I sort of took The Seekers for granted but gained respect for them later.
Sad story of the lead singer Judith Durham.
In the late 1990s, Durham was stalked by a former president of a Judith Durham fan club, a woman who sent her dozens of doormats through the post. The woman was subsequently prosecuted and was later imprisoned for other serial crimes.
In 2000, Durham broke her hip and was unable to sing “The Carnival Is Over” at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney with the Seekers. However, she sang it from a wheelchair at the 2000 Paralympics shortly thereafter.
In May 2013, during the Seekers’ Golden Jubilee tour, Durham suffered a stroke that diminished her ability to read and write—both visual language and musical scores. During her convalescence, she made progress to rebuild those skills. Her singing ability was not affected by the stroke.
Durham was born with asthma and at age four she caught measles, which left her with a life-long chronic lung disease, bronchiectasis. Durham died from the disease on 5 August 2022, at age 79. She was given a state memorial service by the state of Victoria. Durham is interred with her husband Ron Edgeworth at Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Springvale.
From Wikipedia
I’m surprised that Aussie blogger who’s always going on about old-time movie stars hasn’t posted something about her. Or maybe he has; I don’t keep very close track of those things.
Heard ‘Georgy Girl’ much of my life and about 15 years ago and with computer looked it up and was bowled over by the Seekers. Judith was incredible and add in all those setbacks you mentioned. Absolute gem. Actually all of the Seekers to be honest.
So, subsequently, my wife and I found the movie and watched it one day. Seemed like pushing the envelope for 1960s, but that was about when all that started.
“I sort of took The Seekers for granted but gained respect for them later.”
I know what you mean. It was just highly rated pop music when their records came out, but, like you, I gained a lot more respect for them through the succeeding decades.
That’s a very sad story about Judith Durham.