Australian Aboriginal singer Ruby Hunter dies

SYDNEY (AP) – Ruby Hunter, one of Australia’s most respected Aboriginal singers, has died, her manager said Thursday. She was 54.

The songwriter from South Australia state was known for her rich, powerful voice and performances with husband Archie Roach in the contemporary indigenous group The Black Arm Band.

A colorful performer, Hunter’s songs and music touched on her personal history as well as indigenous and women’s issues. Her songs often delved into the tradition and culture of her land and people.

Hunter died Wednesday at her home in Victoria state with Roach by her side, according to a family statement released Thursday. Her manager, Jill Shelton, confirmed Hunter’s death but declined to comment. No cause of death was given.

“It’s a devastating loss for the Australian music industry,” Rob Collins of the Australasian Performing Right Association told The Associated Press. “It still hasn’t sunk in, and will not for a lot of people that collaborated with her, and who know and love her and Archie. I feel terribly for Archie and Ruby’s family, and my thoughts are with them at this time.”

At age 8, Hunter was removed from her family, becoming a member of the so-called Stolen Generations, one of thousands of Aboriginal children who were taken from their parents under state and federal laws based on now discredited assimilation policies.

She met Roach at 16 at a Salvation Army drop-in center in South Australia, and began writing her own songs. Her first album was released in 1994.

Her second album, “Feeling Good,” released in 2000, earned her the Female Performer of the Year award at the Deadly Sounds National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music Awards.

In 2004, Hunter and Roach collaborated with members of the Australian Art Orchestra to perform Ruby’s Story, a celebration of her life in songs the pair had written chronicling their experiences as members of the Stolen Generations.