Country music singer and songwriter, who made his first commercial recordings in 1946 and he continued to be musically active until his death in 2003. During this 57 year period he was awarded more gold and platinum albums than any other Australian artist. In 1981 Space shuttle astronauts played "Waltzing Matilda" by Slim Dusty, the first recording transmitted from space. In the 2000 Olympic Games, he was selected to be the final performer where he had an audience of over 100,000 people singing along with him.