King Stingray
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Artist · chart history

King Stingray

Band Formed 2020 Yolŋu‐surf‐rock band from Yirrkala NT

King Stingray formed in 2020. King Stingray has 8 chart appearances on 4 radio countdowns from 1 station on RockLists, spanning 2021–2023. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Yellow (originally by Coldplay)”, which appears on 1 list with a best position of #7. The station that charted King Stingray most often is Triple J (Australia (national)), with 8 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2022.

8appearances
4countdowns
8songs charted
1stations
0#1 finishes
2021–2023years

King Stingray call what they do "Yolŋu surf rock", and the tag fits: this is a band from Northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory playing sunlit, jangling guitar rock with songs sung in both English and Yolŋu Matha. They formed in 2020 and put out their first single, "Hey Wanhaka", that October. Roy Kellaway, who helped start the band, plays guitar; Dimathaya Burarrwanga sings and plays guitar too; Campbell Messer holds down the bass, Lewis Stiles the drums, and Ngalakan "Billy" Wanambi adds his voice up front.

Their self-titled debut album arrived in 2022, and songs like "Camp Dog", "Let's Go" and "Milkumana" crackle with road-trip energy, all chiming riffs and shouted, communal choruses. For the Dreams followed in 2024, with "Lookin' Out" carrying that same open-hearted rush. They also made Coldplay's "Yellow" their own. The band has picked up ARIA, AIR and National Indigenous Music Awards recognition along the way.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

Songs by King Stingray on radio countdowns

#SongStrengthListsBest#1sPeak year
1 Yellow (originally by Coldplay)
94
1 #7 – –
2 Camp Dog
74
1 #27 – 2022
3 Let's Go
66
1 #35 – 2022
4 Yellow (Like a Version)
58
1 #43 – 2022
5 Get Me Out
55
1 #46 – 2021
6 Lookin' Out
48
1 #53 – 2023
7 Milkumana
45
1 #56 – 2021
8 Lupa
7
1 #94 – 2022

Albums with charting songs

Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.

Year-end chart timeline

Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.

Every countdown appearance

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