Bob “Bongo” Starkie, guitarist for Skyhooks – one of Australia’s most influential rock acts – has passed away aged 73.
He breathed his last after a year-long battle with acute myeloid leukemia. According to his daughter Indiana, her father died “surrounded by friends and family” and “peacefully”.
In a Facebook post on Friday, November 28, the seminal Australian rock band honored the late guitarist by paying a heartfelt tribute.
“It is with sadness in our hearts that we have to share this news that Bob “Bongo” Starkie has passed away early this morning,” they confirmed the heartbreaking news. “Music was in his blood to the end.”
“He embraced the theatrics from striking facial makeup to unique stage costumes,” the Skyhooks member recalled. “Music always came first and touring and playing on stage was his absolute joy.”
In the same tribute, Starkie’s daughter noted that he was deeply loved by daughters Indiana and Arabella, grandchildren Phoenix and Lucia, partner Chrissy, close friend Ian and sons-in-law Simon and Chris, adding: “He felt the love to the end.”
For the uninitiated, Starkie joined Skyhooks in August 1973, replacing his older brother Peter Starkie, who died in 2020 aged 72 following complications from a fall.
Peter was one of the musicians who helped establish the early lineup that would go on to dominate Australian rock in the mid-1970s following Skyhooks’ formation in Melbourne in 1973.
