Rob Hirst, drummer of Australian rock veterans Midnight Oil, has revealed he is battling pancreatic cancer.
Hirst, who co-founded the Sydney rock outfit in the 1970s, revealed his diagnosis in an interview with The Australian newspaper, explaining that he has been living with the disease for two years.
"So it's ongoing," Hirst told the publication. "I've had pretty much every treatment known to man - every scan, ultrasound, MRI. I've kind of had 'the works'."
Hirst explained that he was diagnosed "early", with his tumour being caught while at stage three. Upon learning of his condition, Hirst embarked upon months of chemotherapy before an unsuccessful eight-hour surgery to attempt the removal of the tumour.
He has since continued with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Initially keeping his diagnosis a secret, Hirst has since gone public to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer, noting that it "hasn't really attracted the attention, for example, of skin cancers or breast cancers or others".
Midnight Oil formed in Sydney in 1972 as Farm, before adopting their new name in 1976. The group released 11 albums before splitting in 2002. They announced a regroup in 2016 and released their final studio album, Resist, in February 2022.
Their 1987 single Beds Are Burning is often considered a landmark of Australian music, with its message of Indigenous land rights resonating around the world.
