Allison Durbin (born 24 May 1950) is a New Zealand-born Australian former pop singer.
Durbin started recording at the age of 14 and issued a number of single records on independent labels. She started building a following in New Zealand and started performing in Australia in 1966.
Durbin's first single with HMV, I Have Loved Me A Man, was a number 1 hit in New Zealand and also a hit in Australia. The song won her the 1968 "Loxene Golden Disc Award" at the New Zealand Music Awards and she was New Zealand Entertainer of the Year in 1969.[1] For three years running (1969, 1970 and 1971), she won Australia’s "Queen Of Pop" award for Best Female Artist.[2]
In 1971 she recorded an album with John Farnham, who had been voted Australia's "King Of Pop" during the same years Durbin received her awards. It was called "Together"[3]
Her other records include:
In 1985 she publicly acknowledged her battle with heroin. She kicked the habit after treatment at Odyssey House, a drug rehabilitation centre. A car accident just after her release from the centre left her with serious injuries, including a broken jaw. After she recovered, she worked as a country music singer in the late 1980s.[4] On 1 June 2007, under her married name Allison Giles, she was sentenced to 12 months' jail for cannabis trafficking. One of her co-accused, the man she allegedly supplied with marijuana, was the convicted drug dealer Giuseppe "Joe" Barbaro.[5]