Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu's final album, released nine months after the acclaimed musician's death, has become the first in an Australian Indigenous language to top music charts in Australia.
The album, Djarimirri (Child of the Rainbow), was over four years in the making and had a lot riding on its release, with Skinnyfish Music's Michael Hohnen admitting it was a financial and artistic risk. But it was one that paid off.
The album was hailed as a final message, heralded to continue Dr G's legacy as one of Australia's finest voices.
Djarimirri presents traditional songs and harmonised chants from Dr G Yunupingu's traditional Yolngu life, paired with orchestral arrangements by the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Recorded across many sessions over many years, the album was a labour of love produced by Michael Hohnen with orchestral arrangements by Erkki Veltheim.
Hohnen, a collaborator and friend of the late musician, said the album is a testament to Dr G, his family, all Yolngu and the greater Aboriginal population.
"The history he has made taking a true Australian language and heritage to number one proves the strength of the underlying cultural identity of this nation," Hohnen said.
"This is something we can all be proud of and we know that the support of the many people who have bought this album in the last week will be rewarded through the depth of cultural discovery that will unfold on repeated listens."
Dr G was a self-taught multi-instrumentalist from Galiwin'ku on Elcho Island just off the Arnhem Land coast.
Blind from birth, he played the guitar upside down with his left hand. He had no use for picks, instead he simply kept his fingernails long.
By his mid-teens he had joined Indigenous rock group Yothu Yindi and a little while later Hohnen convinced him to pursue a solo career.
He released his first album in 2008, sung almost entirely in his Yolngu language and promptly picked up ARIA awards for best independent release and best world album.
An impromptu duet with Sting in Paris in 2009 gave him global notoriety and set the reluctant star on a course he did not anticipate and at times did not seem to want.
Two more albums followed over the coming years — selling more than 500,000 copies worldwide — as well as guest performances for the likes of Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth II.
He has been described by Rolling Stone Magazine as "Australia's most important voice" while Sting described him as possessing a "voice of a higher being".
The Arnhem Land musician died last year at the age of 46 after a long battle with kidney and liver disease, following childhood hepatitus B.
In a rare exception to Yolngu lore, but a testament to the importance of Dr G's work, clan leaders have allowed his name and image to be used in a recently released documentary, simply titled Gurrumul, that gives an insight into the late Indigenous musician's life.
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