While studying at Australian National University in Canberra, vocalist Peter Garrett[4] answered an advertisement for a spot in Farm,[5][6] and by 1975 the band had started touring the east coast of Australia.

[8] Important to their development was manager Gary Morris, who successfully negotiated favourable contracts with tour promoters and record companies and frustrated rock journalists.

[4][6][need quotation to verify] Guitarist Martin Rotsey joined in 1977[9] and Midnight Oil, with Morris, established their own record label, Powderworks,[9] which released their debut eponymous album in November 1978.

In December 2002 Garrett announced that he would seek to further his political career and Midnight Oil disbanded, but they reformed for two warm-up shows in Canberra leading up to their performance, at one of the "Sound Relief" charity concerts, in honour of the victims of the 2009 "Black Saturday" fires in Victoria and floods in Queensland.

[6] They placed an advert for a band member;[5] Peter Garrett (ex-Rock Island Line) became their new vocalist and synthesizer player and began introducing progressive rock elements of Focus, Jethro Tull and Yes, as well as their own material.

The expression "midnight oil" first appeared in a 1635 poem by Francis Quarles (1592-1644):[18] To heaven's high city I direct my journey, Whose spangled suburbs entertain mine eye.

[9] In June 1978 they entered the Alberts Studio in Sydney with producer Keith Walker, from local radio station 2JJ, to record their debut eponymous album, Midnight Oil, which was released by Powderworks in November 1978 and peaked at No.

[11] Driven largely by commercial pressures to stay with reliable chart-toppers and teenage pop sensations, the Australian music industry in the mid-1970s cast a dismissive eye toward most bands with an alternative outlook.

[20] According to Countdown producer Michael Shrimpton, the band had arrived late for rehearsal and, due to the show's very tight schedule and budget, there was a strict policy that latecomers were not allowed to appear; and, as such, they were told they could not perform that day.

Politically oriented rock of the style produced by the band was something of a new concept for the Australian music scene, and Peter Garrett quickly earned a reputation as one of the most charismatic and outspoken musicians in the country.

10 to 1 was recorded in London during September and produced by Englishman Nick Launay,[4][9] who had previously worked with acts including The Jam, XTC, Peter Gabriel, PiL, Gang of Four and The Birthday Party.

[4] Midnight Oil spent several months in 1986 on the Blackfella/Whitefella tour of outback Australia with indigenous groups Warumpi Band and Gondwanaland, playing to remote Aboriginal communities and seeing first hand the seriousness of the issues in health and living standards.

[33] At the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) 1988 Awards ceremony, Midnight Oil won "Best Cover Art " for Diesel and Dust and both "Best Single" and "Best Song" for "Beds Are Burning".

[34] There were concerns about Diesel and Dust and Midnight Oil's attempts to express indigenous issues to white urban audiences – namely, the question "who holds the power to tell whose history?

[24] Midnight Oil's Earth and Sun and Moon album, produced with Nick Launay, was released in April 1993 and also drew critical acclaim and international success, peaking at No.

[42] In 1993, the band also participated in the Another Roadside Attraction tour in Canada and collaborated with The Tragically Hip, Crash Vegas, Hothouse Flowers and Daniel Lanois on the one-off single "Land" to protest forest clearing in British Columbia.

Then Prime Minister John Howard had triggered controversy that year with his refusal to embrace symbolic reconciliation and apologise to Indigenous Australians and members of the Stolen Generations.

He won the seat of Kingsford Smith at the 2004 General Election for the Australian Labor Party and was selected as Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment, Heritage and the Arts.

After a warm up gig the previous evening at the Manly-Warringah Leagues Club, the band, including Garrett, reunited to perform at the WaveAid concert on 29 January 2005 to raise funds for the victims of the 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

[48][49] Appearing with Midnight Oil in Melbourne were Augie March, Bliss N Eso with Paris Wells, Gabriella Cilmi, Hunters & Collectors, Jack Johnson, Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson with Troy Cassar-Daley, Kings of Leon, Liam Finn, Crowded House, Jet, Paul Kelly, Split Enz and Wolfmother.

[60] It is the first song from a mini-album titled The Makarrata Project,[61] whose name is related to one of the elements of the Uluru Statement, a Yolngu word approximating a peace agreement or type of treaty.

[66] They announced the single on Twitter: "The uncompromising song, released on the eve of [the United Nations Climate Change Conference] (COP26), adds the band's unique voice to billions of others around the world seeking a safe, habitable, and fair future for our planet."

[71][72] AllMusic noted that the band "brought a new sense of political and social immediacy to pop music", and were "inspirational and successful in their homeland",[73] while critic Bernard Zuel wrote, "It's been said of Midnight Oil that 'this is what Australia sounds like'.

[76] The group have influenced international acts such as Green Day,[77] R.E.M.,[78] Pearl Jam,[79] Garbage,[80] The Cranberries,[81] Biffy Clyro,[82] Candlebox,[83] Maná,[84] Hot Water Music[85] and Shades Apart,[86] as well as Australian performers like Crowded House,[87] Powderfinger,[88] The Living End,[89] John Butler,[90] DMA's[91] and Tim Freedman.

"[82] The Living End founder Chris Cheney reported that his ensemble listened to "a lot of [Midnight Oil's] 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and Red Sails in the Sunset, and were blown away by their fearlessness in not being shackled to a style".

[96] Midnight Oil's songs have been covered by performers such as Pearl Jam[97] (and frontman Eddie Vedder solo[79]), U2,[98] Patti Smith,[99] The Killers,[100] Imagine Dragons,[101] Silverchair,[102] Tom Morello (as The Nightwatchman),[103] Billy Bragg[103] and Anti-Flag.

He recited the chorus lyrics of their song "Forgotten Years" and hailed the outfit as an "extraordinary" band whose music "brought people's differences together; not to resolve them, just to get them in the same room, up each other's noses".

"[106] Midnight Oil's music is the subject of 2001 tribute album The Power & The Passion, which features covers by several mainstream rock acts from Australia and New Zealand, including Something for Kate, Regurgitator, Grinspoon, Jebediah, Augie March and Shihad.

[108] Music journalist Kurt Loder once noted that Midnight Oil were "reputed to be Australia's most formidable live act";[109] Tomas Mureika in AllMusic argued they were "the tightest band on the planet for a time".

[112] The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan referred to the 2016 announcement of Midnight Oil's impending reformation as "awesome news", noting that they are "one of the greatest live bands I've ever seen".