The Australian music industry is paying tribute to rock’n’roll pioneer Col Joye following his death at the age of 89.

Joye, whose full name was Colin Frederick Jacobsen, began performing in the late 1950s and formed a band with his brother Kevin called the KJ Quintet.

Renamed Col Joye and the Joy Boys and with young brother Keith playing bass, they scored a national No.1 hit with their song Bye Bye Baby in 1959. They went on to record a string of other hits, among them the famous Oh Yeah Uh Huh. 

Col and Kevin Jacobsen also set up studios and a management business, and are credited with “discovering” the BeeGees when they signed them to their record label in the early 1960s.

Joye was awarded the Order of Australia in 1981 and inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1988.

Entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins described Joye as a “lovely man” who had a major impact on the Australian music industry.

“Col was an absolute pioneer of the Australian rock’n’roll scene during the ’50s with his band the Joy Boys … he was a real legend,” Wilkins said on Nine’s Today show. 

“He was on Bandstand regularly, which was of course hosted by his friend Brian Henderson, and they had something of a rat pack – Hendo and Col and Lawsie.”

The Joy Boys toured the US with Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs in the mid-1960s and early ’70s. He had another No.1 hit in Australia in 1973 with Heaven is my Woman’s Love.

Joye also visited Vietnam during the Vietnam War to entertain Australian troops with singer Little Pattie,. Her Facebook page had a post on Wednesday describing him as “the loveliest man, the greatest entertainer & Pattie’s closest friend of more than 60 years”.

Australian singer Normie Rowe, who was part of the Long Way to the Top concert tour with Joye in the early 2000s, told ABC News that he was “a true gentleman of the industry”.

“Col was in my psyche right throughout my entire life,” Rowe said. “I watched him and I thought, ‘If I’m going to be a singer, that’s the sort of singer I want to be’.”

Music show RocKwiz was among those paying tribute to Joye on social media. It shared a video from his appearance on the program in 2015 for its RocKwiz Salutes the ’50s episode when he performed Bye Bye Baby with Vika and Linda Bull.

ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd also reflected on Joye’s career, saying: “From music to TV, publishing to concert promotion, artist management and live performances, Col Joye made a remarkable contribution to Australian music for more than six decades.

“At a time when the local industry was dominated by US and UK artists, he proved that Australians would embrace local artists and local music. Our deepest condolences go to Col’s family. He will be sadly missed.”

-with AAP