Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (22 January 1971 – 25 July 2017), commonly known as Gurrumul and also referred to since his death as Dr G. Yunupingu, was an Aboriginal Australian musician of the Yolŋu peoples. A 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. He sang stories of his land both in Yolŋu languages such as Gaalpu, Gumatj or Djambarrpuynu, a dialect related to Gumatj, and in English. Although his solo career brought him wider acclaim, he was also formerly a member of Yothu Yindi and later of Saltwater Band. He was the most commercially successful Aboriginal Australian musician at the time of his death. As of 2020, it is estimated that Yunupingu has sold half a million records globally. Life and career Early life (1971–1989) The first of four sons born to Ganyinurra (Daisy), of the Gumal clan, and Nyambi "Terry" Yunupingu, a Gumatj clansman, Yunupingu was born blind in Galiwin'ku, Elcho Island, in 1971, situated off the coast of Arnhem Land in northern Australia, about east of Darwin. When he was four years old, he taught himself how to play a toy piano and an accordion. A year later he began to play a guitar; despite being a left-hander, he played a right-handed guitar, holding it upside down, which he would continue to do throughout his career. His friend, spokesperson, and collaborator Michael Hohnen described his early musical experiences as follows: "Gurrumul was educated by immersion, cultural immersion—from his aunties, parents and grandmothers, with love and lullabies; from his uncles, fathers and grandfathers through ceremony songs and storytelling, much of it through music. Throughout his childhood, he was built, given or bought tin cans, sticks, toy keyboards, piano accordions, nylon string guitars, and, later, clap sticks (bilma) and didgeridoos (yidaki). He learned foot stomping calling and whooping, vocalisations of traditional songs and their different sounds, and so much more." He later sang hymns in the mission choir and also enjoyed Western pop music, particularly Dire Straits, Cliff Richard, and Stevie Wonder. An adventurous child, he was taught how to play basketball and ride a push-bike around his community. He left school at the age of 12, having attended his local school, Shepherdson College, along with a brief stint at an institute in the Victorian city of Geelong for instruction in Braille,