Stuart Fraser, Legendary Australian Noiseworks Guitarist Has Passed Away

Stuart Fraser, Legendary Australian Noiseworks Guitarist Has Passed Away

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stuart fraser
Stuart Fraser of Noiseworks. Image: https://www.facebook.com/noiseworksofficial/

Legendary Australian guitarist, Stuart 'Chet' Fraser, a founding member of Noiseworks and longtime guitarist for the John Farnham band has sadly passed away after a three-year battle with lung cancer. 

Fraser was the lead guitarist of 80s rockers Noiseworks, who he formed with Jon Stevens in 1986. Noiseworks’ three studio albums and Greatest Hits all went Top 10 in Australia. Love Verses Money (1991) was a number one record. He also played in the John Farnham Band for 25 years and occasionally with Jimmy Barnes’ band. The talented musician also worked with Tom Jones, Ray Charles, Boz Scaggs, Kylie Minogue, Joe Camilleri, Tommy Emmanuel, Tina Arena, Olivia Newton-John, Nick Barker, Diesel, Daryl Braithwaite and David Hirschfelder.

Noiseworks | “No Lies”

Several Australian musicians have paid tribute to Fraser on social media, with Jimmy Barnes writing: “I’ve known Stuart since he was a young boy. He was one of the most beautiful souls I have ever met. The world will be a sadder place without you my friend.”

Fraser was diagnosed with lung cancer at the end of 2016 and had been receiving treatment at Olivia Newton-John’s Cancer Wellness and Research Centre in Victoria, where he underwent surgery and chemotherapy.

“It doesn’t really feel like a hospital,” Fraser said about the centre in 2017. “The team there are so attentive and on top of it. It immediately takes away any anxiety or doubts you have. It makes all the difference.”

Three years ago, Fraser and his Noiseworks bandmates reunited to record songs for their first new album since 1991. But the album was never released due to Fraser’s cancer diagnosis. In June this year, frontman Jon Stevens told the Newcastle Herald he was still holding out hope that Fraser’s health would improve enough that they could go on tour, but said he was waiting for Fraser to gain strength.

“We did talk about doing stuff towards the back end of this year, but at the end of the day with Stuart, he’s the main guitarist, so you can’t go out without Stuart,” he said.

Stuart Fraser will be greatly missed; our thoughts go out to his family at this sad time. 

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