Judith Durham - Wikipedia

Judith Durham - Wikipedia

Judith Durham AO (July 3, 1943 - August 5, 2022) was an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician who became the lead singer of the Australian folk music group The Seekers in 1963.

The group became the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States, and sold over 50 million records worldwide. Durham left the group in mid-1968 to pursue a solo career; in 1993, Durham began recording and performing sporadically with the Seekers, but remained primarily a solo artist. On July 1, 2015, she was honored with the Music and various contributions to charity, and was named Victorian of the Year.

Judith Durham Childhood

Durham was born Judith Mavis Cook on July 3, 1943 in Essendon, Victoria, to William Alexander Cook, a World War II pathfinder navigator, and his wife Hazel (née Durham). Summers were spent at the weathervane house (now demolished) on the west side of Durham Place in Rosebud [better source needed].

In 1949 his father took a job in Hobart, Tasmania, and from early 1950 the family lived in Talona, a suburb of Hobart, where Durham attended Fahan School, but returned to Melbourne in 1956 to live at Georgian Court, Balwyn. He then returned to Melbourne and moved to Georgian Court in Balwyn in 1956.

She initially intended to become a pianist and obtained an Associate in Music Australia (AMusA) certificate in classical piano from the University of Melbourne Conservatorium. She has had several professional jobs in piano performance and also trained as a classical vocalist, performing blues, gospel, and jazz songs. Her singing career began one night at the age of 18 at the Memphis Jazz Club in Malvern when she asked Nicholas Ribush, leader of the University of Melbourne Jazz Band, if she could sing with the band. in 1963, she joined Frank Traynor's Jazz Preachers and began performing at the same club, using her mother's maiden name, Durham. That same year, she and Frank Traynor's Jazz Preachers recorded their first EP, Judy Durham, for W&G Records.

Judith Durham Personal Life

On November 21, 1969, she married her music director, English pianist Ron Edgeworth, at Scotts Church in Melbourne. Edgeworth was in a group called The Trebletones, which was on the same tour. They decided not to have children. Durham and her husband were vegetarians, but she has been vegan since 2015. She also avoided alcohol and caffeine.

She lived in England and Switzerland until the mid-1980s, when she bought property in Nambour, Queensland In 1990, Durham, Edgeworth, and their tour manager, Peter Summers, were in a car accident on the Calder Freeway. The driver of the other car died at the scene, and Durham suffered a broken wrist and leg. In response to the fan response, Durham considered returning to the Silver Jubilee show with the other members of the Seekers. During this reunion, Edgeworth was diagnosed with motor neuron disease (ALS); he died at Durham's side on December 10, 1994.

In the late 1990s, Durham was stalked by a woman, a former president of the Judith Durham Fan Club, who sent him dozens of doormats in the mail. The woman was subsequently indicted and jailed for other serial offenses.

In 2000, Durham broke her hip and was unable to sing "Carnival is Over" at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics with the Seekers. However, he sang the song from a wheelchair at the 2000 Paralympics shortly thereafter.

In May 2013, during the Seekers' Golden Jubilee Tour, he suffered a stroke that reduced his ability to read and write both visual language and musical notation. During his recuperation, he made strides to regain these abilities. His singing ability was unaffected by the stroke.

Judith Durham Death.

Durham was born asthmatic, contracted measles at age 4, and developed bronchiectasis, a lifelong chronic lung disease; she died of the disease on August 5, 2022, at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, at age 79. She will be given a state funeral by the State of Victoria.