After receiving his first Golden Guitar, 73-year-old Mr Little promised he would be in the Shoalhaven in the next few weeks to share with locals the latest honour in his long and illustrious career.

Mr Little said he would even include a special trip to his former school at Terara to share his award and experiences with current students.

Speaking from Tamworth, the singer, known affectionately as Gentleman Jimmy Little, said he was surprised by the award, which “made me feel a little bit ancient”.

However, it provided a fitting finale to a music career spanning six decades, from the time Mr Little started travelling from the Shoalhaven to auditions in Sydney at the age of 15, after appearing on a radio amateur hour at 13.

He said his involvement in music, after being raised in a musical family, was natural but still he wanted to create “a new life different to my dad and granddad”.

After a couple of years travelling to and from Sydney, he finally bought a one-way ticket at the age of 16 and never looked back.

He started recording, and while Mr Little’s musical talent won him many fans, so too did his positive approach and gentle nature.

That approach was on show during the weekend when Mr Little performed for a final time at Tamworth, joined by many other stars of the Australian country music scene singing his songs.

The ARIA Hall of Fame member finished his final show with stories from his life and signed off with one of his favourite songs, I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight.

“Here I am now signing off from the gentle journey of Jimmy Little,” he told the audience.

“It’s time for me to take a holiday and let the next generation take over, like my grandson.”

That holiday will be focused on new pursuits, including writing a book of poetry and releasing a recording of him speaking the words.

There will be extra work on health issues, based on Mr Little’s own experiences with diabetes and in recent years kidney failure, which required a transplant.

That transplant resulted in the Jimmy Little Foundation being established to work in health education in indigenous communities throughout Australia.

Mr Little said he wanted to continue teaching children about the importance of looking after their health to avoid diabetes in later life.

“It’s another program that suits my age, suits my nature,” he said.

“I just want to remain a friend to the family, and Uncle Jim to all the kids.”