Featured In
ALBUMLIVE at the Old Lion, Adelaide 1982Midnight Oil
Albums by Midnight Oil
ALBUMRESISTMidnight Oil
ALBUMThe Makarrata ProjectMidnight Oil
ALBUMCapricorniaMidnight Oil
ALBUMRedneck WonderlandMidnight Oil
ALBUMBreatheMidnight Oil
ALBUMEarth and Sun and MoonMidnight Oil
ALBUM1984Midnight Oil
ALBUMBlue Sky Mining (Remastered)Midnight Oil
ALBUMDiesel and Dust (2008 Remaster)Midnight Oil
ALBUMRed Sails In the Sunset (Remastered)Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil's Popular Music Videos
Beds Are Burning
Midnight Oil
The Dead Heart
Midnight Oil
Sometimes
Midnight Oil
Truganini
Midnight Oil
Blue Sky Mine
Midnight Oil
Power and the Passion (Live At The Domain, Sydney)
Midnight Oil
Dreamworld
Midnight Oil
First Nation (feat. Jessica Mauboy & Tasman Keith)
Midnight Oil
Put Down That Weapon
Midnight Oil
We Resist
Midnight Oil
Artist Playlists
Midnight Oil Essentials
Oz rock legends mix the musical with the political.
Midnight Oil: Influences
The Aussie icons unite classic rock drama, progressive vision, and punk ferocity.
Inspired by Midnight Oil
Torchbearers of charismatic agit-pop and hooky riffs.
Artist Biography
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.
Hometown
Sydney, Australia
Genre
Rock