Judith Durham

As part of our commitment in capturing and sharing great Australian music stories, the Australian Music Vault asked some of the country’s most influential trailblazers and unsung heroes to open up about their lives in music.

For a generation of fans, Judith Durham is the voice of The Seekers, the Australian folk-inspired vocal quartet that took the world by storm in the 1960s. From the coffee shops of Melbourne to main-stages around the world, The Seekers became the first Australian band to sell a million copies and the first to score a simultaneous Top 10 hit in Australia, Britain and the United States. That much of the story we know.

Perhaps less known is the story of a young girl who grew up with a love of jazz and piano, whose shyness coloured all aspects of her career. In our interview, Judith talks to Brian Nankervis about her earliest musical influences, her whirlwind experience with The Seekers, her solo career and what it felt like to knock The Beatles ‘White Album’ off the No.1 spot on the UK charts.

Interviewer: Brian Nankervis

Location: Home of Judith Durham, 2018