Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst dead at 70
Rob Hirst, drummer with the Australian rock band Midnight Oil, has died aged 70.
Hirst was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2023, which Midnight Oil have since confirmed as his cause of death.
The band said in a statement on social media on January 20th, “After fighting heroically for almost three years, Rob is now free of pain – ‘a glimmer of tiny light in the wilderness’. He died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones.”
Midnight Oil also urged fans, “The family asks that anyone wanting to honour Rob donate to Pankind Australia or Support Act.”
In a later post, his bandmates mourned the loss of Hirst, writing, “We are shattered and grieving the loss of our brother Rob. For now there are no words but there will always be songs. Love Always from Jim, Martin & Pete.”
The chart-topping Aussie band were formed in 1972 with Hirst serving as a founding member. Additionally, he contributed writing credits to many of their most beloved songs, as well as delivering backing vocals.
Outside of Midnight Oil, Hirst also played in a number of other bands, including Ghostwriters, Backsliders, the Angry Tradesmen and the Break.
With Midnight Oil, their glory years began during the early 1980s with their 1982 album, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, which has gone 7x Platinum in Australia. Their next three albums then went on to top the charts domestically.
The band embarked on a hiatus in 2002 when singer Peter Garrett moved into politics to represent the Labor Party. They eventually reunited in 2016, releasing two more number one albums before parting ways on their term with a final tour in 2022, ending with an epic three-and-a-half-hour hometown show at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney.
Following his diagnosis, Hirst spoke openly about his battle, tragically telling ABC Radio Sydney, “The diagnosis happened about six months after Midnight Oil finally stopped playing, which was the 3rd of October 2022 at the Hordern Pavilion. Everything was going along and looking forward to retirement, and then bang, it hits you.”
However, he was surrounded by love until the end, sharing, “One of the silver linings I think with battles people face … is that maybe you don’t really appreciate the love, friendship, attention, care that comes back at you when something serious happens to you.”
Hirst is survived by his wife, Leslie Holland, and his three daughters.
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