Country music star Slim Dusty’s widow dies after battling cancer: ‘Our hearts are heavy and sad’
Joy McKean, the widow of Australian country music legend Slim Dusty, has died of cancer at the age of 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 of 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 at the age of 93. The couple is pictured together
She won the first Golden Guitar award at the Tamworth Country Music Festival for Lights on the Hill.
McKean’s musical partnership with Dusty produced over 100 albums, total sales of over 8 million and 45 gold 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 at the age of 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.