{"id":2064966,"date":"2026-07-28T06:28:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T03:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2064966"},"modified":"2026-07-28T06:28:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T03:28:52","slug":"blues-voice-marlene-cummins-and-saltwater-band-announced-as-2026-nimas-hall-of-fame-inductees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2064966","title":{"rendered":"Blues Voice Marlene Cummins and Saltwater Band Announced as 2026 NIMAs Hall of Fame Inductees"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Marlene-Cummins-e1785219807846.jpg?w=750″]<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThe National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAs) have named blues musician Marlene Cummins and Elcho Island\u2019s Saltwater Band as the 2026 Hall of Fame inductees, ahead of the ceremony in Darwin next month.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tExplore\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tBillboard\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tCummins \u2014 a Guguyelandji woman on her father\u2019s side and Woppaburra on her mother\u2019s \u2014 is regarded as one of Australia\u2019s leading Indigenous female blues voices. Born in Cunnamulla, Queensland, she studied saxophone and songwriting at Boston\u2019s Berklee College of Music and has worked across music, broadcasting, activism, dance and acting. <\/p>\n

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\n\tHer career has included award-winning radio work, the documentary Black Panther Woman<\/em>, which chronicled her own history within the Australian Black Panther movement, and the song \u201cKoori Woman,\u201d written as a dedication to Indigenous women.<\/p>\n

\n\tSaltwater Band, from Galiwin\u2019ku on Elcho Island, are recognised for a catalogue that threaded traditional song through reggae and ska-influenced pop, sung mostly in Yol\u014bu languages. The band\u2019s most prominent member was the late Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, already a Hall of Fame inductee \u2014 inducted by fellow founding member Manuel Dhurrkay \u2014 who went on to become the most commercially successful Aboriginal Australian musician in history.<\/p>\n

\n\tBefore co-founding Saltwater Band, Yunupingu played in Yothu Yindi, the internationally recognised group behind the landmark 1991 single \u201cTreaty.\u201d His solo debut Gurrumul<\/em> (2008) reached No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart and won two ARIA Awards, and he sold an estimated half a million records worldwide before his death in 2017 at 46. Saltwater Band earned multiple NIMAs and Deadly Awards across their career, with their album Djarridjarri<\/em> nominated for the ARIA Award for Best World Music Album in 2004.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 2026 NIMAs take place at Darwin Amphitheater in Garramilla\/Darwin on Saturday, Aug. 8, hosted by Rob Collins and Leila Gurruwiwi. The performance lineup features Baker Boy, Electric Fields, BIG NOTER, Stiff Gins, Bumpy, Casii Williams, South Summit and Zipporah, with more to be announced. The night\u2019s Artist of the Year nominees include 3%, Baker Boy, Birdz and Fred Leone, Bumpy, Jem Cassar-Daley, Miss Kaninna and South Summit.<\/p>\n

\n\tAhead of the ceremony, the Blak Loud Showcase \u2014 presented by Amazon Music Australia and Awesome Blak \u2014 will serve as the unofficial opening night at Darwin\u2019s Bustard Town on Aug. 7, featuring South Summit, Zipporah and Casii Williams. Free RSVPs are available through the NIMA website.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/awards\/marlene-cummins-saltwater-band-2026-nimas-hall-of-fame-inductees-1236304119\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Marlene-Cummins-e1785219807846.jpg?w=750″] Trending on Billboard The National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAs) have named blues musician Marlene Cummins and Elcho Island\u2019s Saltwater Band as the 2026 Hall of Fame inductees, ahead of the ceremony in Darwin next month. Explore Billboard See latest videos, charts and news Cummins \u2014 a Guguyelandji woman on her father\u2019s side […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2064966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2064966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2064966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2064966\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2064966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2064966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2064966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}