Judith Durham, one of Australia’s best-loved entertainers, has died at the age of 79.
Key points:
- Durham sang with The Seekers between 1962 and 1968 plus some reunion concerts
- They were one of Australia’s first successful musical exports
- Durham and other members of The Seekers were honored as Officers of the Order of Australia in 2014.
Born in Essendon in Victoria, Durham recorded her first EP at 19 and went on to worldwide fame as the lead singer of folk music group The Seekers selling more than 50 million records.
As part of The Seekers, Durham was one of the first Australian artists to achieve international success, with songs like Georgy Girl, I’ll Never Find Another You and The Carnival Is Over.
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The Seekers — comprising Athol Guy, Bruce Woodley and Keith Potger in addition to Durham — moved to the UK in 1964, having formed in 1962.
After recording I’ll Never Find Another You at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios, The Seekers went to number one on the UK and Australian charts.
On their return to Australia in 1967, The Seekers set an Australian record when a crowd of more than 200,000 watched their performance at Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
They were later named joint Australians of the Year for 1967.
But just over a year later, Durham stunned the music world by leaving the group at the height of its success.
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Over the past three decades, The Seekers played a series of comeback concerts.
In 1995, they were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, with I’ll Never Find Another You added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia’s Sounds of Australia registry in 2011.
In 2013, during The Seekers’ Golden Jubilee tour, Durham suffered a stroke, which affected her ability to read and write, while not diminishing her singing skills.
Members of The Seekers, including Durham, were honored as Officers of the Order of Australia in 2014.
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