Bart Willoughby is a 51 year old Indigenous Australian musician, noted for his pioneering fusion of reggae with Indigenous Australian musical influences, and for his contribution to growth of Indigenous music in Australia. A Pitjantjatjara man of the Mirning dreaming, his totem is the Great White Shark. He grew up at Koonibba Aboriginal Mission near Ceduna on the South Australian edge of the Nullarbor Plain on the Great Australian Bight and at 14 years of age after spending some time in a Boys' facility found his way to the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music at the University of Adelaide, where he was introduced to music then drumming, singing and guitar playing.

His musical career commenced in 1978 when he formed his first band, and Australia's first Indigenous rock band, No Fixed Address. During this period, he developed as a distinctive Indigenous Australian musician notable for his pioneering fusion of reggae music with Indigenous Australian influences.

In 1980 Willoughby starred with another indigenous band Us Mob in non indigenous director Ned Lander's movie about Aboriginal musicians Wrong Side of the Road. This film was a semi biographical drama concerning the racism levelled against Aboriginal musicians trying to get gigs in country pubs.

In 1982 he and his band toured Australia in support of Peter Tosh and a documentary of this tour was screened by SBS TV, Also during that year, he played drums with Shane Howard and Goanna. After the success of the Peter Tosh tour Willoughby and his band became the first Aboriginal band to travel overseas becoming cultural ambassadors for their people while touring Great Britain. A documentary of this tour (No Fixed Address in London) was produced and screened on SBS TV.

Returning to Australia Willoughby joined his cousin, Bunna Lawrie, and his newly formed band Coloured Stone playing with this group in 1984 and 1985 and on its Scottish tour where they appeared with k.d. lang at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival then returning to Australia where the band was awarded Best Indigenous Album at the 1986 Australian Music Awards for Human Love.

Willoughby reformed No Fixed Address in 1987 and in 1988 they toured Europe, including Eastern Bloc countries.

After that tour Willoughby directed, composed and recorded the music track using his band for Always Was - Always Will Be, produced, directed and written by Indigenous filmmaker Madelaine McGrady and screened on SBS TV in the same year.

Late in 1988 Willoughby was asked to join the newly formed Yothu Yindi as drummer on their Diesel & Dust tour, visiting 73 cities throughout the USA.

In 1989, he left Yothu Yindi to form a new band Mixed Relations, a band he still leads today, although at times he has reformed No Fixed Address.

In 1989 "Into the Mainstream" (1989) directed by Ned Lander and covering the 1988 Yothu Yindi Diesel & Dust Tour screened on SBS-TV and also screened internationally through its distributor Ronin Films.

In 1990 Willoughby was cast as "Ned the Computer Expert" in German director Wim Wenders' Until the End of the World starring William Hurt, Sam Neill and Indigenous actor Ernie Dingo as well as Aboriginal icons actor David Gulpilil and Aboriginal Australia's first gold record singer and Yorta Yorta elder, Jimmy Little.

In 1992 Willoughby was invited by Australia's first Indigenous feature film director Brian Syron to become the first Aboriginal to compose, play and direct the music track of a feature film Jindalee Lady. The film was invited to the International First Nations Art and Film Festival, "Dreamspeakers", in Edmonton, Canada in 1992 where it was acknowledge as the first feature film to be directed by a First Nation's director, Syron, and to have a music track composed and directed by a First Nations composer, Willoughby.

Following this festival both Syron and Willoughby were invited to attend the 1992 Hawaii International Film Festival where Jindalee Lady was nominated for the East West Award - Best Feature Film and in 1993 Jindalee Lady was then invited to screen at the Tinker Theatre, Woodstock, New York as part of the Woodstock Tribute to the International Year of Indigenous People.

In 1993, the International Year of Indigenous People, Willoughby and Mixed Relations were invited to attend the Los Angeles Indigenous Arts Festival, the London Indigenous Festival England and the Wanchai Music Festival, Hong Kong.

Willoughby received the 1993 Inaugural Indigenous ARIA Australian Music Lifetime Achievement Award for his Outstanding Contribution to Indigenous Music in Australia. The award was presented by Will Smith and screened on Channel 10.

In 1994 Willoughby with his eldest son Woonun Willoughby appeared in the docudrama "La Perouse" for the Museum of Sydney & Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales directed by Michael Riley and narrated by Justine Saunders AM.

During 1995 Willoughby took time out to work with his Pitjantjantjara community as Music Instructor to secondary school students at Yalata Anangu School, Yalata, South Australia where he taught drums, guitar and songwriting.

In 1997 Willoughby was selected and represented at Nygaramang Bayumi an exhibition about Indigenous Australian music and Dance at the Powerhouse Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney.

He was nominated for 1998 APRA (Australian Performing Rights Association) Best Indigenous Album for "Pathways"

In 2004, 2005, 2006 he was nominated for the Jimmy Little Lifetime Achievement Award at the Indigenous Deadly's for his contribution to Indigenous music in Australia.

Bart Willoughby is regarded as one of Australia's leading Aboriginal rock composers and performers and is widely known, loved and respected by Aboriginals for his work which includes Aboriginal classics such as "We Have Survived", "Aboriginal Woman" and "My Father is an Aboriginal Man".