Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst dies after pancreatic cancer battle
Updated ,first published
Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett has joined a growing chorus of music giants to pay tribute to Oil’s drummer Rob Hirst, who has died aged 70.
Hirst was battling advanced pancreatic cancer. The group said in a post on its Facebook page that he died peacefully “surrounded by his loved ones.”
“After fighting heroically for almost three years, Rob is now free of pain; ‘a little glimmer of light in the wilderness,'” Garrett said in a statement repeated on the group’s Facebook page.
“We are heartbroken and saddened by the loss of our brother Rob. No words for now, but there will always be songs.”
Tributes have poured in from rock royalty, with Jimmy Barnes saying on social media: “Rob Hirst had a huge impact on Australian culture. He was the engine that drove one of the greatest live bands of all time. RIP, dear Rob. You are irreplaceable.”
Blues guitarist Dom Turner, with whom Hirst played in The Backsliders, said he was “very saddened by the death of my musician brother”.
“Rob had incredible musical talent, intelligence, boundless physical and creative energy, a great sense of humor, and a passion for life. I am honored and blessed to have had over 20 years of adventures with Rob.”
Hirst was a founding member of the Australian band, formed in the 1970s and led by frontman Peter Garrett. The Oils became famous for their hits around the world. Power and Passion (1982), Beds on Fire (1987) and Blue Sky Mine (1990).
Hirst co-wrote the last two of these hit songs and many more, cementing the band’s global reputation as politically conscious rock stars.
Hirst was diagnosed with stage three pancreatic cancer in 2023, six months after the last Oils show at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.
In an interview with this masthead in November, Hirst mentioned that he sold his beloved drum kit for $90,000, which was bought by Oils fans and donated to the Australian Music Vault in Melbourne.
Hirst’s battered black Ludwig jersey, which he played for the Oils from 1979 to 2022, sold at auction for $90,000 ($80,000 above reserve) thanks to the fundraising clout of “rusted fans” known as Powderworkers.
“I can’t really play the drums anymore,” Hirst said at the time.
He optimistically reported that he was “hanging in there.” “I look at the bush and the jacarandas are completely gone. It’s such a beautiful time of year.”
Musician and journalist Sean Sennett remembered Hirst as a lovely friend and a curious man.
Sennett met Hirst at a songwriters’ workshop in Mount Macedon in the ’90s. They wrote a song together, but it took them 15 years to record it because they got along so well.
“I think we were struck by a great conversation. We would chat all the time. He wanted to know about my kids, we would talk about music, books, the politics of the day, and every conversation I had I would always get a laugh from him,” Sennett said.
Sennett said Hirst would push him out of his comfort zone, always wanting to walk to the lighthouse in Byron Bay rather than driving there. His active streak continued even when he was treated for cancer and his condition became terminal.
“I remember the day I heard [his diagnosis]”You hear about how quickly people die from pancreatic cancer, but he had such a will to live,” Sennett said. I said to him last Thursday: ‘Rob, you make good people look bad!’ “He would be there gardening or writing songs.”
Hirst, an accomplished singer and songwriter in his own right, recently released the EP. One Hundred Years or Moreguitarist Jim Moginie, along with his old school friend and Oils colleague and drummer Hamish Stuart.
On the EP, Hirst plays acoustic guitar, his songs filled with psychedelic sunshine and melody. “I realize this is a pretty existential group of songs, the titles are: Are We There Yet? And One Hundred Years or More” he told this imprint late last year.
“I guess I was thinking about longevity and longevity, even legacy. And of course that comes out in the songs, too.”
Sennett said he was pleased that Hirst’s achievements as both a songwriter, vocalist and drummer with Midnight Oil were recognized during his lifetime.
“Everyone knew his voice from those huge choruses – “do it, do it.” Dead Heartor kosciuszko. I think Midnight Oil fans were aware of him and Jim. [Moginie, guitarist] He wrote many songs.
“I mean, God, what a drummer he was. I introduced him to Max Weinberg from Bruce Springsteen’s band. Max is one of the best drummers in rock, and he saw Rob and said, ‘You’re a great drummer.’ Even Eddie Vedder [of Pearl Jam] He told me he thought Rob was great.
Hirst attended Mosman Primary School in Sydney, where he became prefect in 1967, alongside cricketer Allan Border and actor Tom Burlinson.
In his 2015 book Big Blue Sky, Garrett said he joined the group after seeing an ad. Sydney Morning Herald Hirst and Moginie began searching for a soloist before auditions were held in November 1973.
Hirst is survived by his wife Lesley Holland and daughters Lexi, Ella and Jay.
