David Gordon Kirkpatrick AO MBE, known professionally as
Slim Dusty (13 June 1927 – 19 September 2003), was an Australian
country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer, who was an Australian cultural icon and one of the country's most awarded stars, with a career spanning nearly seven decades, the archetypical "Father of County Music". He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australian poets
Henry Lawson and
Banjo Paterson that represented the Australian bush lifestyle and also for his many trucking songs. Dusty was the first Australian to have a No. 1 international hit song, with a version of
Gordon Parsons' "
A Pub with No Beer". He received an unequalled 37
Golden Guitar and two
Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards and was inducted into the
ARIA Hall of Fame and the Country Music Roll of Renown. At the time of his death, at the age of 76, Dusty had been working on his 106th album for
EMI Records. In 2007, his domestic record sales in Australia surpassed seven million. During his lifetime, Dusty was considered an
Australian National Treasure. He performed "
Waltzing Matilda", Australia's national song, at the closing ceremony of the
Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.