Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, who has been blind since birth, is a member of the Gumatj clan of north east Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. He sings in his native language of Gumatji or Djambarrpuynu the songs and stories of the Gumatj clan that he adapts into contemporary song styles. Mostly self taught, he plays drums, keyboards, guitar and didgeridoo. At the age of fifteen Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu was identified as a young and extremely talented multi-instrumentalist and joined the ARIA Award winning band Yothu Yindi where he played an integral role until 1992.
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu has contributed greatly to the Indigenous music industry and was recognised at the Northern Territory Indigenous Music Awards where he was awarded the Album of the Year and Song of the Year 2008. Earning attention in the mainstream music industry in Australia, he has also been nominated for several ARIA Awards, including the coveted Male Artist of the Year and Album of the Year. He received media attention from the international music industry sphere when his debut album Gurrumul was entered into the European World Music Chart in 2008. In 2012 Gurrumul was conferred an honorary Doctorate in music from the University of Sydney.
Sources: Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu website, http://www.gurrumul.com; and Guardian.co.uk website http://www.guardian.co.uk (sighted 15/06/2011)
Australian Writing and Rock Music affiliation: songwriter, lyricist, vocals, drums, keyboards, guitar, miscellaneous instruments (didgeridoo).
