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Peter Garrett Quits Midnight Oil After 25 Years
12/04/2002 12:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Jerry Armor
(12/04/02, 12 p.m. ET) - Singer Peter Garrett has quit Midnight Oil after 25 years of recording as the Australian band's outspoken, political frontman.
The band posted an official statement on its website (midnightoil.com) that reads: "Peter has resolved to call it a day with Midnight Oil, resigning from the band to take up challenges outside music."
Garrett himself explains: "The last 25 years have been incredibly fulfilling for me, and I leave the band with the greatest respect for the whole of Midnight Oil. The band has brought a lot of pleasure and meaning to people's lives, including my own. Who could ask for more? But it is time for me to move on and immerse myself in those things which are a deep concern to me and which I have been unable to fully apply myself up until now."
The remaining group members, bassist guitarist/keyboardist Jim Moginie, guitarist Martin Rotsie, Bones Hillman, and drummer Rob Hirst, along with manager Gary Morris, remain on good terms with Garrett, stating: "The band wishes Peter all the best for the future and reinforces the respect, good intentions, and values we mutually share. Jim, Rob, Martin, & Bones plan to continue making music together in another guise at some point down the track. We've had a unique relationship and special chemistry for many years, one too good to lose."
In conclusion, the band thanks "our families, all our fans worldwide, our crew and The Office team for their enormous support over the years. It has been a great ride together. Many, many thanks."
As to the future of group, the message appears to indicate the remaining musicians may well record together, but not under the name Midnight Oil.
Garrett has not announced any plans as a solo artist, and has often positioned himself as more of a lyricist and collaborator than a songwriter.
The band began in the early 1970s as the Farm. Garrett joined the group in 1976 and it became Midnight Oil, issuing a self-titled, independent debut album in 1977.
The band's biggest success in the U.S. came with 1987's Diesel And Dust, featuring the hit about Aboriginal self-determination "Beds Are Burning." Another hit, "The Dead Heart" came from that album, and was followed in 1990 by "Blue Sky Mine" from the album Blue Sky Mining.
In 1984, Garrett ran for the Australian Senate on the Nuclear Disarmament Party ticket, receiving 300,000 votes. He has also been president of the Australian Conservation Foundation, and on the board of directors of Greenpeace. --Darryl Morden, Los Angeles For more news at LAUNCH, click here.
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