- Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (b 1970) is an indigenous
Australia n musician, who sings in yolngu language. He was born onElcho Island Arnhem Land ,Northern Australia about 350 miles from Darwin. He is from the Gumatj clan of theYolngu and his mother from the Galpu nation. [ [http://www.ozarts.com.au/artists/gurrumul OzArts] Gurrumul] . He was born blind, has never learned Braille and does not have a guide dog or use a stick. Yunupingu speaks only a few words of English, and is said to be acutely shy. [http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2291118,00.html Aboriginal singer beats poverty and prejudice to top Australian charts] Barbara McMahon, "The Guardian " , July 17 2008. Accessed July 2008]He plays drums, keyboards, guitar (a right hand-strung guitar left-handed) and didgeridoo, but it is the clarity of his singing voice that has attracted rave reviews. He sings stories of his land in both language (Gälpu, Gumatj or Djambarrpuynu, all
Yolŋu Matha ) and English. [ [http://www.dbmagazine.com.au/441/a-music.shtml dB Magazine] Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunipingu] Formerly withYothu Yindi , he is now withSaltwater Band .His first solo album, "Gurrumul", debuted at #21 on the ARIA Charts and #1 on the independent chart. [ [http://www.nit.com.au/News/story.aspx?id=15323 National Indigenous Times - Issue 156] Gurrumul CDs to tap into UK] It also jumped to No. 1 on the
iTunes Australia roots music chart in April 2008. It then unexpectedly reached No. 8 in the mainstream iTunes charts. [cite news
title=Aboriginal musician astonishes Australian audiences
url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/22/asia/musician.php
publisher=International Herald Tribune
date=April 22 2008
accessdate=2008-04-25 ] Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu's friend Michael Hohnen produced the album and acts as his translator. Critics have heaped praise on the singer , describing his voice as having "transcendental beauty". SirElton John , Sting andBjörk are among his fans. Following the Aboriginal tradition of sharing wealth, any money he makes will go to his mother and auntsFact|date=October 2008.References
External links
* [http://www.myspace.com/gurrumul "Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu - "Gurrumul"" ] MySpace page. Accessed July 2008.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bawDFY8G-o4 Video of Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu performing] at YouTube. Accessed July 2008.
* [http://www.nit.com.au/News/story.aspx?id=14673 National Indigenous Times - Issue 151] Yunupingu's voice creates waves throughout the world
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