Judith Durham, voice of the Seekers and Australia’s first global pop queen

Judith Durham in 1970. The Seekers still hold the record for the largest concert audience in Australia after more than 200,000 attended their 1967 concert at Melbourne’s Myer Music Bowl. Photograph: ANL/REX/Shutterstock

Judith Durham’s talent shone brightly across the Australian music landscape, her powerful bell-like voice, unpretentious nature and stoicism in the face of adversity securing her countless loyal fans.

Durham, who has died in Melbourne aged 79, was the distinctive voice of the Seekers, the folk-singing quartet who became an international sensation from 1964 until 1968, when Durham left to forge a solo career as a jazz singer. The band healed their rifts and reunited in recent times, reigniting enthusiasm for the Seekers and introducing younger audiences to the music of their parents’ generation.