Goodbye to Rob Hirst, drummer of Midnight Oil

He died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 70. Rob Hirstdrummer and founding member of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil.

A statement on social media confirmed the news Midnight Oil. “After fighting heroically for almost three years, Rob is now no longer in pain – ‘a glimmer of light in the wilderness’. He died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones. The family asks anyone who would like to honor Rob to make a donation to Pankind, Pancreatic Cancer Australia or Support Act.”

In another statement the band wrote: “We are devastated and saddened by the loss of our brother Rob. For now there are no words, but there will always be songs. Love from Jim, Martin and Pete.”

Hirst began playing with his school friends Jim Moginie And Andrew “Bear” James with the name Schwampy Moose. They later changed the name to Farm (which stood for “Fucking All Right Mate”) and finally with the definitive Midnight Oil.

The Australian band debuted in 1978 with the album “Midnight Oil”. In their homeland they achieved success with “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1″ of 1982, while international fame arrived with “Diesel and Dust” from 1987, an album about Australian Aborigines and environmental issues. The hit contributed to the album’s success “Beds Are Burning”.

During a break of
Midnight Oil
in the early 90s, Hirst joined the bassist of
Hoodoo Gurus Rick Grossman
and the guitarist
Andrew Dickson
to form i
Ghostwriters
who released four albums. Hirst, in 1991, wrote their first single,
“Someone’s Singing New York New York”
. In 2000
Rob Hirst
he also joined the australian blues band dei
Backsliders
with whom he recorded six albums.

THE
Midnight Oil
they disbanded in 2002 when the singer
Peter Garrett
he left the band to dedicate himself to a political career. They staged a reunion tour in 2017 and released two more albums,
“The Makarrata Project”
of 2020 and
“Resist”
of 2022. I
Midnight Oil
they held their last concert in October 2022.

Hirst self-produced his latest album,
“Born Electric”
in October 2025. He had been living with pancreatic cancer for over two years. He told The Age: “I realize it’s a rather existentialist group of songs, with titles like ‘Are We There Yet?’ and ‘A Hundred Years or More’. I think I was thinking about lifespan and longevity, even legacy. And, of course, that comes through in the songs.”