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.
From the top of Arnhem Land, where musicians take inspiration from his timeless words, to the streets of Melbourne’s Fitzroy, where fans leave floral tributes on the steps of Charcoal Lane, there seems no place in the country that has not been touched by Archie Roach .
His sons, Amos and Eban, said Archie died surrounded by his family and loved ones at Warrnambool Base Hospital in Victoria.
Archie’s family has given permission for his name, image and music to be used.
However, the love felt for Archie extends far beyond that hospital ward, far beyond state lines and color lines to every corner of the land we call Australia.
Archie leaves behind a legacy of tireless work towards reconciliation and a new generation inspired to carry on his message of healing into the future.
As Australia comes to terms with the loss of one of it’s greatest storytellers, those who were touched by Archie are opening up on what he meant to them.
Tributes were laid outside the Charcoal Lane Aboriginal social enterprise in Melbourne, which shares its name with the singer’s first album.(ABC News: Barrie Pullen)
‘He kept struggling, he kept fighting, he kept believing’
Goanna frontman Shane Howard, a longtime friend of both Archie and his wife, Ruby Hunter, was emotional at the death of a man he considered a brother.
It’s very raw. It’s very real. It’s a lot to lose, but I think Ruby might be calling him home,” Howard said.
The pair toured Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland together with the Black Arm Band and saw each other just days before Archie’s death.
Archie Roach and Shane Howard toured the world together as part of the Black Arm Band musical theater group.(Facebook: Shane Howard—Goanna)
Remembering his friend as a “deeply cultural being”, Howard says Australians mourning Archie’s passing should continue the reconciliatory work the Gunditjmara (Kirrae Whurrong/Djab Wurrung) singer strove towards for much of his life.
“His ability to keep forgiveness at the front — after all that had happened to him and all that has happened to First Nations people here in this country — his capacity to keep believing that we could reconcile this nation, that we could become a just and fair nation,” he said.
It comes as discussion swirls around the enshrining of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the Constitution, an issue Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pledged to settle as soon as possible.
“Archie’s passing reminds us that we must redouble efforts, and the greatest way we can honor him is to honor those things,” Howard said.
“There is still so much wrong and Archie knew that, but he kept struggling, he kept fighting, he kept believing.”
‘He took the words we could not speak’
Beyond his legacy as one of Australia’s most-acclaimed songwriters, Archie’s passing carries a special meaning for the Stolen Generations.
Born in Mooroopna, in Victoria, Archie was just three years old when he was forcibly removed from his family.
Yorta Yorta man and Stolen Generations survivor Ian Hamm said he was shaken after hearing the news of Archie’s death.
“When I heard, it was just like a gray shadow fell across me,” Mr Hamm said.
“Archie was a special person in his ability to convey stories and songs and bring to life what it means to be just an ordinary Aboriginal person.”
For Mr Hamm, Archie’s music provided an outlet for unspeakable pain and a way to make sense of his own traumatic experiences.
“He took the words that we could not speak and he turned them into song so that our voices could be heard,” he said.
“When we were unable to articulate what it meant at a really human level, the song ‘They Took The Children Away’, it just said it all for us.”
Mr Hamm said Archie’s strength and courage in sharing his own story was crucial in establishing initiatives such as the Stolen Generations Redress scheme.
“I don’t think we’ll see his like again and I can only hope that we will never forget that we were lucky enough to be graced by his presence,” he said.
Daniel James says he had the deep privilege of interviewing Archie Roach on numerous occasions.(ABC News: Simon Winter)
Writer and broadcaster Daniel James interviewed Archie numerous times and described the singer as a “powerful but humble presence.”
“He was someone [who] wasn’t a voice of his generation, he was a voice for generations,” James said.
James said Archie was integral in starting a conversation around truth-telling in Australia.
“This sounds counterintuitive, but there was nothing performative about his music,” he said.
“He was someone [who] was singing into a void before there was an audience ready to hear what he had to say.
“And then, eventually, that void was filled with an audience and then, eventually, that audience was filled with love. Love for him, love for his music.”
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‘We want to do it the same way our Uncle Archie did’
For Aboriginal musicians such as Victor Rostron, Archie’s storytelling served as an inspiration.
“We’re here in Garma because we’ve seen our elders telling stories, singing songs, from their hearts,” he said.
“His music tells us a story from his heart.”
Based in Maningrida in north-east Arnhem Land, Rostron plays in the Indigenous rock band Wildfire Munwurrk and wants to emulate the strength of Archie’s music.
“He was our mentor, and we want to do it the same way our Uncle Archie did, really strong and powerful,” he said.
Victor Rostron says Archie is an inspiration to Indigenous musicians from all around the country.(ABC News: Gary-Jon Lysaght)
Rostron said Archie’s breakout song, ‘Took the Children Away’, brought with it an important message not just for people in Australia, but also for those around the world.
“Me and my boys, we’re going to miss him,” he said.
“His music really means something, and we don’t want his music stopped, we want his music to be a memory for him and stay there forever.”
‘A song can be a medicine to heal’
For opera singer Deborah Cheetham, the loss of Archie represents the loss of a pillar of the Australian community.
“Today our world has changed forever. Our work becomes so much more difficult because Uncle Archie was holding up so much of our nation’s spirit,” Cheetham said.
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Opera singer Deborah Cheetham says Archie Roach united people through song.
Cheetham said Archie’s deep connection to music allowed his message to break through racial barriers and unite the country.
“His understanding, deep within his DNA, that a song is so much more than just a song,” she said.
“A song can be a medicine to heal the many wounds that have been inflicted on not only Indigenous people in this country but [also] on every Australian.
“It’s often said that we stand on the shoulders of giants,” Cheetham said.
“The whole of Australia can say that it stood on the shoulder of a giant in Uncle Archie.”
