Aussie music legend Col Joye dies aged 89

Australian music has lost one of its greats after Col Joye, the first Aussie pop star to score a number one hit on the local charts, died aged 89.

Colin Frederick Jacobsen AM, born in Sydney on April 13, 1936, fronted Col Joye and the Joy Boys and is credited with discovering the Bee Gees.

He had a number one hit with Oh Yeah, Uh Huh and had three other top 10 hits, Bye Bye Baby, Rockin’ Rollin’ Clementine and Yes Sir That’s My Baby.

Joye was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1988.

He and his band the Joy Boys, which included his brothers Kevin and Keith, was among a number of entertainers who visited south Vietnam in 1966 during the war to entertain Australian troops.

In the 1960s, Joye and his brother established a management, publishing and recording business and signed iconic Australian band the Bee Gees in 1961.