.
Born David Gordon Kirkpatrick, he wrote his first song at the tender age of 10 called The Way the Cowboy Dies. A year later, he adopted the stage name Slim Dusty, which he thought was better suited to a country music-singing cowboy.
He made his first recording aged 15 and sent his records to radio stations. This eventually led to him signing a recording contract with Columbia Graphophone Records.
Almost a decade later of performing at venues, rodeos and local concerts, he wrote and recorded songs that became known as Bush Ballads. These were musical histories of the people and places in the Australian bush, little towns and the outback of Australia.
His song A Pub with No Beer, written by his friend Gordon Parsons, became the best-selling song recorded by an Australian. This led to him being awarded the first Gold Record in Australia.
Dusty was known for his iconic hats, which were always turned down at the front.
How did Slim Dusty die?
The singer passed away from cancer aged 76 on September 19, 2003 at his Sydney home. His family were said to be beside him.
A state funeral was held to celebrate his life. It was attended by Australian leaders at the time, Prime Minister John Howard, opposition leader Simon Crean and Queensland premier Peter Beattie. There were performances by country stars Troy Cassar-Daley and Kasey Chambers.
He was recording his 106th album at the time of his death.
