Thelma Plum

Thelma Amelina Plumbe (born 21 December 1994), known professionally as Thelma Plum, is an Aboriginal Australian (Gamilaraay) singer, songwriter, guitarist and musician from Delungra, New South Wales. Her debut album, Better in Blak, was released on 30 July 2019 and peaked at number 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Plum has received various accolades, including for Best Cover Art at the 2019 ARIA Music Awards for Dennis Pfitzner's artwork. Thelma Amelina Plumbe was born on 21 December 1994[user-generated source] in Brisbane. She is a Gamilaraay woman from Delungra, New South Wales. Plum graduated from the Music Industry College, Brisbane and spent most of her early life in that city. In May 2012, Plum uploaded the tracks "Blackbird" and "Father Said" onto Triple J Unearthed and in July 2012, won the inaugural Triple J's National Indigenous Unearthed Music competition and was nominated for a Deadly award for Most Promising New Talent. "Father Said" was released in November 2012 as her official debut single. Plum released her debut extended play, Rosie, in March 2013 and followed with her second EP, Monsters (July 2014). By that time she had relocated to Melbourne. Plum appeared at Womadelaide in 2014 and 2019, has toured around Australia and has been on rotation nationally on Triple J. Plum released her debut album, Better in Blak, in July 2019. The video for the single, "Better in Blak", was nominated for Film Clip of the Year at the National Indigenous Music Awards. In October 2019 she came at No. 7 in Happy Mag's list of "The 15 Australian female artists changing the game right now." At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019 she received six nominations and won Best Cover Art for Emilie Pfitzner's work on her album. The Better In Blak album became a collection of anthems for Blak women. In January 2020, Plum became the highest ranking Indigenous artist ever in the Triple J Hottest 100, when "Better in Blak" charted at number 9. Two months later, she was diagnosed with COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, Plum released a cover of Powderfinger's "These Days". In October, she performed at the 2020 AFL Grand Final. In July 2022, Plum announced the forthcoming release of her third EP, Meanjin, alongside its second single "When It Rains It Pours". Meanjin, is Plum's "love letter" to Brisbane and was written on her balcony in lockdown due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Plum's Meanjin EP won Album Of The Year at the 2023 National Indigenous Music Awards. In November 2022, Plum announced the forthcoming release of When Rosie Met Monsters, compiling the EPs Rosie and Monsters together on vinyl, CD and cassette. In November 2023, Plum released "We Don't Talk About It", the first new music in over twelve months. Her second studio album I'm Sorry, Now Say It Back was released in October 2024. The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. Plum has been nominated for two awards. The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Thelma Plum won an award from six nominations in 2019. The Australian Music Prize (the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. The Australian Women in Music Awards is an annual event that celebrates outstanding women in the Australian Music Industry who have made significant and lasting contributions in their chosen field. They commenced in 2018. The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005. The National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAs) is an annual awards ceremony that recognises the achievements of Indigenous Australians in music. Thelma Plum has won two awards. The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016. The Queensland Music Awards (previously known as Q Song Awards) are annual awards celebrating Queensland, Australia's brightest emerging artists and established legends. They commenced in 2006. The Rolling Stone Australia Awards are awarded annually in January or February by the Australian edition of Rolling Stone magazine for outstanding contributions to popular culture in the previous year. The Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition is an annual competition that "acknowledges great songwriting whilst supporting and raising money for Nordoff-Robbins" and is coordinated by Albert Music and APRA AMCOS. It commenced in 2009. "Thelma Plum: On a Roll". The Weekly Review Eastern. 14 February 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2021. "Thelma Plum announces debut album 'Better In Blak' with new video". Warner Music Australia. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019. Lynch, Jessica (23 August 2024). "Thelma Plum Announces New Album 'Created with Love, Heartache, Forgiveness'". Rolling Stone. Thelma Plum, the acclaimed Gamilaraay artist Nguyen, Giselle Au-Nhien (19 October 2024). "Thelma Plum: I'm Sorry, Now Say It Back review – anthems of care and conviction". The Guardian. The Gamilaraay musician's second album is filled with light and shade, resilience and humour "'Around Here' at APRA search engine". APRA AMCOS. Retrieved 30 November 2019. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:' @thelmaplum; (21 August 2021). "Hot girls get vaxxed". Retrieved 1 September 2021 – via Instagram. Mathieson, Craig (8 July 2019). "Thelma Plum: 'I was lucky ... to take a bad situation and make something beautiful'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 November 2019. Shedden, Iain (27 July 2012). "Singer wants her indigenous culture to shine". The Australian. Retrieved 1 September 2021. "Six of best in rosy debut", Gold Coast Sun - Central, 17 July 2013 Fedele, Robert (13 June 2014). "Singer-songwriter Thelma Plum branches out". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 October 2016. "Landing a Plum Role", Hobart Mercury, 2 May 2013 "Music Plum Sound", The Cairns Post, 30 May 2013 Fedele, Robert (16 June 2014), "Unearthed and on the road to stardom", The Age NOEL MENGEL (25 September 2012). "Teen singer Thelma Plum in tune with her culture at the Deadlys". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 4 October 2016. "Welcoming back in 2019". Womadelaide. Retrieved 4 September 2019. MEL EVANS (15 November 2014). "Singer Thelma Plum loving life on the road during her national tour". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 October 2016. Gallagher, Allison (29 May 2019). "Thelma Plum announces debut album 'Better In Blak', National Tour dates & shares moving new video". Music Feeds. Retrieved 31 May 2019. "National Indigenous Music Awards unveils 2019 Nominations". National Indigenous Music Awards. July 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019. "Record Breaking Crowd for the 2019 National Indigenous Music Awards!". National Indigenous Music Awards. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019. "The 15 Australian female artists changing the game right now". Retrieved 30 October 2019. "ARIA Awards: 2019 Fine Arts & Artisan Winners Announced". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 10 October 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019. Howarth, Madison (12 August 2022). "Thelma Plum on her new EP 'Meanjin': "I've put so much into these songs… I feel very exposed, very vulnerable"". NME. Retrieved 29 July 2023. "Thelma Plum has transformed trauma into Hottest 100 history". ABC. January 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020. "Thelma Plum has been diagnosed with coronavirus". ABC. 15 March 2020. "Thelma Plum shares gorgeous cover of Powderfinger's "These Days"". ABC. 28 May 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020. "All-Aussie music lineup