Dr G Yunupingu (1970-2017), a man of the Gumatj clan of north-east Arnhem Land, learned to play guitar, keyboard, drums and didgeridoo as a child. Blind from birth, the left-handed Yunupingu famously learned to play a right-handed guitar upside-down. He performed with Yothu Yindi from 1985 to 1992, when he formed his own outfit, the Saltwater Band.
Dr Yunupingu shot to prominence in 2008 with the release of his debut album, which was nominated for four ARIAs including Male Artist of the Year and Album of the Year; it won Best World Music Album and Best Independent Release. In March 2008 critic Bruce Elder foreshadowed Dr Yunupingu’s importance: ‘Yunupingu has the potential to be to Indigenous music what painters such as Rover Thomas were to Indigenous art’, he wrote. ‘He is using a modern medium – in his case an angelic voice and the musical styles of gospel, soul and folk – to tell the traditional stories of his people and his culture. The result is authentically traditional aboriginal music that is instantly accessible to Western audiences. Dr Yunupingu sang about Gumatj stories in Yolngu but his song ‘Gurrumul History’ is in English – the better to spread his story. As he said: ‘I like singing about the story properly, singing all the right names of land, and ancestors, because I have to give out the right story. It is like a celebration.’
