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Rob Hirst
FYI
Obituaries: The Tragically Hip, Denise Donlon and Others Remember Midnight Oil's Rob Hirst
This week we also acknowledge the passing of reggae luminary Stephen 'Cat' Coore, pioneering jazz guitarist Ralph Towner and Montreal beatboxer and comic Ej Brulé.
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Ej Brulé, (born Stephen John Burns), a Montreal beatboxer and comedian who was a popular performer on that city's underground scene, died on Jan. 19, at age 69. A cause of death has not been reported.
Word of his passing was posted on his Facebook page. The post called him "an unstoppable performer — even when he wasn’t on stage. He loved telling jokes, spinning tall tales, and making people laugh. In true Steve fashion, he and Anne [Woolgar] were even married on stage at the Just For Laughs Festival (though he took his vows very seriously)."
"Over the years, he tried his hand at many forms of expression — from scat and hip hop to stand-up comedy, performing in local Montreal clubs throughout the 1990s. He had a big personality, spoke his mind, and lived authentically — no airs, no pretenses, just Steve being Steve."
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"He will be deeply missed and fondly remembered for his humor, his heart, and the unforgettable presence he brought into every room. Rest well, Steve."
In 1989, Brulé independently released an album entitled Freedom Of Speech, describing himself then as "an alternative scat singer." It featured material he self-produced at Montreal's Studio Parametre alongside tracks recorded direct to digital in Morris Apelbaum's living room.
He occasionally collaborated with adventurous Montreal duo Wetfish, contributing his beatboxing skills.
Brulé gained some national exposure in the late 1980s by being featured on Volumes 2, 3 and 4 of It Came From Canada, the influential series of compilation albums released by Montreal indie label Og Records.
Amongst those posting tributes on Facebook was fellow veteran Montreal singer-songwriter Patrick Hutchinson. He stated "I'm very sorry to hear of the passing of the one and only Ej Brulé, a one-man genre mashup of beatboxing, wit, grooves, props, and showbiz. Ej was a true original, a man you don't meet every day, and was always fun to catch onstage, or even just run into on a street corner.
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"One of my fave things about punk was that it really kicked open the door for all manner of creative eccentrics to come out of the woodwork, like Ian Dury, John Cooper Clarke, Attila the Stockbroker, all from the UK, and gave them a stage. Ej always struck me very much in that spirit."
To Billboard Canada, Hutchinson adds that "Ej had definite innovative DIY chops: one headset mic in front of his mouth, another on his neck, and he’d create loops before there were actual loopers, with a guitar delay pedal or two on his belt. He would beatbox, rasp out bass lines, sing/rap, and do lip trumpet solos all live, while playing air guitar on a shovel (or mop, or crutch, or whatever else was handy)."
The Tina Trons website post, written by Jimmy Spencer, noted that "The legendary Ej Brulé has passed. I met Ej back in the actual 80s, my band back then Sons Of The Desert played more than a few shows with him..He was the easiest opening act ever. One man and a shovel. Also just a great hang, Hilarious and kind always with a big smile and a story, so many stories.
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"Also a trailblazer, as he was the human beatbox before human beatboxes. So much creativity and talent. We were lucky enough to have Ej open for us a couple of years ago, and he hadn't missed a beat, a little older but still as interesting and kind and funny and funky as ever! A true Montreal original, there will never be another EJ Brulé! RIP Buddy and thanks for all the joy you spread everywhere you went."
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Another idiosyncratic artist, Hamiltonian Chris Houston, posted that "He was indeed something special… grateful for the times I saw him perform. He made me understand I could be white *and* funky … condolences to his friends and family."
International
Rob (Robert George) Hirst, drummer, co-songwriter and co-founder of Australian rock band Midnight Oil, died on Jan. 20, at age 70, after a long battle with cancer.
“After fighting heroically for almost three years, Rob is now free of pain – ‘a glimmer of tiny light in the wilderness,’" reads a statement posted to Midnight Oil’s social pages. “He died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones." A separate message signed by the surviving bandmates — Peter Garrett (vocals), Jim Moginie (guitar, keys) and Martin Rotsey (guitar) — reads: “We are shattered and grieving the loss of our brother Rob. For now there are no words but there will always be songs.”
Midnight Oil was one of Australia's most beloved bands for many decades and they also gained a large and loyal audience around the globe.
"Hirst wasn’t just a timekeeper for the Oils, as they are lovingly known in these parts," writes Sydney-based Lars Brandle in a Billboard obituary. "He was their power station, one of the most formidable and accomplished drummers to emerge from these parts. His solo in 'Power And the Passion,' from 1982, is both powerful, passionate, and one of the most memorable pieces of percussion in Aussie rock music’s impressive history.
"Born in Camden, on the outskirts of Sydney, Hirst co-founded the band in early 1970s, initially as Farm. They then found a frontman, a lanky young law student by the name of Peter Garrett. Billboard writes that "By 1976, Midnight Oil was ready to take on the world. The group did just that by tackling tough subjects in their lyrics, from corporate greed and corruption, to civil rights and more. No one did it better than the Oils."
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It was charismatic frontman turned politician Garrett who grabbed the most media attention, but Hirst's crucial role as a songwriter should be stressed. Australian music site Noise11 observes that "alongside long time collaborator Jim Moginie, Hirst formed the engine room of Midnight Oil’s songwriting, crafting music that confronted environmental destruction, Indigenous injustice, nuclear disarmament and corporate power with clarity and urgency."
Australian-raised and long Toronto-based, Peter Vitols was formerly a record label executive in both countries, and he had a front-row seat for Midnight Oil's rise to fame. He recalls to Billboard Canada that "I was the Promo guy at CBS Records' Sydney branch in early 1982. The band had returned from England in 1981, having just recorded their third album (and first with CBS), Place Without a Postcard, produced by Glyn Johns.
"When they debuted the album in Sydney, as the local promo guy I delivered a ‘slab’ of beer to their dressing room. I happened to be in the dressing room, icing the beer, just as the band ended their set and stormed off the stage and into the dressing room. Peter Garrett saw me, and, maybe not used to a ‘label’ caring about them, yelled at me to get out of their ‘sacred’ space."
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"Pete later apologized profusely and everyone, especially Rob, was more than welcoming. In 1983, the album 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 was released and it finally saw the Oils break into mainstream radio.
"When I moved to Canada and started to work for [indie label] Duke Street Records in March of 1984, I knew all of the CBS Canada crew. CBS had a tough time convincing Canadian radio to play the band’s songs, but, even though I was working for another label,, I continued to promote my ‘mates’ the Oils to anyone and everyone.
"The Oils toured promoting the album Red Sails in the Sunset in Canada in ’84 & ’85 and played the iconic El Mocambo in Toronto. I was surprised that the show was sold out considering the band’s lack of exposure here, but what surprised me more was our repartee after the show The guys asked me what it was like living in Toronto, because they could sense that, economically, Toronto seemed better off at that particular time than Australia.
"When I told them that, to me, Australia now seemed like it was almost the ‘last’ stop on the bus, Rob Hirst told me, ’’that's why we like living in Australia!' That was an interesting revelation of the band’s perspective of where they were from and where they proudly belonged."
The 1988 release of the album Diesel & Dust in North America finally saw the band break through commercially, thanks in measure to the incendiary track and video, "Beds Are Burning." Canada was especially receptive to that album and the following Blue Sky Mining, reaching a level where they could headline the CNE Grandstand in Toronto.
Billboard notes that “'Beds Are Burning' is recognized as a benchmark in Australian music, with its message of Indigenous land rights also resonating internationally and peaking at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100, one of the band’s three entries on the chart. Its parent album, Diesel and Dust, hit No. 21 on the Billboard 200, and the followup, 1990’s Blue Sky Mining went one better at No. 20. All told, seven Oils albums impacted the U.S. all-genres chart."
Diesel and Dust peaked at No. 1 on the Australian albums charts for six weeks, No. 21 on the Billboard 200 charts in 1988,and No. 19 on the UK albums charts
By the time Midnight Oil called it a day in 2022, they’d logged six ARIA No. 1 albums, including Resist, their first full-length studio album in two decades, and their last as a unit. Of note is the fact that their gold-selling 1996 album Breathe was produced by Canadian Malcolm Burn, who also played on the record. Billboard observes that "There could’ve been more hits, and awards (they collected 11 ARIAs), had Garrett not marched into federal politics for a decade from the mid-2000s."
Garrett's exit meant the group went on a long hiatus, from 2002 to 2016, reuniting for induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006. After re-forming for a world tour, the group was tapped in 2018 for the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music, presented at the APRA Music Awards.
Hirst has been described as a serial creator. He played, sung and wrote songs with such outfits as The Ghostwriters, Backsliders, Hirst & Greene, Rob Hirst + Sean Sennett, The Angry Tradesmen and The Break, an instrumental lineup which featured fellow Oils Moginie and Rotsey as well as bass player Brian Ritchie from the Violent Femmes,. In 2020, he released a collaborative album with his daughter Jay O’Shea. In Nov. 2025, he released the deeply personal EP, A Hundred Years or More.
On Jan. 26, Hirst was posthumously awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the General Division as part of the 2026 Australia Day Honours List, recognising his significant service to the performing arts through music. Noise11 noted that "The honour acknowledges a career that reshaped Australian rock, amplified social justice through song and helped project an unmistakably Australian voice onto the global stage. Hirst's passing marked the end of one of the most influential creative lives in Australian music, a career defined not only by endurance and innovation but by a deep moral compass that guided both his art and activism."
During their extensive international touring, Hirst and Midnight Oil developed real affection for Canada, which was reciprocated towards the band by many Canadian musicians and music industry figures.
That was certainly the case with The Tragically Hip, who invited Midnight Oil to join the first edition of their travelling festival, Another Roadside Attraction, in 1993, alongside Daniel Lanois, Hothouse Flowers and Crash Vegas. Acknowledging the band as a real inspiration, The Hip posted this tribute to Hirst on their social media pages: "Really sad news from Australia. Our friend Rob Hirst, drummer and founder of Midnight Oil, has died. A consummate musician, songwriter, environmentalist, humanitarian, Rob will be sadly missed by us all in The Hip camp.
"We admired his playing as fans, long before we had the honour to share the stage with him and the Oils at the inaugural Roadside Attractions. They were the proverbial hard act to follow, with Rob setting the tone every night with his intense drumming. Trying to reach the bar they set for live performance helped us become a better band."
"Off stage he was always buoyant and engaging, happy to share ideas and advice about songwriting, arrangement, politics or any number of things in which he was experienced. He was a genuinely lovely man. Our hearts go out to his loved ones and the larger Oils family. Rob was an inspiration and we mourn his loss with you."
A Canadian music industry icon who was a major supporter of Midnight Oil was Denise Donlon, dating back to her time at MuchMusic. She recalls to Billboard Canada that "we saw the Oils a lot at Much. There were so many similarities between Oz and Canada, particularly around First Nations peoples and the reparations the band so boldly pushed for.
"Rob was the driving pulse of that band not just because of his prowess on the drums but also his songwriting skills. He helped fuel the band’s passion for social justice and leaves an incredible legacy."
Donlon notes that "it was mostly Peter [Garrett] doing the interviews, at least with me, but Rob was always so full of buoyant humour and energy. Always ready with a quip and rarin’ to go and a total gent. I used to tease Rob about his drummer arms because of his penchant for cutting off his sleeves!"
As fate would have it, in 2000 Donlon became President of Sony Music Canada (previously CBS), but by that stage CBS had ‘dropped’ Midnight Oil in North America for what at the time looked to be the band’s final album, Capricornia.
In his reminiscing to Billboard Canada, Peter Vitols rememberes the intense work ethic of Rob Hirst. He recalls a night in Toronto in May 1988 when he and his wife Nancy went out to dinner with Oils members, including new Kiwi bassist Bones Hillman. They celebrated Hillman's 30th birthday and Vitols remembers that "Bones desperately wanted to ‘party on’ because it was his birthday. The ever responsible Rob Hirst squashed that idea, as they had a gig the next night. The band ALWAYS took their gigs seriously, and, as Rob once said, they were determined to power people into ‘submission.’
Vitols calls Hirst "a most decent human being and one of the really 'good guys.' So now the 'meanest' rhythm section in Australian Rock has ended with both Bones and Hirst gone [Hillman died of cancer in 2020]. As my wife Nancy said, Rob will be remembered for his exquisite musicianship, his philosophy passed along through the lyrics of his music, his activism and humanitarianism and mostly for his many kindnesses."
Hirst’s family asks that anyone wanting to honour the late artist do so by donating to Pankind — Pancreatic Cancer Australia or music industry charity Support Act.
Stephen “Cat” Coore, co-founder and longtime musical director of Jamaican reggae fusion pioneers Third World, died on Jan. 18, at the age of 69.
In its obituary, Caribbean National Weekly reports that "his family confirmed his passing on Monday. The news has sent waves of grief through the global music community and among fans who long celebrated his contributions to reggae and Caribbean culture.
"Coore was one of Jamaica’s most respected and influential musicians, known for his mastery of both guitar and cello and for bringing an extraordinary range of musical influences into reggae. Over more than five decades he helped craft Third World’s genre-blending sound — mixing reggae with soul, funk, pop, rock, R&B, jazz, and even classical elements — helping Jamaican music cross cultural and geographic borders."
Coore first made a mark as a teenager, playing in the popular Jamaican band Inner Circle before co-founding Third World in 1973 with keyboardist Michael “Ibo” Cooper and friends Colin Leslie, Milton “Prilly” Hamilton and Richard Daley. Their debut album was released by Island Records in 1976, and they went on to international success with enduring classics such as Now That We’ve Found Love, 96 Degrees in the Shade and Try Jah Love.
Across a career spanning half a century, the still-active Third World has earned nine Grammy nominations and a reputation as one of reggae’s most influential crossover acts.
Caribbean National Weekly also observed that "Coore’s individual honors reflect his broad cultural impact. In 2005 he was awarded Jamaica’s Order of Distinction (OD) for his outstanding contribution to music and culture, and he received international accolades including the Caribbean-American Heritage Luminary Award in Washington, D.C. He also held honorary keys to several U.S. cities and lifetime achievement awards from major Caribbean music festivals and industry groups."
Coore also served as a goodwill ambassador for organisations including the Issa Trust Foundation — helping raise funds for health centres in Jamaica — and supported environmental causes through partnerships with local foundations.
Ralph Towner, an American guitarist and composer who blended multiple genres, including jazz, died on Jan. 18 at a hospital in Rome, Italy. He was 85.
In its obituary, jazz publication DownBeat notes that "Towner was probably best known as a founding member of Oregon, an ensemble that in the 1970s proffered an idiosyncratic fusion of jazz, folk, psychedelia and European and Indian classical musics. However, throughout his association with Oregon — which lasted nearly 50 years — Towner maintained a steady career as a solo artist, the entirety of it on the German label ECM Records."
He was devoted to acoustic guitar, admitting in a 1975 interview that "I never liked the electric guitar. I’m not on an anti-electric campaign or anything. … I’m just not drawn to it.”
As a pianist, he matriculated at the University of Oregon in 1958, prior to exploring classical guitar and studying at the Vienna Academy of Music with guitar master Karl Scheit.
Moving to New York in 1969, Towner joined saxophonist Paul Winter’s Consort, a “folk jazz” ensemble that helped to create Winter’s album Icarus, a seminal recording in world fusion (and what would come to be called “new age music”).
DownBeat reports that four Consort members "began exploring on their own, developing in 1971 the band Oregon, with a softer, more introspective approach to jazz fusion than had been heard at the time.
"The success of Oregon’s first album, 1971’s Music Of Another Present Era, allowed Towner to establish a solo career. He performed as a sideman with Weather Report in 1972, and the following year recorded (with accompaniment from his Oregon bandmates) a solo debut album, Trios/Solos, which would be the first of over two dozen recordings as a leader."
Many of these also featured Solstice, a quartet featuring German bassist Eberhard Weber, Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek and drummer Jon Christensen. He also continued touring and recording with Oregon through 2018.
Towner’s final recording, At First Light, was a solo guitar album, recorded in Switzerland in 2022 and released the following year on ECM Records.
Amongst the many top musicians paying tribute to Towner was acclaimed Toronto jazz guitarist Ted Quinlan. On Facebook, he posted that "Towner is one of the music’s great innovators and a personal hero of mine. Many years ago, while I was a student at Berklee, a band that I played with opened for Oregon at a college in Maine. I had been a long time fan and it was a thrill to hear them perform live. The level of interplay was stunning and it made a huge impact on me.
"After the concert I had the opportunity to chat with Ralph for about an hour. He was really friendly, open and forthcoming, and passed on lots of great information about his own development, the band and the music scene in New York at the time. I was incredibly grateful that he was so generous with his insights and often think back to our conversation. Thanks for everything, Ralph."
Also on Facebook, Toronto guitarist, composer and visual artist Kurt Swinghammer posted this: "Ralph Towner. The passing of a hero is always sad, but I love the collective moment to reflect on what they gave the world and to see the shared connection with many folks on social who were also inspired by his music – uniquely inclusive of jazz, free improv, classical, 'world' and folk forms, performed at the highest level of technical mastery and with a beautifully humble spirit of humanity."
Read more tributes here.
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