Biography
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Born
14 January 1930
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Born In
Singleton, New South Wales, Australia
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Died
25 May 2023 (aged 93)
Joy McKean (born Mildred Geraldine Joy McKean in Singleton, New South Wales, on 14 January 1930; died 25 May 2023) was an Australian country music singer-songwriter and, at one time, the wife and manager of Slim Dusty. The mother of country musicians Anne Kirkpatrick and David Kirkpatrick, she recorded as McKean Sisters (with sister Heather McKean) and as Slim Dusty & Joy McKean (with her then husband) as well as her own recordings.
McKean, known as the Queen of Australian country music, is remembered a pioneer in the Australian music industry and recognized as one of Australia's leading songwriters and bush balladeers who wrote several of Slim Dusty's most popular songs. In 1973, she was awarded the first ever Golden Guitar, for writing "Lights on the Hill". Several documentary films tell of the couple's success and adventures as performers, including The Slim Dusty Movie and Slim and I. The McKean-Dusty partnership produced over 100 albums, and sold eight million records in Australia alone.
McKean was awarded the OAM in 1991, with the citation "services to the entertainment industry".
McKean won several APRA Awards and was inducted into the Australian Roll of Renown in 1983. She was the first winner of the Golden Guitars, an award she would win 45 times in her career.
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