Proud Yorta Yorta man, Jimmy Little has passed away at the age of 75. Jimmy was born on the Cummeragunja Mission on the Murray River, New South Wales on the 1st of March 1937. In 1955 moved to Sydney to start his music career. His first single, “Mysteries of Life”/”Heartbreak Waltz,” was released in 1956, but his first hit did not come until 1959 with “Danny Boy,” which peaked at number nine in Sydney. It was 1964 when Little got his first number 1 hit, “Royal Telephone” which went Gold twice and has sold more than 75,000 copies, from this number 1 hit, Jimmy was named “Australian Pop Star of the Year”.
In the late 70’s Jimmy turned to full-time acting starring in various theatre productions and films, making his debut on stage in “Black Cockatoos”. Little also appeared in the film “Until the End of the World” and an Opera “Black River”.
Jimmy Little taught and mentored Indigenous music students at the Eora Centre in Redfern from 1985 and was an ambassador for literacy and numeracy for the Department of Education from 2002. In 2006, Jimmy founded the “Jimmy Little Foundation” to improve renal health across Indigenous communities in regional and remote Australia.
In 2004 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia, was named a Living National Treasure and was awarded an honorary doctorate in music in recognition of “contribution to reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians”.
Along with these Prestigious awards, Jimmy Little has a collection of many awards including;
- Red Ochre Award
- Tamworth Role of Renown
- ARIA Hall of Fame
- 2x Deadly Awards
- APRA Ted Albert Award
- Golden Gospel Award
- NAIDOC “Aboriginal of the Year”
In 2011 Jimmy received his first Golden Guitar “Lifetime Achievement Award”.
Jimmy Little will be sadly missed by everybody in the Community.
