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Rob Hirst has died aged 70. After a nearly three-year battle with pancreatic cancer, the Midnight Oil drummer died peacefully surrounded by his family, according to media reports.
He leaves behind his wife Lesley Holland and three daughters Gabriella, Lex and Jay.
Donations instead of flowers
“After a nearly three-year heroic battle, Rob is now pain-free,” his bandmates said in an obituary on Midnight Oil’s social media channels. Rob Hirst died in the presence of his loved ones. The family requests donations be made to Pankind Australia and Support Act in lieu of flowers.
Career: From Camden to world fame
Rob Hirst was born on September 3, 1955 and grew up in Camden in Sydney’s west before his family moved to the Northern Beaches. After his first musical attempts in school bands, he founded the band Farm together with Jim Moginie in 1972, from which Midnight Oil would later emerge.
Shortly afterwards, frontman Peter Garrett and guitarist Martin Rotsey joined the rock group – a constellation that would last five decades. Hirst and Moginie initially formed the creative center of the band, before Garrett later established himself as a songwriter.
Musical legacy and political commitment
Known for his powerful drumming – and later for manipulating a steel tank during the song “Power and the Passion” – Rob Hirst was instrumental in shaping Midnight Oil’s sound. In the hard pub rock era of the 1970s and 1980s, the band established itself as a particularly rousing live act.
Midnight Oil differed from other Australian pub rock bands because of their strong political commitment. The musicians critically engaged with politicians and corporations and became passionate advocates for the rights of Australia’s indigenous population.
Illness and final years
In April 2023, Hirst was diagnosed with stage three pancreatic cancer – just six months after Midnight Oil played their last concert at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion in October 2022.