Rob Hirst, drummer and founding member of Midnight Oil, dies at 70 Midnight Oil

Rob Hirst, drummer and founding member of Australian rock band Midnight Oil, has died at the age of 70.

Hirst was diagnosed with stage III pancreatic cancer in 2023. The band confirmed his death on Tuesday afternoon.

“After heroically fighting for nearly three years, Rob is now pain-free – a ‘little ray of light in the wilderness,’” they wrote in a statement on social media. “He passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones. The family asks that anyone wishing to honor Rob make a donation to Pankind, Pancreatic Cancer Australia or Support Act.”

In 2025, Hirst spoke about his support for voluntary assisted dying, for which he was eligible in NSW.

“Why do you have to die in such terrible, prolonged pain?” He told the Australian. “When you live such an amazing life — a life like the one I lived — why does the end of life have to be so horrific when there is an alternative?”

Having founded Midnight Oil in 1976, Hirst was best known for his furious drumming abilities, but he was also the composer of the lyrics and melodies for many of the band’s best-known songs including Beds Are Burning, The Dead Heart, Short Memory, The Power and the Passion, Forgotten Years and King of the Mountain.

“Rob was sassy, ​​funny and very intelligent, contrary to the clichéd view of drummers,” bandmate Jim Mogini wrote in his 2024 memoir The Silver River, describing him as Midnight Oil’s “engine room,” on and off stage.

Hirst was also a member of several other bands: Ghostwriters, Backsliders, The Angry Tradesmen and The Break.

Born in New South Wales in 1955, Hirst acquired his first drum set after discovering a benign tumor on his right leg when he was 12 and undergoing surgery.

Hirst formed a band with his school friend Mogini in 1972; The band was initially named Schwampy Moose, then Farm (which stood for Fucking All Right Mate).

Hirst placed an ad in the Sydney Morning Herald for a singer to join Pharm, and Peter Garrett answered in 1975. With Garrett on vocals, Hirst on drums, Mogini on guitar and keyboards and Andrew James on bass, Martin Rutsi joined on guitar and the “sixth member”, manager Gary Morris, and they changed their name to Midnight Oil in 1976. James was later replaced by Peter Gifford, then Bones Hillman.

Midnight Oil has released 13 studio albums over the course of nearly 50 years. Hearst remained in the band until they went on an extended hiatus in 2002, when Garrett left to pursue a career in federal politics. The band resumed playing in 2017.

During another Oils hiatus in the 1990s, Hirst joined forces with guitarist Andrew Dixon and Hoodoo Gurus guitarist Rick Grossman to form the Ghostwriters, which 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 mixed drum and bass and experimental post-punk.

Hirst and his Oils bandmates Moginie and Rotsey also formed the rock band The Break with Violent Femmes bass player Brian Ritchie and Hunters & Collectors trumpeter Jack Howard. The Break released two albums in 2010 and 2013.

Hearst left behind his wife, Leslie Holland, his daughters Alexandra and Gabriella, and his eldest daughter, Jay O’Shea, also a musician, who was given up for adoption after being born when Hearst was 17 and her mother was 15. O’Shea and Hirst reunited in 2010.

“It was absolutely better than anything anyone could ask for,” he told The Australian in 2025 about his life. “So, if my life were to be compromised by this small tumor that threatens to kill me, I would still consider myself incredibly lucky.”