Judith Durham

For generation of fans, Judith Durham AO was the voice of The Seekers, the Australian folk-inspired vocal quartet that took the world by storm in the 1960s. From the coffee shops of Melbourne to main stages around the world, The Seekers became the first Australian band to sell one million albums and the first to score a simultaneous Top 10 hit in Australia, Britain and the United States.

Born Judith Mavis Cock on 3 July 1943, Durham showed early promise both as a singer and pianist initially learning music by ear and enjoying a variety of music on the radio, including jazz and opera. As a teenager, she completed her Associate in Music, Australia (AMusA) in classical piano at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium under Professor Ronald Farren Price AM but inevitably, it was as a vocalist where she would shine.

As a young woman she was inspired by many of the great female singers including Dame Vera Lynn, Bessie Smith and Joan Baez. Durham made her debut as a singer in 1961 – aged 18 – when she asked Nicholas Ribush, leader of the Melbourne University Jazz Band, if she could sing with the band at the Memphis Jazz Club in Malvern. The following year, she adopted her mother’s maiden name and recorded her first EP, Judy Durham, with Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers, for W&G Records.

In 1962, Durham started a new secretarial job at J. Walter Thompson and was promptly introduced to account executive Athol Guy who invited her to perform with his band at the Treble Clef Café in Prahran that same evening. It was in this unassuming coffee lounge that The Seekers was formed. The line-up included Durham on piano, Guy on double bass, and Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley on guitar. Over the next year, the group built a strong following for their folk-inspired brand of pop music and in 1963 recorded their first album, Introducing The Seekers.

The Seekers embarked on a working holiday in 1964, singing on the S.S Fairsky cruise ship bound for the United Kingdom. Only planning to be away from her family for 10 weeks, Durham was not prepared for what was to come. More in hope than expectation, the band sent copies of their recording to various London agencies before leaving. The gamble paid off.

Soon after their arrival, The Seekers scored a recording contract and in 1965 became the first Australian band to have a Top 10 hit simultaneously in Australia, Britain and the United States with their single, ‘I’ll Never Find Another You’, recorded at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios by legendary composer Tom Springfield. This was followed by a string of hits including ‘The Carnival Is Over’, ‘A World of Our Own’, and the Academy Award-nominated title song to the film Georgy Girl which was their first and only chart-topping hit in the United States.

Their sudden fame was undeniable; they became Australia’s biggest musical export of the decade, with Durham’s instantly recognisable voice intrinsic to their sound.

On their return to Australia in 1967, The Seekers were named Australians of The Year, starred in their own high-rating television specials and performed before a record-breaking 200,000 people at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. At the height of their fame in 1968, fans were shocked when Durham announced her intention to leave the group and pursue a solo career. The group’s farewell record, The Best of The Seekers, spent 17 weeks at No. 1 in Australia and knocked The Beatles’ White Album from top place on the British charts.

Durham pursued a solo career expanding her repertoire and returning to her jazz roots with music director, pianist, arranger and later husband Ron Edgeworth by her side. She released her first solo record For Christmas with Love in 1968, headlined tours in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and ended the momentous decade by marrying Edgeworth at Scots’ Church in Melbourne. Durham recorded two orchestral records in Los Angeles and London, Gift of Song (1971) and Climb Ev’ry Mountain (1971) and in 1978, Durham and Edgeworth appeared as The Hot Jazz Duo at the Newport Jazz Festival in New York.

Durham became a familiar face on Australian and international television. In 1968, she released her first television special in Australia, An Evening with Judith Durham, which aired on the Nine Network. This was followed by the release of her second special in 1970, Meet Judith Durham, in London, where she charmed audiences with her unequivocal talent and warmth.

In 1990, Durham experienced a turning point in her life when she and Edgeworth were badly injured in a car accident outside Melbourne. Following a year-long recovery Durham returned to music with a performance of her new song ‘Australia Land of Today’ in front of 100,000 people at the World Cup Cricket Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Fans were again delighted when The Seekers re-formed in 1993 to celebrate their 25th anniversary playing over 100 shows in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The Silver Jubilee Album recorded live at the Melbourne Concert Hall (now Hamer Hall) reached No. 3 on the Australian charts in 1993 and introduced a whole new generation to the magical ‘Seekers sound’. In the coming years, they would again surprise audiences with occasional tours including 2003 when Durham toured the United Kingdom to celebrate her 60th birthday with the Diamond Tour, and then in 2013 for The Seekers 50th Anniversary Golden Jubilee tour.

Sadly, Durham experienced further personal tragedy in 1994 with the untimely death of her husband from Motor Neurone Disease (MND). Durham became a National Patron of the Motor Neurone Disease Association of Australia (MNDAA) and continued to tour, record and compose in memory of her beloved husband. Her album, Let Me Find Love, was released the same year and reached No. 8 on the ARIA charts after two weeks. It was her first studio album in 20 years.

Throughout her career, Durham received many awards for her contribution and service to music including the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1995 for her services to music as an entertainer and composer. The Seekers were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame that same year and in 2006, they were awarded the Key to the City of Melbourne by Lord Mayor John So.

In 2013, Durham and The Seekers received the Ted Albert Award from APRA for Outstanding Services to Australian Music and the band members were individually honoured as Officers of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2014. Durham was also named Victorian of the Year and inducted into the Australian Women in Music Awards Honour Roll in 2015. The band was also celebrated in the jukebox musical Georgy Girl: The Seekers Musical which toured Australia in 2015.

With the establishment of the Australian Music Vault in Melbourne in 2017, Durham generously donated a collection of her costumes, awards and memorabilia to the Australian Performing Arts Collection. Her green silk dress worn at The Seekers’ legendary 1967 homecoming concert, takes pride of place in the free permanent exhibition in acknowledgement of her enormous contribution to Australian music on the world stage.

Judith Durham AO passed away on 5 August 2022 aged 79 due to complications from chronic lung disease. She was honoured with a State Government Funeral at Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne on 6 September 2022.