Judith Durham, the Australian folk music icon and lead singer of The Seekers, has died, her record label announced Saturday. She was 79.
Durham passed away “peacefully” on Friday evening in Melbourne due to complications from a long-standing chronic lung disease, Musicoast and Universal Music Australia wrote on The Seekers’ verified Facebook page.
Born Judith Mavis Cock in Essendon, Victoria, on July 3, 1943, Durham began her professional career as a piano player. In 1963, at age 19, Durham recorded her first record with The Seekers, then a folk trio consisting of Bruce Woodley, Keith Potger and Athol Guy.