Little at his Lilyfield home in 2009. Credit:Janie Barrett ‘‘He passed away in his sleep this morning at his home in Dubbo,’’ he said. Mr Bidstrup said he would speak to Little’s daughter this afternoon and release a statement from the family. In 2004, Little was diagnosed with kidney failure and two years later received a life-saving kidney transplant. Tributes are pouring in for the music industry legend on social networking sites.

An early Jimmy Little recording. James Oswald "Jimmy" Little was born in 1937 on the Cummeragunja Mission on the NSW-Victorian border, and in 1955 moved to Sydney to pursue his musical career. He was a pioneer country singer who listed Nat King Cole and American country music star Jim Reeves as major influences. Little, who was one of the first acts to sign with Festival Records, went on to record hits including Danny Boy, El Paso, Baby Blue and One Road, penned by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees. In 1999 Little was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame for Messenger, a collection of contemporary songs he had reinterpreted, while the same year he won Best Male Artist of the Year and Best Single Release of the Year at The Deadlys - the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music Awards.

The second phase of his career took off with Resonate, featuring songs written by Paul Kelly, Don Walker, Powderfinger's Bernard Fanning, Brendan Gallagher from Karma County and Dave Graney. However, in 2002 Little was struck down with kidney failure. Until he received a lifesaving transplant in 2004, Little was forced to undertake a daily regime of self-administered kidney dialysis while he continued to tour and perform to new and old fans, including many remote indigenous communities where kidney disease was at near-epidemic proportions. In 2006, he established the Jimmy Little Foundation to bring a healthier future to indigenous Australians.

The Australian Recording Industry Association this afternoon tweeted today of its sadness at Little's death. "Everyone here at ARIA is so saddened to hear Jimmy Little has passed away. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time. RIP."

Australian rocker Jimmy Barnes tweeted: "RIP Jimmy Little love to all friends and family." Follow The Age on Twitter @The Age