Who are Midnight Oil?
Midnight Oil is an Australian rock band from Sydney, fronted by Peter Garrett, known for powerful political songs such as Beds Are Burning, which called for land rights for Aboriginal people.
The band formed in the 1970s and built a reputation for intense live shows in Sydney pubs. Garrett, tall and bald with distinctive dancing, became one of rock's most recognisable frontmen.
Their 1987 album Diesel and Dust, inspired by a tour of remote Aboriginal communities, included Beds Are Burning and The Dead Heart. It became an international hit.
Politics and music
Midnight Oil's songs addressed issues such as nuclear weapons, the environment and Aboriginal rights. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics closing ceremony, the band performed wearing black outfits printed with the word sorry.
Garrett later became a federal politician, serving as Minister for the Environment from 2007 to 2010.
The band reformed in 2017 for a world tour and released new music, including the album The Makarrata Project in 2020, which featured collaborations with First Nations artists and supported the Uluru Statement from the Heart. In 2022 the band announced its final tour.
Midnight Oil was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006.
Did You Know?
Midnight Oil famously played a protest concert outside the Exxon building in New York in 1990.