| Freedom | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 8 November 1993 | |||
| Genre | Aboriginal rock | |||
| Length | 53:05 | |||
| Label | Mushroom | |||
| Producer | Ian Faith and Bill Laswell | |||
| Yothu Yindi chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Freedom | ||||
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Freedom is the third studio album by Australian band, Yothu Yindi released in 1993. The album peaked at number 31 on the ARIA charts.
At the ARIA Music Awards of 1994, the album was nominated for ARIA Award for Best Indigenous Release.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Q |   [2] |
| AllMusic | [3] |
| Chart (1993–1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA) [4] | 31 |
| Country | Date | Format | Label | Catalogue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | November 1993 | CD, cassette | Mushroom | D53380 |
Yothu Yindi are an Australian musical group with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members, formed in 1986 as a merger of two bands formed in 1985 – a white rock group called the Swamp Jockeys, and an unnamed Aboriginal folk group consisting of Mandawuy Yunupingu, Witiyana Marika, and Milkayngu Mununggur. The Aboriginal members came from Yolngu homelands near Yirrkala on the Gove Peninsula in Northern Territory's Arnhem Land. Founding members included Stuart Kellaway on bass guitar, Cal Williams on lead guitar, Andrew Belletty on drums, Witiyana Marika on manikay, bilma and dance, Milkayngu Mununggurr on yidaki, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu on keyboards, guitar, and percussion, past lead singer Mandawuy Yunupingu and present Yirrnga Yunupingu on vocals and guitar.
Homeland Movement is the debut studio album by Australian rock band Yothu Yindi that was released in April 1989 on the Mushroom Records label. The album peaked at number 59 on the ARIA Chart in 1992.
Tribal Voice is the second studio album by Yothu Yindi, released in September 1991 on the Mushroom Records label. The album peaked at number 4 on the ARIA Charts and was certified 2× Platinum.
Birrkuta – Wild Honey is the fourth studio album by Australian band, Yothu Yindi. It was released in November 1996 via Mushroom Records. It was co-produced by Lamar Lowder and Andrew Farriss.
Indigenous or Aboriginal rock is a style of music which mixes rock music with the instrumentation and singing styles of Indigenous peoples. Two countries with prominent Aboriginal rock scenes are Australia and Canada.
One Blood is the fifth studio album by Australian group, Yothu Yindi that was released internationally in 1998 via Epic Records and in Australia in July 1999. The album peaked at number 43 on the ARIA charts.
Garma is the sixth and final studio album by Australian band, Yothu Yindi that was released in August 2000 via Mushroom Records. The album peaked at number 66 on the ARIA Charts.
Mandawuy Djarrtjuntjun Yunupingu, formerly Tom Djambayang Bakamana Yunupingu, and also known as Dr Yunupingu, was a teacher and musician, and frontman of the Aboriginal rock group Yothu Yindi from 1986. He was an Aboriginal Australian man of the Yolŋu people, with a skin name of Gudjuk.
Galarrwuy Yunupingu, also known as James Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Dr Yunupingu, was an Indigenous Australian activist who was a leader in the Aboriginal Australian community. He was involved in Indigenous land rights throughout his career. He was a Yolngu man of the Gumatj clan, from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. He was the 1978 Australian of the Year.
Blekbala Mujik are an Australian rock, reggae group formed in Barunga, Northern Territory in 1986. They fused rock and reggae with a pop, dance sound and have support base for their live shows and recordings. They are cited in the World Music: The Rough Guide as next best known to Yothu Yindi. The band sings in English and in Kriol. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1996 their album, Blekbala Mujik, was nominated for Best Indigenous Release.
Yunupingu, also spelt Yunupiŋu, is the family name of a number of notable Aboriginal Australians from the Yolŋu people of Arnhem Land, who are closely connected with the Marika and Gurruwiwi families.
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, commonly known as Gurrumul and also referred to since his death as Dr G. Yunupingu, was a Yolŋu Aboriginal Australian musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he played drums, keyboards, guitar 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. He began his career as a member of Yothu Yindi and later Saltwater Band, and his solo career brought him wider acclaim 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.
Saltwater Band are an Indigenous roots band from Galiwin'ku on Elcho Island, around 560 kilometres from Darwin. The members are Yolngu and they sing mostly in Yolngu languages. Their songs are a mixture of traditional songs and reggae/ska influenced pop. One member of the band, the late Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, is a close relative of Mandawuy Yunupingu of Yothu Yindi and was a past member of Yothu Yindi.
The Sixth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 6 March 1992 at the World Congress Centre in Melbourne. Hosts were international guest, Julian Lennon and local Richard Wilkins, they were assisted by presenters, Spinal Tap, Rod Stewart, Mick Jones and others to distribute 24 awards. There were live performances and for the first time the awards were televised.
"Treaty" is a protest song by Australian musical group Yothu Yindi, which is made up of Aboriginal and balanda (non-Aboriginal) members. Released in June 1991, "Treaty" was the first song by a predominantly Aboriginal band to chart in Australia and was the first song partly in any Aboriginal Australian language to gain extensive international recognition, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play singles charts. The song contains lyrics in Gumatj, one of the Yolngu Matha dialects and a language of the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land in northern Australia.
The NT Indigenous Music Awards 2007 were the 4th annual National Indigenous Music Awards, established by MusicNT. The awards ceremony was held in August 2007.
Witiyana Marika is an Aboriginal Australian musician, filmmaker and elder, known for being a founding member of the band Yothu Yindi and producer of the film High Ground.
King Stingray is an Australian rock band from Northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. With a sound self-described as "Yolŋu surf rock", the band perform songs with lyrics in both English and Yolŋu Matha. King Stingray released their debut single, "Hey Wanhaka", in October 2020, and their self-titled debut album on 5 August 2022.
Gavin Campbell is an Australian club DJ and remixer based in Melbourne, Victoria. He created the dance music production outfit known as Filthy Lucre, which is known for its 1991 remix of Yothu Yindi's single, "Treaty", known as "Treaty ".
Stephen Maxwell Johnson is an Australian filmmaker, best known for his films Yolngu Boy (2001) and High Ground (2020). He is also known for directing Yothu Yindi's music videos in the late 1980s to early 1990s.
