Rob Hirst, Midnight Oil Founding Drummer and Songwriter, Dies at 70

Tributes are flowing for Rob Hirst, co-founder, co-songwriter and drummer for Midnight Oil, who died Wednesday (Jan. 20) following a years-long battle with cancer. He was 70.

Hirst wasn’t just a timekeeper for the Oils, as they’ve lovingly known in these parts. 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.

“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.”

Born in Camden, on the outskirts of Sydney, Hirst co-founded the band in early 1970s, initially as Farm. The call for a frontman went out, a lanky young law student by the name of Peter Garrett answered, and 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.

Their 1987 single “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, 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.

By the time the rockers 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.

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.

Hirst reunited with his bandmates for induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006, and, after reuniting 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 was a serial creator. He played, sung and wrote songs with The Ghostwriters, Backsliders, Hirst & Greene, Rob Hirst + Sean Sennett, The Angry Tradesmen and The Break, an instrumental lineup which features two of his fellow members of Midnight Oil (Jim Moginie and Martin Rotsey) as well as bass player Brian Ritchie from the Violent Femmes, and in 2020 released a collaborative album with his daughter Jay O’Shea. As recently as last November, he released the deeply personal EP, A Hundred Years or More.

And it was Hirst who provided the explosive opening piece for the early ‘80s Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s weekly youth program Beatbox.

The music community is remembering Hirst as one of the greats.

“Rob was an incredible drummer and songwriter — and a good friend to all of us in Cold Chisel. Vale Rob,” reads a message from the fellow ARIA Hall of Famers.

“Beyond the awards,” reads a message from ARIA, “Rob stood for integrity, activism and collaboration, using music as a force for change and connection. His influence continues to echo through generations of Australian artists.”

Writes Ian Haug, guitarist with Powderfinger and the Church: “R.I.P. Rob Hirst. What an absolute beast of a drummer…songwriter…and character. Such a lovely and inspiring man.”

Hirst’s family asks that anyone wanting to honor the late artist do so by donating to Pankind — Pancreatic Cancer Australia or music industry charity Support Act.

His passing follows the death of Oils bass player Bones Hillman, who died in November 2020 following his own battle with cancer, at the age of 62. Bones died several hours after the band received confirmation that The Makarrata Project hit No. 1 on the Australian chart.