Musician hailed as ‘hero of Australia’

AUSTRALIA’S most prominent Aboriginal musician, Dr G Yunupingu has been remembered as a genius whose soulful voice propelled him to global stardom and made him the highest selling indigenous artist in history.

The 46-year-old blind singer died of a heart attack in a Darwin hospital on Tuesday after suffering years of ill health from liver and kidney disease.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion said the composer from Elcho Island, off the coast of Arnhem Land, brought issues affecting remote Galiwin’ku to the forefront of mainstream society.

“He was a hero of Australia and champion of our entire music scene,” Senator Scullion said.

Dr Yunupingu first picked up a guitar at the age of six, learning to play it upside down because he was left handed.

The Aria award-winner sold more than half a million albums recorded in his native Yolngu and performed for US President Barack Obama, the Pope and the Queen.

Dr Yunupingu’s label Skinnyfish Music praised him as one of the most important figures in the country’s music history and the “voice of a generation”.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull lauded Dr Yunupingu as a “remarkable Australian sharing Yolngu language with the world through music”.

The artist’s friend Vaughan Williams took him to hospital last week. Mr Williams told the ABC his childhood friend’s death was crushing because he felt it was preventable.

“He was trapped in the same cycle of bad health that so many indigenous people are trapped in,” Mr Williams said.

His family are expected to be offered a state funeral.