Joan Sutherland.

Joan Alston Sutherland was born on 7 November 1926 in Point Piper, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, to Julianne McClure and Hugh Reskymer Bonython. She was raised in a musical home, but her parents were not professional musicians. Sutherland later studied at the Royal College of Music in London.

Sutherland began performing at major opera houses in the 1950s. She appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1948 and The Dinah Shore Chevy Show in 1956. In 1971 she played Norma in Great Performances, a signature role. She received the C.B.E. in 1961 and was named Australian of the Year in 1961, the first woman to receive that honor. Sutherland continued performing into the 1990s, earning the Order of Merit in 1991 and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004.

Sutherland married Richard Bonynge, an orchestral conductor, and they had one son. He conducted many of her performances. She lived part of her later years in Montreux, Switzerland, where she died on 10 October 2010 at the age of 83.

Joan Sutherland is called The Voice of the Century. She was the first woman to win the Australian of the Year award in 1961. She also won the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal, the Order of Merit, and the Kennedy Center Honors. Her recordings continue to be heard, and she influenced later opera singers.