King Stingray can’t go anywhere this year without taking home a few awards. The Northeast Arnhem Land rockers have added a couple of National Indigenous Music Awards to their haul, which already included an ARIA, the Australian Music Prize, the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Prize and multiple AIR Awards.
The 2023 NIMAs took place at Darwin Amphitheatre on Larrakia Country overnight. The event featured performances from co-host Fred Leone, award recipients Thelma Plum and Budjerah, and more. See all the winners below.
King Stingray – ‘Let’s Go’
Plum and Budjerah won Album of the Year and Artist of the Year, respectively. Yothu Yindi were inducted into to NIMA Hall of Fame and surprised the audience with a performance of their enduring civil rights hit ‘Treaty’. Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu of King Stingray stood in for his late uncle, the band’s founding vocalist Dr M Yunupiŋu.
King Stingray were awarded Song of the Year and Film Clip of the Year for ‘Let’s Go’. Arnhem Land hard rockers Wildfire Manwurrk were the only other act to receive multiple honours, taking home the Archie Roach Foundation Award and Community Clip of the Year for ‘Mararradj’.
2023 National Indigenous Music Awards
Artist of the Year
- Budjerah
New Talent of the Year
- Bumpy
Film Clip of the Year
- King Stingray – ‘Let’s Go’
Song of the Year
- King Stingray – ‘Let’s Go’
Album of the Year
- Thelma Plum – Meanjin (EP)
Community Clip of the Year
- Wildfire Manwurrk – ‘Mararradj’
Indigenous Language Award
- Ngulmiya – Ngulmiya
Hall of Fame
- Yothu Yindi
Archie Roach Foundation Award
- Wildfire Manwurrk
Further Reading
King Stingray and Genesis Owusu Win Big at 2023 AIR Awards
Performers Announced for National Indigenous Music Awards 2023: Barkaa, Thelma Plum, Budjerah + More
