[Dan Brunner]

http://www.billboard.com/billboard/daily/article_display.jsp?
vnu_content_id=1772687

Lead singer Peter Garrett has left from Australian rock act Midnight 
Oil to work on other projects. In a statement on the group's official 
Web site, the vocalist explained, "The last 25 years has been 
incredibly fulfilling for me, and I leave with the greatest respect for 
the whole of Midnight Oil. The band has brought a lot of pleasure and 
meaning to peoples' 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 of deep concern to me and which I have been unable to fully 
apply myself to up to now."

The bald, imposing Garrett joined the band right after finishing law 
school. Midnight Oil's best songs, such as "Beds Are Burning," "Short 
Memory," and "U.S. Forces," were political in tone, and Garrett even 
ran for the Australian senate on an environmental ticket. The band's 
U.S. success peaked in the late 1980s with the albums "Diesel and Dust" 
and "Blue Sky Mining," which reached No. 21 and No. 20, respectively, 
on The Billboard 200. 

Whether remaining Midnight Oil members Rob Hirst, James Moginie, Bones 
Hillman, and Martin Rotsey will remain together is unclear. Their 
online statement said they "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."

The group's 14th studio album, "Capricornia," was released in February 
via the BMG-affiliated label Liquid 8. Midnight Oil toured North 
America in the fall of 2001. 


-- Christie Eliezer, Sydney 
-- 
Dan Brunner
dbrunner@execpc.com