WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised the following article contains the name and photograph of an Indigenous person who has died.
January 30, 2026
Cherbourg-born mezzo-soprano singer Maroochy Barambah – who also had a surprise hit on the US dance music charts – died on January 28, aged 70.
Maroochy, who was born Yvette Isaacs, went through the Cherbourg dormitory system before being sent to live with a foster family in Victoria.
She later attended the former Melba Conservatorium of Music in Melbourne.
Maroochy, who changed her name in 1982 “as a statement of pride”, made her operatic debut on stage in 1989 with “Black River” and later also starred in the 1993 movie of the same name.
The film was nominated for an Australian Film Institute award for Best Screenplay and won the 1994 Montreal International Festival of Films on Art Jury Prize for Adapted Screenplay of the Year.
Maroochy also appeared in the popular musical Bran Nue Dae and the TV series, Women Of The Sun.
In 1994, she released a CD and vinyl single, “Mongungi”, which was recorded and mixed in New York and launched on the Barambah Creek flats at Cherbourg.
The video which accompanied the release featured Cherbourg children.
Maroochy also worked extensively over the past five decades with non-Indigenous communities, lecturing on cultural matters.
She was a respected Turrbal Elder but also had ties to the Gubbi Gubbi, Wakka Wakka, Kamilaroi and Birri Gubba peoples.
Maroochy is survived by her daughters, Baringa and Kulkarawa and her grandson, Dalapai.
[UPDATED with correction]
Very sad to hear of Maroochy’s passing. She was a very important Aboriginal artist and a pioneer for her people. The film Black River won the Opera Screen Best Opera Award in Paris against all the operas filmed for that year but did not involve Bangarra. One of the performers had been a dancer with them.
I directed the opera Black River which had three seasons in Sydney and Melbourne and commissioned Beach Dreaming, an opera that toured NSW schools which was written for and starred Maroochy.
Thought you may be interested to know some more.
She will be sadly missed.
– John Wregg
Thank you, John, for the clarification. We will amend the news report.
What an incredible person and ambassador she was for her culture and music more broadly!
I remember the first time I heard her deliver a Welcome to Country in song at an event I attended in Brisbane many years ago. It was so powerfully delivered and grounded in her deep understanding of where she came from.
Rest in Peace.