Skyhooks guitarist Bob ‘Bongo' Starkie dies at 73

Bob “Bongo” Starkie, guitarist for Skyhooks — one of Australia’s most influential rock acts — has passed away at the age of 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 trailblazing Australian rock band honoured the late guitarist by paying a heartfelt tribute.

“It’s with sadness in our hearts that we have to send out this news that early this morning Bob “Bongo” Starkie has passed away,” they confirmed the upsetting news. “Music was in his blood till the very end.”

“He embraced the theatrics from striking facial make up to unique stage costumes,” the Skyhooks member recalled. “Music always came first and touring and playing onstage 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 son-in-laws Simon and Chris, adding, “He felt the love till the very end.”

For the unversed, Starkie joined Skyhooks in August 1973, replacing his older brother Peter Starkie, who died in 2020 at age 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.