Midnight Oil Drummer Rob Hirst Reveals Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis

Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst has been privately fighting pancreatic cancer for two years. Over the weekend, fans found out for the first time as he discussed the diagnosis in a new interview.

Opening up about the devastating diagnosis in an interview with The Australian’s Andrew McMillen, Hirst revealed he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer “early,” as the tumour was caught at stage three. He received the news six months after wrapping up Midnight Oil’s illustrious farewell tour of Australia.

Upon his diagnosis, Hirst underwent four months of chemotherapy, followed by an eight-hour “Whipple” surgery as surgeons attempted to remove the primary cancer. Unfortunately, the tumour couldn’t be removed. He continued with chemotherapy and then radiotherapy.

Sharing the reason why he decided to make the diagnosis public, Hirst said he “wanted to get the story of pancreas cancer out there,” as it’s a cancer that isn’t discussed all that much despite being on the rise in Australia.

“Coming up to two years, I thought I just need to get this, literally, off my chest,” he told The Australian. “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 chose to speak out about his diagnosis to honour the legendary musician and producer Mark Moffat, who recently passed away at the age of 74, and longtime Midnight Oil drummer Bones Hillman, who died from lung cancer in November 2020.

Later in the interview, Hirst said he hasn’t “got the breath power” to play the drums anymore—at least in the way he could—but he’s thankful for the 60 years of playing on records and stages with Midnight Oil. “I’m not really missing out on ­anything… I’ve been so lucky,” he said.

The Music sends our best wishes to Hirst and his family as he continues to face pancreatic cancer.

Last year, the Midnight Oil documentary The Hardest Line premiered at the Sydney Film Festival before being released in cinemas and, later, on the ABC.

Hirst said about the film, “With strong management, a tough crew and a sabre-tooth lawyer, bands can often dwell in a kind of mobile Faraday cage - the lightning striking all around, while the musicians remain high and dry in a studio, on a stage or wedged inside a Tarago.

“Thus, it was for Midnight Oil: rarely were we able to focus on the horizon and see the ‘Big Picture’ if there was such a thing. So, a film such as The Hardest Line is as much a revelation as a chronicle. Perhaps at last we can frame the last 50 years, make some collective sense of it, wrap it in a box marked ‘the Luckiest Band Ever.’”

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