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About Midnight Oil
Hometown
Sydney, Australia
Formed
1976
Genre
Rock
Politically charged and unapologetically outspoken, Midnight Oil has bucked convention for more than four decades while becoming one of Australia’s greatest rock bands.
∙ Originally known as Farm, the group recruited frontman Peter Garrett in 1975 and changed their name to Midnight Oil—a phrase pulled from Jimi Hendrix’s “Burning of the Midnight Lamp.”
∙ After years of building a following on Australia’s pub-rock circuit, Midnight Oil broke through with their 1982 LP, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, which reached No. 3 on the charts.
∙ Diesel and Dust, a 1987 album highlighting the plight of indigenous Australians, was the group’s first international smash, ultimately selling more than six million copies worldwide.
∙ “Beds Are Burning,” from Diesel and Dust, was their biggest-ever hit, earning a Grammy Award nomination and winning both Song and Single of the Year at 1988’s ARIA Awards.
∙ Never afraid to bring politics into their performances, the band staged a guerilla concert in front of Exxon headquarters in 1990, protesting the company’s Valdez oil spill from the prior year.
∙ Midnight Oil won 11 ARIA Awards and were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006.
∙ In 2004, two years after departing the band to focus on his political career, Garrett was elected to Parliament, where he served nine years, several of them as a cabinet minister.
Members of Midnight Oil include, or have included, Peter Garrett, Peter Gifford, Bones Hillman and more.
Influenced by Midnight OilMidnight Oil has influenced the music of Blackbirds FC, Alpha, Heath Clark and more.
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