Australian country music star Frank Ifield dies aged 86

The Medal of the Order of Australia 2009 recipient, responsible for 25 albums over his long career, died in Sydney on May 18.

The singer had hits with Lovesick Blues, a cover of the Hank Williams song, She Taught Me to Yodel and The Wayward Wind among others.

Ifield, who continued to tour throughout regional Australia in his later years, was in the spotlight again in 1991 after rereleasing She Taught Me to Yodel as a dance track, The Yodelling Song.

He had a part in promoting the Beatles when the fab four were booked as a support act after the country music singer heard their breakout hit Love Me Do in 1962.

Ifield, born in Coventry, England in 1937 to Australian parents, returned Down Under to live in Dural in 1948 where he began playing country music in venues around Sydney and appearing on radio.

"I feel I have been very fortunate in that I have always known what I wanted to do and just followed my heart. My passion to entertain was evident at a very early age, influenced mainly by country music," Ifield said before he died.

His passion for music was sparked after being given a ukulele in 1948. His headmaster encouraged the young musician to meld Australian poetry with his tunes and perform for the class.

He signed with EMI Records (EMI Regal Zonophone) and broke into TV with the music show Campfire Favourites.

"My sights were set high now and I was determined to try my luck overseas with the London Palladium as my goal," he said.

He soon became a household name in England with his yodelling hits. I Remember You topped the UK charts for seven weeks.

But tastes began to change and after his 1966 hits Confessin' and Don't Blame Me the country music singer's popularity began to fade.

He returned to Australia where he received a number of honours including induction into the Aria Music Awards' Hall of Fame.

A bout of pneumonia and a collapsed lung in the 1980s threatened to end Ifield's career but he maintained his vocal strength with exercises and continued to perform.

A bronze bust of the singer stands in Tamworth's Bicentennial Park as a nod to his decades-long career as a legend of Australian country music.

He is survived by his wife Carole Wood and two children, Bob and David, from a previous marriage to Gillian Bowden.