Jimmy Little AO

Jimmy Little AO (1937–2012), singer, actor and advocate, was a Yorta Yorta man raised at the Cummerangunja Mission near the Murray River, New South Wales. Australia's first Aboriginal pop star, Little made his recording debut in 1956. After a national number one hit, 'Royal Telephone', which sold over 75,000 copies, he became a household name and was named Pop Star of the Year in 1964. His profile continued to grow through TV appearances, radio airplay and regular tours around Australia. In the 1980s, Little began working at the Eora Centre in Redfern, becoming a role model and mentor for Indigenous youth, and from 2000 was a guest lecturer at the University of Sydney’s Koori Centre. In a characteristically low-key resurgence, he won the Mo award in 1997 and in 1999 his album Messenger – featuring covers of songs by The Cruel Sea, Nick Cave, Paul Kelly and The Church – won an ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album. The same year, he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and was named Best Male Artist at the Deadly Awards. In 2004 he was named a Living National Treasure, received the Australia Council's Red Ochre Award, two honorary doctorates and won the Classic Rock Performer Mo Award following the release of his 34th album, Life's what you make it. He founded the Jimmy Little Foundation in 2006 to improve renal health across Indigenous communities in regional and remote Australia. Little won a Golden Guitar award at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2011.