Gurrumul’s ARIA Hall of Fame honour brings pride and reflection for family | ABC NEWS

Ajouté : 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are advised that this video contains images and voices of people who have died.

[00:00:08]>> [music] [singing] >> An unmistakable voice set to be celebrated nearly a decade after it fell quiet.

[00:00:16]>> [singing and music] >> I can still feel him like he's there, you know, with the family. Gurrumul Yunupingu was born blind on Elcho Island in the remote Northern Territory. A talented multi-instrumentalist who took his musical gifts to the world.

[00:00:36]He's giving them a clear picture of, you know, who he is and where the song is coming from.

[00:00:45]>> [singing] >> Alongside five other artists, in June the late musician will join the ARIA Hall of Fame. It's really special to the family, to all Gumatj family. He'll be one of just a handful of Australian artists to be inducted twice after his old band Yothu Yindi entered in 2012.

[00:01:11]Gurrumul tragically died in 2017, aged just 46 after a long illness, leaving his closest collaborators still wondering what could have been.

[00:01:24]The tragedy for all of us, I think, is that the health and the sickness limited him from um able to do a lot more, um we did a lot and he did a lot with Yothu Yindi and we started a band in a limited amount of time, you know?

[00:01:40]Um but you do wonder what else could have happened. Gurrumul's legacy still looms large in the Northern Territory, not least with this huge mural in the Darwin CBD.

[00:01:51]For his family, even though he's gone, his studio albums keep his memory burning brightly. Because his music is still alive. The music is not only in Australia, it's been heard all over the world.

[00:02:06]Members of Gurrumul's [music] family heading to Sydney for the special occasion on June 11th.

[00:02:12]>> [singing] >> To remind the world of a remarkable talent gone too soon.

[00:02:18]>> [singing] >> Matt Garrick, ABC News, Darwin.

[00:02:22]>> [music]