Aussie music biz mourns loss of Lonely Boys lead singer

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following article may contain the voice or image of people who have died.

The Aussie music biz is mourning the passing of the lead singer of First Nations band The Lonely Boys’, whose name is suppressed here for cultural reasons.

The Lonely Boys’ singer died on Saturday, December 12, in a pedestrian accident on the Roper Highway near the 36-year-old’s hometown of Ngukurr, a music-obsessed remote community on the Roper River in Arnhem Land, NT.

The band blended their rock, punk and metal with didgeridoo and traditional singing.

In 2006 they won the Barunga Festival battle of the bands and made their city debut on Groovin’ The Moo Darwin the same year, They then signed with Darwin-based Skinnyfish Music, recorded their debut album in 2007, toured across the top end and received national attention in 2016 with the single ‘Murray Island’.

A year later, Queens of the Stone Age asked them to open at their Darwin show – which involved the band driving for nine hours from Ngukurr.

Their 2017 debut studio EP The Hunter was produced by ARIA-nominated Forrester Savell and James Mangohig with the track ‘Lonely Boys Anthem’ remixed in 2019 as part of the Skinnyfish Sound System project.

Michael Hohnen, on behalf of Skinnyfish Music, said: “We lost a big singer, writer and performer on the weekend. He was extremely talented, and artistic.

“He was everything a frontman can be – exhilarating, entertaining, commanding, chaotic, wild and confident.

“We are distressed and upset and are thinking of all the families in the South East Arnhem region as they process this loss.”

The singer is survived by his wife, children, band mates and extended community, some of whom played in the bands Broken English and Tribal Vision.

The Lonely Boys’ lead guitarist died in a car accident in October 2018.