Arts in Australia country music, which has developed a style quite distinct from its US counterpart, influenced by Celtic folk ballads and the traditions of Australian bush balladeers like Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson. Pioneers of popular country music in Australia included Tex Morton in the 1930s and Smoky Dawson from the 1940s onward. Slim Dusty (1927–2003) was known as the "King of Australian Country Music". His successful career spanned almost six decades and his 1957 hit "A Pub With No Beer" was the biggest-selling record by an Australian to that time, the first Australian single to go gold, and the first and
Australian country music international hit "Armstrong", a tribute to the historic 1969 moon landing by American astronaut Neil Armstrong is now included in a time capsule at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Ted Egan (AM) began recording in 1969 and has released 28 albums, mostly themed around outback life, history and Aboriginal affairs. Eric Bogle's 1972 folk lament to the Gallipoli campaign "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" recalled the Celtic origins of Australian folk-country. Singer-songwriter John Williamson, (OAM) began to build his reputation as an iconic Australian entertainer with his 1970 performance of his first song "Old Man Emu" on