Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Australian Indigenous musician, Died at 46

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu was born on January 22, 1971 and died on July 25, 2017.

He was an Indigenous Australian musician.

He sang in Yolŋu languages and English.

He was the first of four sons born to Ganyinurra (Daisy) and Nyambi (Terry) Yunupingu, he was born in Galiwin’ku, Elcho Island in 1971, off the coast of Arnhem Land, northern Australia about 69.5 kilometres from Darwin.

Yunupingu was from the Gumatj clan of the Yolngu and his mother was from the Galpu nation.

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu was born blind, never learned Braille and did not have a guide dog or use a white cane, and was said to be acutely shy.

As a child he became fascinated by music and learned to play using tin cans and sticks, a toy piano accordion and later guitar.

A talented multi-instrumentalist, he played drums, keyboards, guitar (a right-hand-strung guitar played left-handed) and didgeridoo, but it was the clarity of his singing voice that attracted rave reviews.

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu sang stories of his land in both languages (Gälpu, Gumatj or Djambarrpuynu, all Yolŋu languages) and English.

Although his solo career brought him wider acclaim, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu was also formerly a member of Yothu Yindi, and later Saltwater Band.

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu passed away at 46 years old.