R.I.P. Bones Hillman

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Wayne Stevens (May 1958 – 7 November 2020), known by the stage name Bones Hillman, was a New Zealand musician best known as the bass guitarist for the Australian alternative rock band Midnight Oil, which he joined in 1987 and remained with until his death two days ago.

Colleagues in the Australian rock band announced the sad news on Twitter on Saturday. «We mourn the loss of our brother, Bones Hillman, who died in his own home in Milwaukee today after battling cancer», they write. «He was the bassist with the beautiful voice, the band member with the twisted sense of humor – and our brilliant musical buddy». The track Beds Are Burning,

Hillman played bass guitar in his first band the Masochists, an early New Zealand punk act, formed with Kevin Gray (vocals), Spike Nasty (drums) and Jimmy Sex (guitar), from the Auckland suburb of Avondale. They were alternatively known as The Metal Masochists, MM, Vandals, and The Avondale Spiders. In late 1977 he joined the Suburban Reptiles and appeared on their first single, Megaton (Vertigo, 1978). The name Hillman was coined by the make of car he drove. He left the band in early 1978 and joined the former Masochists in the Rednecks, a mainstay of the legendary Zwines punk scene in Auckland. The track Blue Sky Mine,

In late 1977, he joined the New Zealand band the Swingers with Phil Judd (ex-Split Enz) and Mark Hough (a.k.a. Buster Stiggs, ex-Suburban Reptiles). Their single Counting The Beat was a trans-Tasman number one hit before the band disintegrated in 1983. He appeared in the 1982 film Starstruck, as one of the Swingers. He was credited as Dwayne Hillman. The track Dead Mine,

Moving to Australia as part of The Swingers in 1980 and living there until 2002, he was a member of internationally known Australian rock band Midnight Oil, replacing Peter Gifford in 1987 as bass player.