Music industry in mourning as beloved Australian punk musician dies after long battle with cancer

The Australian music industry is in mourning after news broke that legendary Brisbane punk rock drummer Alan ‘Fred’ Noonan has died at age 58.

The veteran rocker, who performed in several popular bands throughout his career, passed away on May 9 following a long battle with stage four colorectal cancer.

He was the drummer for the popular Aussie rock band Six Ft Hick, and toured the country with many artists including The White Stripes, Beasts of Bourbon and TISM.

Noonan was renowned for his never-ending passion for performing energetic live shows with his band, and had played close to 2000 gigs throughout his 40 year career.

The Brisbane-born musician also performed in his own one-man group called Fred Band – who were often the supporting act to his other group. 

Six Ft Hick frontman Geoff Corbett paid tribute to his best mate and said he always gave his fans a show to remember.

‘He translated a lot of his humour into his live shows by doing completely out of the box things and getting weird to entertain,’ he told The Courier Mail.

‘He would take each day as it came and would always be in awe of where he was. Noonan thought that life owed him nothing and he was so grateful.’ 

Fans also paid tribute to the iconic musician on social media, writing he will ‘rest in punk’. 

Meanwhile, the long-running ABC music program Rage posted on Instagram that it would be presenting a special show in Noonan’s honour.

‘We’ll be celebrating the life of Six Ft Hick drummer Fred Noonan with a tribute featuring the band’s music videos,’ they wrote. 

Noonan is survived by his partner Caitlin Sheedy.