Roach, Archie (1956-2022), was an Australian Aboriginal singer, songwriter, and activist for Indigenous rights. Musically, Roach was known for his folk and blues songs, which were often about his experiences as an Aboriginal man. Other songs commented on Aboriginal political and cultural issues. Roach was also known for his frequent collaborations with his wife, the Australian Aboriginal singer and songwriter Ruby Hunter. 
Archibald William Roach was born on Jan. 8, 1956, at Framlingham Aboriginal Mission in Mooroopna, Victoria. Through his parents, Roach was a member of the Bundjalung and Gunditjmara peoples. Roach was a member of the group later known as the Stolen Generations. The Stolen Generations were Aboriginal children who were separated from their parents by the Australian government and forced to live in foster homes or institutions. Roach was taken from his family as a toddler and sent into the foster care system.
Roach was eventually placed with a foster family living in Melbourne, Victoria, whom he lived with until he was a teenager. At age 15, after he received a letter from his sister explaining that he had been forcibly taken away from his parents and siblings, Roach ran away to try to find his Aboriginal family and rediscover his heritage.
Roach spent the next period of his life living on the streets of Sydney and other Australian cities. He met Hunter, another member of the Stolen Generations, while living in Adelaide. Roach and Hunter began collaborating on music. In the late 1980’s, they formed a band called Altogether with other Aboriginal musicians. Roach and Hunter raised a family together, including several foster children.
Roach’s most famous song, “Took the Children Away,” tells the story of the day he was taken from his family. The song was released on his debut solo album, Charcoal Lane (1990). It helped bring global awareness to the Stolen Generations. In 1991, Roach became the first songwriter to win a Human Rights Achievement Award for his work on the song. Roach won two Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Awards for Charcoal Lane. His other award-winning albums include Looking for Butter Boy (1997) and Sensual Being (2002). Roach also recorded an album, Ruby (2005), with Hunter as part of a collaboration with the Australian Art Orchestra.
In 2015, Roach was named a Member of the Order of Australia. His memoir, Tell Me Why: The Story of My Life and My Music, was published in 2019 with an accompanying album by the same name. Roach won numerous ARIA Awards for his albums Tell Me Why and The Songs of Charcoal Lane (2020). He was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2020. Roach died on July 30, 2022.
