Midnight Oil’s Rob Hirst reveals cancer diagnosis: “I’ve had pretty much every treatment known to man”

Rob Hirst, the drummer of Midnight Oil, has revealed that he is battling pancreatic cancer and has already undergone “pretty much every treatment known to man” to fight it.

• READ MORE: Midnight Oil live in Sydney: on their final tour, the rock veterans remain a force to be reckoned with

Now aged 69, the drummer co-founded the Australian rock band in the 1970s, and shared news of his diagnosis during a recent interview. Talking to The Australian, Hirst spoke openly about the cancer battle for the first time and revealed that he has actually been aware of it for two years.

According to the sticksman, he discovered he had the disease just six months after the band completed their huge run of farewell tour dates across Australia in 2023. He then said he has had multiple types of treatment to fight the cancer since and has been receiving constant medical assistance.

“It’s ongoing,” he shared. “I’ve had pretty much every treatment known to man – every scan, ultrasound, MRI. I’ve kind of had ‘the works.’”

He further went on to explain how he had found the cancer “early” and that his tumour was caught by medical professionals at stage three. His treatments have included an unsuccessful eight-hour “Whipple” surgery – which was done to try and remove the tumour – as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

“Coming up to two years, I thought I just need to get this, literally, off my chest,” he told the outlet, revealing why he is opening up about the diagnosis now. “Also, I think that the lesson for me – and maybe why I’ve lasted this long – is because, if you do have any of that kind of symptom, where there’s something that you feel is wrong, just go and get a simple blood test. It could be life-changing, and life-extending.”

He also said he wanted to shed light on the health battle in an attempt to bring more awareness to pancreatic cancer, which he says “hasn’t really attracted the attention, for example, of skin cancers or breast cancers or others.”

The band Midnight Oil first formed in 1972 under the original name Farm, and went on to change their name in 1976. They broke out with their 1982 record ‘10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1’, and continued to top the Australian charts with follow-ups ‘Red Sails in the Sunset’ (1984), ‘Diesel and Dust’ (1987), and ‘Blue Sky Mining’ (1990).

They would split in 2002, after releasing 11 albums, although were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006 and then reformed in 2016. Following their comeback, they shared two albums, ‘The Makarrata Project’ in 2020 and ‘Resist’ in 2022. That same year saw the band announcing their farewell tour, and the death of longtime bassist Bones Hillman.

“We’ve always supported causes that we believe are important during our tours so these four extra gigs are partly a way of doing that,” Peter Garrett said when announcing the farewell tour, confirming that proceeds would be given to charity.

“They will allow the band and the audience to have a different experience each night by digging deep into the back catalogue in venues that are a bit smaller than the ones we’ve usually been playing in over recent years.”

Hirst added that the new shows are Midnight Oil’s way of acknowledging the “connection over 45 years” between the band and their fans. “We’ve all shared an amazing journey together, so we want to celebrate that by playing something for everyone in places that feel special.”

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