Legendary Australian musician shares heartbreaking details about his cancer battle

Legendary Australian musician Bob ‘Bongo’ Starkie has revealed heartbreaking details about his cancer battle.

The 72-year-old, who shot to fame as a member of chart-topping Melbourne band Skyhooks in the 1970s, was diagnosed with aggressive leukemia.

The shock news came as Bob’s band were celebrating their seminal album Living In the 70’s re-entering the ARIA top ten in January.

And now Bongo is set to return to the stage to perform after cancelling his scheduled gigs in February.

This is despite battling what he calls ‘side health issues’, including bleeding on the brain and leg clots.

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Legendary Australian musician Bob ‘Bongo’ Starkie has revealed heartbreaking details about his cancer battle

On top of receiving cancer therapy, Bob also had to endure an eye operation and a bout of sepsis which led to seven days in intensive care.

In an interview with the Herald Sun, the famed guitarist paid tribute to fans who donated a whopping $25,000 via GoFundMe to help him finance his medical care.

‘It has been amazing because all these people have anonymously donated all this dough,’ Bob said.

‘It has taken a bit of the stress and pressure off and allowed me to get rid of my credit cards and reduce my debt and just get on with things.’

Bob hit the stage on Saturday for the Legends of Countdown show on the Gold Coast.

Meanwhile, Indiana, the musician’s daughter, who set up Bob’s GoFundMe page described her father’s recent health journey as ‘pretty scary’.

She told the publication that while her dad was hospitalised for weeks he got through the experience by watching Married at First Sight and the ABCs Hard Quiz.

‘He needed to have a laugh, so we would watch Hard Quiz and MAFS with him’, she said.

The 72-year-old, who shot to fame as a member of chart-topping Melbourne band Skyhooks in the 1970s, was diagnosed with aggressive leukemia

It comes after Bob took to Facebook in March to reveal that his prognosis was good.

He shared a photo that showed him standing wth his daughter Indiana and fellow Aussie music legend Wilbur Wilde.

Captioning the happy snap, Bob was pleased to reveal that he is currently in remission.

‘I’m heading home from hospital,’ Bob wrote in the post.

‘It’s been six weeks and a bit of a wild ride. But my blood counts are good and the Leukemia is in remission. Still a way to go.’

Skyhooks exploded onto the Aussie pop charts with their seminal 1974 debut album Living In The 70’s.

The band were known for their flamboyant costumes and makeup and their lyrics which often referenced Australian places and culture.

Never a band that was afraid to court controversy, six of the album’s ten tracks were banned from radio due to questionable lyric content.

Bob told the Herald Sun on Saturday that he was ready to return to the stage after battling ‘side health issues’ beside his cancer including sepsis, blood clots and bleeding on the brain. Pictured: Bob (centre) with his daughter Indiana and Wilbur Wilde

Despite this, the track You only Like Me Cos I’m Good In Bed was the first song played by your station Double J (later Triple J) when it debuted in January 1975.

The album went on to spend 16 weeks at the top of the Australian charts, becoming the highest-selling album by a home grown act at the time.

In 2011, the iconic album was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia’s Sounds of Australia registry.

The band went on to release four more studio albums, including 1975’s Ego Is Not A Dirty Word and 1976’s Straight in A Gay Gay World.

Bob’s diagnosis comes after his brother Peter, also a member of Skyhooks, died in 2020 after falling off a ladder at his home in Victoria.