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Bart Willoughby
Bartholomew Edwin Willoughby OAM (born 1960) is an Aboriginal Australian musician, noted for his pioneering fusion of reggae with Indigenous Australian musical influences, and for his contribution to growth of Indigenous music in Australia. A multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and singer, he is known as a founder member and leader of the No Fixed Address, which was the first Aboriginal rock band in Australia, and the first Aboriginal band to travel overseas.
In 2024, Willoughby received the Ted Albert Award For Outstanding Services to Australian Music at the APRA Music Awards of 2024.
Bartholomew Edwin Willoughby was born in 1960 at Koonibba Mission, near Ceduna in South Australia. He is a Pitjantjatjara man and Mirning man on his mother's side (Southern right whale dreaming), and Kokatha on his father's side (wedge-tailed eagle dreaming). His father is from the Simpson Desert, and was raised traditionally, with Warlpiri as his first language, and artist Clifford Possum his best friend. His mother's family connections go as far as Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
He was removed from his family at Koonibba when he was three and placed in a children's home, making him one of the Stolen Generations. He contracted bone marrow disease when he was six years old, and was encased in plaster for two and a half years. However he discovered music at a young age in the children's home, as there were pianos and organs available.
When he was 16, Willoughby found his way to the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM) at the University of Adelaide, where he was introduced to music and met the members of his future band, who are all related. Among other teachers, he was impressed by opera singer Howard Bellaire. Leila Rankine, a founding member of CASM, helped to care for him and guide him during this time. His first professional performance was with a Salvation Army band.
Willoughby's musical career commenced in 1978, and in this period he developed as a distinctive Indigenous Australian musician notable for his pioneering fusion of reggae music with Aboriginal musical influences. He formed his first band, also Australia's first Indigenous rock band, No Fixed Address, in 1978, with Ricky Harrison, Leslie Lovegrove Freeman (aka Les Graham), John John Miller, and Veronica Rankine (daughter of Leila Rankine), who played saxophone. All of the members are related.
He also played with Jimmy Chi's newly-formed band Kuckles.
In 1979, No Fixed Address played its first large concert at the National Aboriginal Day event held in Taperoo, South Australia, and over the years played at numerous concerts for Aboriginal causes, including Rock Against Racism, the Artists Newsletter Association, the Campaign Against Racial Exploitation, and the National Aboriginal Country Music Festival.[citation needed] They toured with Cold Chisel (December 1980), Ian Dury and the Blockheads (November 1981), The Clash (February 1982),
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Bart Willoughby
Bartholomew Edwin Willoughby OAM (born 1960) is an Aboriginal Australian musician, noted for his pioneering fusion of reggae with Indigenous Australian musical influences, and for his contribution to growth of Indigenous music in Australia. A multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and singer, he is known as a founder member and leader of the No Fixed Address, which was the first Aboriginal rock band in Australia, and the first Aboriginal band to travel overseas.
In 2024, Willoughby received the Ted Albert Award For Outstanding Services to Australian Music at the APRA Music Awards of 2024.
Bartholomew Edwin Willoughby was born in 1960 at Koonibba Mission, near Ceduna in South Australia. He is a Pitjantjatjara man and Mirning man on his mother's side (Southern right whale dreaming), and Kokatha on his father's side (wedge-tailed eagle dreaming). His father is from the Simpson Desert, and was raised traditionally, with Warlpiri as his first language, and artist Clifford Possum his best friend. His mother's family connections go as far as Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
He was removed from his family at Koonibba when he was three and placed in a children's home, making him one of the Stolen Generations. He contracted bone marrow disease when he was six years old, and was encased in plaster for two and a half years. However he discovered music at a young age in the children's home, as there were pianos and organs available.
When he was 16, Willoughby found his way to the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM) at the University of Adelaide, where he was introduced to music and met the members of his future band, who are all related. Among other teachers, he was impressed by opera singer Howard Bellaire. Leila Rankine, a founding member of CASM, helped to care for him and guide him during this time. His first professional performance was with a Salvation Army band.
Willoughby's musical career commenced in 1978, and in this period he developed as a distinctive Indigenous Australian musician notable for his pioneering fusion of reggae music with Aboriginal musical influences. He formed his first band, also Australia's first Indigenous rock band, No Fixed Address, in 1978, with Ricky Harrison, Leslie Lovegrove Freeman (aka Les Graham), John John Miller, and Veronica Rankine (daughter of Leila Rankine), who played saxophone. All of the members are related.
He also played with Jimmy Chi's newly-formed band Kuckles.
In 1979, No Fixed Address played its first large concert at the National Aboriginal Day event held in Taperoo, South Australia, and over the years played at numerous concerts for Aboriginal causes, including Rock Against Racism, the Artists Newsletter Association, the Campaign Against Racial Exploitation, and the National Aboriginal Country Music Festival.[citation needed] They toured with Cold Chisel (December 1980), Ian Dury and the Blockheads (November 1981), The Clash (February 1982),