Widow of country music star Slim Dusty dies after battle with cancer: ‘Our hearts are heavy and sad ‘
Joy McKean, the widow of Australian country music legend Slim Dusty, has died of cancer aged 93.
EMI records announced McKean’s death in a statement released on Friday.
‘Joy passed away peacefully last night with family by her side after a long battle with cancer,’ the statement said. ‘She will be remembered as a pioneer in Australian music.’
McKean was a multi-award winning songwriter and musician who wrote many of her husband’s most famous songs including Biggest Disappointment and Lights on the Hill.
Joy McKean, the widow of Australian country music legend Slim Dusty, has died of cancer aged 93. The couple is pictured together
She won the first Golden Guitar awarded at the Tamworth Country Music Festival for Lights on the Hill.
McKean’s musical partnership with Dusty produced more than 100 albums, total sales of more than 8 million and 45 Golden Guitars.
She is survived by her children Anne Kirkpatrick and David Kirkpatrick, four grandchildren, and six great grandchildren.
Slim Dusty, whose real name was David Gordon Kirkpatrick, died in 2003 aged 76.
McKean was a multi-award winning songwriter and musician who wrote many of her husband’s most famous songs including Biggest Disappointment and Lights on the Hill
