Some facts about Australian legend Slim Dusty that you may not have known
Walking out with your guitar and singing Waltzing Matilda at the Sydney Olympic closing ceremony is a long way from Nulla Creek, New South Wales. But that was the journey that 76-year-old Slim Dusty, the son of a cattle farmer, made.
The Australian country music singer has been recognized by Google's Doodle as a "typical Aussie."
The battlers were the target audience for the country singer, who had a gift for using music to tell stories.
Slim Dusty was well-known for his extensive collection of Australian "bush ballads," which included the songs G'Day G'day, Duncan, and A Pub With No Beer, which was his best-selling album.
The first singer whose voice was transmitted from space to Earth was a young man from Nulla Creek, close to Kempsey.
While passing over Australia in 1983, astronauts on board the spacecraft Columbia broadcast their voices to Earth while singing "Waltzing Matilda."
The iconic song was also performed by Slim at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney's closing ceremony.
- The hats that made Dusty famous were always turned down at the front.
- When he met Queen Elizabeth II in Brisbane in 1992, he made sure to wear one.
- According to a Facebook post from the Slim Dusty Centre, "He was given permission to keep his hat on, as an acknowledgment of how much the hat was a part of Slim Dusty."
From where hailed Slim Dusty?
He was raised on a dairy farm in Nulla Nulla Creek, a coastal town in northern New South Wales, after being born there.
What is the real name of Slim Dusty?
- He wrote The Way the Cowboy Dies, his first song when he was just 10 years old.
- Slim Dusty became his new name when he was 11 years old.
What caused Slim Dusty's death?
- On September 19, 2003, the singer of country music passed away from cancer at the age of 76.
- When she passed away at his Sydney home, his wife Joy, son David, and daughter Anne were by his bedside.
- Australian leaders present at the time, including Queensland premier Peter Beattie, opposition leader Simon Crean, and prime minister John Howard, attended his state funeral to honor his life.
- Troy Cassar-Daley and Kasey Chambers, two country music stars, performed.
- In his sermon, businessman Dick Smith described Slim as a "typical Aussie."
recognized as a national treasure
- At the Tamworth Country Music Festival, Slim Dusty took home 38 Golden Guitars, numerous gold and platinum record awards, and other honors.
- He was also chosen as an Australian National Treasure by the Australian people. He was one of the original members of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame and the son of a cattle farmer.
- The Slim Dusty Center and Museum in Kempsey opened in 2015, and the Royal Australian Mint produced a coin honoring his life.
- He was working on his 106th album when he passed away.
- The daughter of Slim Dusty expresses her feelings about her father.
- Google and Slim Dusty's family worked together on the undertaking.
- On the day Google unveiled its doodle, his daughter Anne Kirkpatrick shared the following about her father's legacy.
- I still think he has one of the most recognizable voices in Australia, and the magic of his raw talent as a singer and performer had to be seen and heard to be believed, she added.
- Someone once remarked, "Walking out with your guitar and singing Waltzing Matilda at the Sydney 2000 Olympics closing ceremony is a long way from Nulla Creek." The list of honors and awards is astounding in and of itself. But perhaps more significantly, I observed how people's lives were woven together by Slim Dusty and his music. His music endures.
- My father was Slim Dusty, and even though I shared a lot of him with Australia and millions of people worldwide, we wouldn't have had it any other way.
- "All my dreams have come true."
- His daughter recalled that he cherished a worn volume of poems by Henry Lawson, which he referred to as his "Bible of the Bush."
- Anne described it as "a priceless birthday gift from my mother," adding that it was given to them in their first year of marriage.
- On the front cover, he later wrote, "All my dreams and ambitions are fulfilled.
- The aspiration of an 11-year-old boy with exceptional talent and drive who discovered his soul mate in my mother was to become Slim Dusty. They realized their dream by working together. We are all incredibly proud of what he has accomplished.