Peter de Jong, the frontman of Newcastle pub rock band Heroes who became the face of the infamous Star Hotel riot of September 1979, died this week.
His death was announced by the Hunter booking agent, Genr8 Entertainment on Thursday, September 10, and followed Mr de Jong's announcement that he would retire from music in August.
"It's with great sadness to announce the passing of Pete de Jong. A devoted husband, a loving father, an industry legend plus a wonderful human," the Wallsend agency, owned by Mr de Jong's long-time representative Yianni Moratidis, said.
"Words cannot express how deeply shocked we all are."
Mr de Jong emerged on the Newcastle music scene in the late 1960s before forming his first act, Armageddon, around 1970 at Toronto with the late bass player Paul Matters and drummer Les Gully.
The following year, the band won the Newcastle round of Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds - at the time, one of the largest musical talent quests in the country - for two original songs, Song for Happy and Suite Blind Eye.
Mr de Jong met Mark Tinson at the competition finals in Sydney that year, forging a lifelong creative partnership and friendship.
Armageddon split in 1975, and Mr de Jong joined Mr Tinson, bass player Jim Porteous and drummer Phil Screen in 1977 to form Heroes - the line-up which, in one storied gig, would cement his and the band's legacy as Newcastle rock royalty.
Mr Tinson, who was unavailable for comment on Thursday, shared a post on social media by documentary filmmaker Glenn Dormand describing his late bandmate as one of Newcastle's greats.
Heroes rose to national notoriety after their closing act performance at the closing Star Hotel on September 19, 1979.
The venue had a polarising reputation and storied past in the city as a favourite haunt of bikies, sailors, military members, and Newcastle's gay and drag community, and hailed as a den of vice by establishment figures.
"No description could do justice to the Star, it has to be seen to be believed - an immense, crumbling ruin of a place that exudes the seaminess and rough life one expects of a seaport," the Newcastle Herald reported when the venue's licensee Don Graham took over in 1973.
The pub's closure led to a bacchanalian farewell concert at which Heroes were the closing act.
"We knew that something was happening out there, but we had no idea of the scale of what was happening," Mr de Jong told Stories of Our Town - Mr Dormand's production label - in 2019.
Crowds spilled out of the Star and flooded King Street, rising in agitation. At 10pm, as the band was performing its encore, a police officer grabbed Mr de Jong's microphone in an attempt to force an end to the event.
Mr de Jong told the crowd "the pigs have said we've got to go", and soon the throng turned hostile.
Police were peppered with cans, rocks and, according to one report, a flagon, as an unprecedented night of violence unfolded.
Officers arrested 29, including three women, with reports several officers were injured, a police car was overturned and torched, high-pressure hoses were turned on the crowd to try to disperse them, and the city's lock-up heaved with overnight detainees.
Mr de Jong was ultimately arrested over his remarks.
The riot proved the crucible moment for the band, who went on to sign with Harry Vanda and George Young's Albert Productions - the same label to mentor AC/DC among other famed Australian bands - and release their self-titled album in 1980.
The Star and Slaughter - arguably the band's best-known song - featured news reporting audio from the night of the Star Hotel riot. Though it was penned by the band's bass player, Allan Cook, in 1978, it became the prophetic anthem to an indelible night in Newcastle music history.
Hunter music journalist Jack Hodgins, who interviewed Mr de Jong in 2025, said the band epitomised a uniquely Newcastle sound.
"They were Newcastle's band," he told the Herald on Thursday. "Those songs were just a masterclass of how to write great songs. They were songs that were woven into the soundtracks of people's lives."
"I think they hold a really special place for people in the city."
Brian Lizotte, the former owner of celebrated New Lambton music venue Lizottes, where the band staged a reunion in 2023, remembered Mr de Jong as an unassuming local legend.
"When I met him, he was a very quiet kind guy," he said. "He just took it all in his stride. I don't think he was aware of how respected he was in the industry."
Mr Lizotte, who sold the venue the same year, remembered the band's reunion as a unique night in the venue's long tenure as a celebrated local stage.
"To see all the old rockers show up on my doorstep," he said. "Usually we would seat people, but there was none of that on that night. People were just wandering around and joining tables."
Mr de Jong's death was met with an outpouring of condolences and grief online this week as fans flooded posts with memories.
Mr de Jong, who continued to perform in numerous guises after Heroes officially disbanded in 1982 - though the band remained active and released a second album in 2015 - announced he would retire late last month.
"I was blessed to grow up in an era when live music was king," he wrote online. "Who'd have thought we'd still be doing it fifty years down the track?"
"My heartfelt thanks to you all. It's been a groovy ride."
Mr de Jong's agency said a funeral would be held on September 18, with details to come.
