Haere Rā Midnight Oil Bassist Bones Hillman

Midnight Oil’s bassist and backing vocalist, New Zealand-born Bones (Wayne) Hillman has died in Milwaukee in the US at the age of 62.

His fellow band members said they were “grieving the loss of our brother”. “He was the bassist with the beautiful voice, the band member with the wicked sense of humour, and our brilliant musical comrade,” they said in a statement.

“Bones joined Midnight Oil way back in 1987 after stints in various Kiwi bands, most notably, The Swingers. He played and sang on every Midnight Oil recording since Blue Sky Mining and we did thousands of gigs together.”

Hillman also recorded Midnight Oil’s latest album, The Makarrata Project, which was released last month.

In October, the Sydney Peace Foundation announced it would award the gold medal for human rights to the band for their “commitment to the pursuit of human rights over an extended period … with a powerful, far-reaching impact”.

Original article by Elias Visontay, The Guardian, November 8, 2020.