Jimmy Little

Description taken from English Wikipedia James Oswald Little AO 1 March 1937 2 April 2012 was an Australian Aboriginal musician actor and teacher who was a member of the Yorta Yorta tribe and was raised on the Cummeragunja Reserve New South Wales Little started his professional career in 1951 as a singersongwriter and guitarist which spanned six decades For many years he was the main Aboriginal star on the Australian music scene His music was influenced by Nat King Cole Johnny Mathis and American country music artist Jim Reeves His gospel song Royal Telephone 1963 sold over 75000 copies and his most popular album Messenger peaked at No 26 in 1999 on the ARIA Albums Chart At the ARIA Music Awards of 1999 Little was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and won an ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album On Australia Day 26 January 2004 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia with the citation For service to the entertainment industry as a singer recording artist and songwriter and to the community through reconciliation and as an ambassador for Indigenous culture As an actor he appeared in the films Shadow of the Boomerang 1960 and Until the End of the World 1991 in the theatre production Black Cockatoos and in the opera Black River As a teacher from 1985 he worked at the Eora Centre in Redfern and from 2000 was a guest lecturer at the University of Sydneys Koori Centre