Band member of prominent Tiwi Islands R&B group B2M dies, aged 59

A SENIOR band member of Tiwi Islands group B2M has died at the age of 59.

A senior band member of Tiwi Islands group B2M has died at the age of 59.

A SENIOR band member of Tiwi Islands group B2M has died at the age of 59.

Mr Orsto, who cannot be fully named or pictured for cultural reasons, died on Monday after suffering heart complications.

Skinnyfish Music managing director Mark Grose said the man would be dearly missed.

“Mr Orsto was the heart of B2M, a quiet but powerful influence on the band,” Mr Grose said. “His sense of humour always had everyone laughing and his cultural guidance was essential when including Tiwi traditional content in B2M’s songs.

“He was greatly loved by everyone who met him and he will be greatly missed by those that love him.”

B2M, which stands for Bathurst to Melville were an Indigenous Australian vocal harmony group, creating positive pop/R&B songs with a traditional Tiwi twist, inspiring a generation of Indigenous young people to make better lifestyle choices.

The band was formed in 2004 and released their album ‘Home’ in 2015 that included the single ‘Palingarri’ which has been viewed over 360,000 times on YouTube.

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The band has toured extensively overseas including to China, Indonesia, Ireland and East Timor.

They completed their final Australian tour in 2018.