Australia’s King of Country, Slim Dusty, has been the face of an evolving Australian country music scene for its entire history – close to 70 years.
Born David Gordon Kirkpatrick in 1927, at Nulla Nulla Creek near Kempsey he decided to rename himself 'Slim Dusty' at age 11.
The rest, as they say, is history. Slim went on to become one of the most prolific and biggest-selling recording artists in Australia, with more than 5 million of his recordings sold on the domestic market of 20 million people and a status akin to the all-time greats in country music.
For close to half a century, Slim and his wife Joy McKean – his partner in both life and music – toured Australia, bringing their perceptive songs and entertaining shows to far-flung communities and people from all walks of life.
His extraordinary career saw the birth of songs like “A Pub With No Beer - 1979 Version, “Duncan, “Lights On The Hill - Remastered 1992, “Indian Pacific, “G'Day G'Day and so many more.
His importance to the Australian music landscape was immense. Just one example of his homeland's pride came in September 2000, when he was one of the Australian performers featured in the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games. Slim was given the job of singing Australia's unofficial national anthem, "Waltzing Matilda". No one else would have been as appropriate.
