His father is from the Simpson Desert, and was raised traditionally,[5] with Warlpiri as his first language, and artist Clifford Possum his best friend.
[7] He formed his first band, also Australia's first Indigenous rock band, No Fixed Address, in 1978,[3][4] with Ricky Harrison, Leslie Lovegrove Freeman (aka Les Graham[8]), John John Miller,[2] and Veronica Rankine (daughter of Leila Rankine[9]), who played saxophone.
[citation needed] They toured with Cold Chisel (December 1980), Ian Dury and the Blockheads (November 1981), The Clash (February 1982),[12] Their 1982 single "We Have Survived", written by Willoughby when he was just 18,[6] became an instant classic of protest music.
[13] Late in 1988, Willoughby was asked to play drums for Yothu Yindi and native American author and activist John Trudell, supporting Midnight Oil on their 1989 US and Canada Diesel & Dust tour.
[3][4] From its inception, Mixed Relations toured extensively throughout the Aboriginal communities, Australian cities, Pacific Islands, New Zealand, and Hawaii.
[18] Following work in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, and Surfers Paradise, Queensland, on the film Until the End of the World, Willoughby toured Australia with Shane Howard and his band.
[5] After an hiatus of 20 years, No Fixed Address re-formed in 2008, and played at the Dreaming Festival in Woodford, Queensland, where they released a limited edition CD copy of From My Eyes.
[19] In November 2008, Willoughby played with the band at the Tarerer Festival at Killarney,[20] and a week later at the Australasian World Music Expo in Melbourne.
[8] In 1980, Willoughby starred with another Indigenous band, Us Mob, in Ned Lander's film about Aboriginal musicians, called Wrong Side of the Road.
[13] No Fixed Address were the first Aboriginal band to perform on the long-running ABC Television show Countdown[8] in October 1982, which was guest hosted by Tina Turner.
[14] 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, Ernie Dingo, David Gulpilil, and Jimmy Little.
[citation needed] In 2011, Willoughby appeared with other artists of the Black Arm Band in the documentary film Murundak: Songs of Freedom,[14] directed by Natasha Gadd and Rhys Graham.
[14] In 2023, he led one of a series of music and art workshops for children organised by Yarra City Council, "The Colour and Sound of My Totem".
[14] Sol Bellear, acting commissioner of the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Commission, in presenting the award to Willoughby, said : "Indigenous music has certainly come a long way in recent times.
From 10 years ago out back of Australia, in outback hotels to internationally through Yothu Yindi, through Kev Carmody, through Archie Roach and many, many more.
[14] In 2023, Bart Willoughby was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the General Division, for service to the performing arts, particularly through music.