Much-loved Australian performer, Col Joye – the first Australian pop music artist to reach number one on the local charts with his hit song, Oh Yeah Uh Huh – has passed away at the age of 89 after a long period of declining health.
Col had enormous success in Australia in the early days of rock and roll with his band called the Joy Boys, after starting his music career in his brother’s band, ‘The KJ Quintet’, in 1957 in Sydney.
A band name change to ‘Col Joye and the Joy Boys’ saw the band perform regularly in Bankstown. In 1959, the band’s second single, Bye Bye Baby scored the number one spot on the Sydney charts. A further three top 10 hits were to follow for the band.
In the 1960s, Col and his brother, Kevin, ventured into the recording, publishing and artist management business. The successful duo signed the Bee Gees to Joye Music in 1961, with the famous Gibbs brothers going on to sing backing vocals on Col’s hit single, Starlight of Love two years later.
Col also regularly appeared on the popular TV show Bandstand and during the 1960s, he toured in Vietnam to entertain Australian soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War.
He was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1988 for his services to Australian music.
Col and wife, Dalys, welcomed two children during their long 55-year marriage and both followed their father into the entertainment industry.
Son, Clayton is a successful New York-based director/producer and daughter, Amber, is an entrepreneur and musical producer.
Col became a grandfather for the first time at the age of 80 in 2022.
