{"id":425097,"date":"2026-01-20T08:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T08:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425097\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T08:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T08:49:08","slug":"rob-hirst-midnight-oil-drummer-and-founding-member-dies-aged-70-midnight-oil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425097\/","title":{"rendered":"Rob Hirst, Midnight Oil drummer and founding member, dies aged 70 | Midnight Oil"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rob Hirst, the drummer and founding member of Australian rock band Midnight Oil<\/a>, has died aged 70.<\/p>\n

Hirst was diagnosed with stage three pancreatic cancer in 2023. The band confirmed his death on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter fighting heroically for almost three years, Rob is now free of pain – \u2018a glimmer of tiny light in the wilderness\u2019,\u201d they wrote in a statement on social media. \u201cHe died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones. The family asks that anyone wanting to honour Rob donate to Pankind, Pancreatic Cancer Australia<\/a> or Support Act<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2025 Hirst spoke about his support for voluntary assisted dying, which he was eligible for in New South Wales.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy should you have to die in terrible, drawn-out pain?\u201d he told the Australian<\/a>. \u201cWhen you\u2019ve had this amazing life \u2013 a life like I\u2019ve had \u2013 why should end-of-life be so \u00adhorrific when there\u2019s an alternative?\u201d<\/p>\n

Having formed Midnight Oil in 1976, Hirst was best known for his furious drumming abilities, but he was also the cowriter of the lyrics and melodies for many of the band\u2019s best-known songs including Beds Are Burning, The Dead Heart, Short Memory, The Power and the Passion, Forgotten Years and King of the Mountain.<\/p>\n

\u201cRob was brash, funny and super intelligent, contrary to the clich\u00e9d view of drummers,\u201d his band mate Jim Moginie wrote in his 2024 memoir The Silver River, calling him Midnight Oil\u2019s \u201cengine room, onstage and off\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hirst was also a member of several other bands: Ghostwriters, Backsliders, the Angry Tradesmen and the Break.<\/p>\n

Born in NSW in 1955, Hirst was given his first drum kit after a benign tumour was discovered in his right leg when he was 12 and he underwent surgery.<\/p>\n

Hirst formed a band with his school friend Moginie in 1972; the band was initially named Schwampy Moose, then Farm (which stood for Fucking All Right Mate).<\/p>\n

Hirst placed an advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald for a singer to join Farm, which Peter Garrett answered in 1975. With Garrett on vocals, Hirst on drums, Moginie on guitar and keyboards and Andrew James on bass, the four were joined by Martin Rotsey on guitar and their \u201csixth member\u201d, manager Gary Morris, and changed their name to Midnight Oil in 1976. James was later replaced by Peter Gifford, then Bones Hillman.<\/p>\n

Midnight Oil released 13 studio albums over almost 50 years. Hirst remained in the band until they took a prolonged hiatus in 2002, when Garrett left to pursue a career in federal politics. The band resumed playing in 2017.<\/p>\n

During another Oils hiatus in the 1990s, Hirst joined guitarist Andrew Dickson and Hoodoo Gurus bass guitarist Rick Grossman to form the Ghostwriters, who released four albums. He was also a member of the Backsliders, a blues group, with vocalist Dom Turner, with whom he also formed another band, the Angry Tradesman, which blended drum and bass and experimental post-punk.<\/p>\n

Hirst and his Oils bandmates Moginie and Rotsey also formed surf rock band the Break, with Violent Femmes bass player Brian Ritchie and Hunters & Collectors trumpet player Jack Howard. The Break released two albums, in 2010 and 2013.<\/p>\n

Hirst is survived by his wife, Leslie Holland, their two daughters Alexandra and Gabriella, and his eldest daughter Jay O\u2019Shea, also a musician, who was given up for adoption after she was born when Hirst was 17 and her mother was 15. O\u2019Shea and Hirst reunited in 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been absolutely better than anything anyone could ever ask for,\u201d he told the Australian in 2025, of his life. \u201cAnd so, if my life is attenuated by this tiny little tumour that threatens to do me in, then I will still consider myself incredibly fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rob Hirst, the drummer and founding member of Australian rock band Midnight Oil, has died aged 70. Hirst…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-425097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}