INXS lead singer fired, homeless and broke

[danger boy]

The lead singer of Australian rock band INXS, J.D. Fortune, who was picked to replace the late Michael Hutchence in a contest on a reality TV show, said he has been fired without warning from the band.

Fortune, 35, a Canadian rock singer, was living out of his car when he won the CBS network's 2005 reality TV series "Rock Star:INXS."

He became the frontman for the six-man band, taking the place of 37-year-old Hutchence who was found dead in a Sydney hotel room in November 1997 with a coroner ruling he had committed suicide.

With Fortune, INXS released the album "Switch" and went on a world tour in 2006 and 2007 to promote the album that featured the singles "Pretty Vegas" and "Afterglow."

But Fortune told Entertainment Tonight Canada that INXS fired him literally with a handshake at an airport in Hong Kong, leaving the band without a frontman and with a new album on hold.

"I found myself really alone because I had travelled with these guys for 23 months," Fortune told Entertainment Tonight Canada without saying exactly when he was sacked.

He acknowledged that he had been taking drugs including cocaine while with the band but said he had been drug free for two years.

Fortune said he was now back living out of his car and had spent all his remaining money on a solo album called "The Death of a Motivational Speaker."

"From the street to the air back to the street again. It is only me," he said.

A spokeswoman for INXS told the Australian media that she could not comment on Fortune's sacking.

(Writing by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Patricia Reaney)

[Ron-P]

The band has always sucked, even with Hutchence at the helm. Why they even bothered to try a new lead is beyond me.

[irishaz]

Obviously, everyone is entitled to have their own opinion/tastes, but your comment seems a little harsh to me. Their more recent stuff is pretty awful, but INXS was something special (IMO) in the 80's. "Don't Change" alone elevated this band far ahead of most of today's dribble. "Never Tear Us Apart" was another memorable tune that stands the test of time. Michael Hutchence was definitely troubled, but the guy was talented.

[BlueFox]

The band has always sucked, even with Hutchence at the helm. Why they even bothered to try a new lead is beyond me.

+ infinity.

I remember in college during the 80s I was seeing them for the first time on MTV and my roommate came in asking what was on, and I said some band called INKs, trying to pronounce INXS. It took a while before I heard the last of that faux pas.

[DaveMuell]

Obviously, everyone is entitled to have their own opinion/tastes, but your comment seems a little harsh to me. Their more recent stuff is pretty awful, but INXS was something special (IMO) in the 80's. "Don't Change" alone elevated this band far ahead of most of today's dribble. "Never Tear Us Apart" was another memorable tune that stands the test of time. Michael Hutchence was definitely troubled, but the guy was talented.


Good take. "Don't Change" is right up there on my list of all-time classics.

[Norm Apter]

Obviously, everyone is entitled to have their own opinion/tastes, but your comment seems a little harsh to me. Their more recent stuff is pretty awful, but INXS was something special (IMO) in the 80's. "Don't Change" alone elevated this band far ahead of most of today's dribble. "Never Tear Us Apart" was another memorable tune that stands the test of time. Michael Hutchence was definitely troubled, but the guy was talented.

Agreed. I never even heard the most recently produced album, but I think it would be hard to reach the point they had once achieved with Hutchence as lead singer.

But anything pre-X was very good. In particular, The Swing, Shabooh Shabaah, and Listen Like Thieves. Collectively, I would consider these albums classic 80s music.

[danger boy]

INXS is great 80's music. I mean.. hit after hit of good rock and roll. In a time such as the 80's when most major acts were doing synth or bubble gum pop.. INXS remained a rock and pop band. Great music.

RIP Michael Hutchence

I agree J.D. Fortune was no front man. He just slightly sounded like Hutchence is about it.

[danger boy]

I guess the band INXS is claiming JD Fortune did not get fired from the band as he claimed.. so the sage continues.

by Paul Cashmere - February 23 2009
photo by Ros O'Gorman

JD Fortune may not really have been sacked by INXS but he will never get back in the band after last weeks outburst on Canadian television.

The INXS / JD Fortune saga will continue this week following an announcement from former manager and new record company boss Chris Murphy that the band did not sack JD Fortune.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Murphy says, "Not only are we shocked by the claims, even the place the supposed incident was to have taken place is a mystery to the band."

He goes on to say that the band has a new recording deal coming up with his own label Petrol Records and that Fortune was about to be called.

"I guess I have no reason to call him now," he said.

JD Fortune announced on Canadian television last week that he was fired by the band at Hong Kong airport, that he was homeless and living in his car and had a problem with cocaine.

Fortune became lead singer of INXS after winning the reality TV show Rock Star: INXS.

His Canadian TV appearance was in support of his forthcoming solo album.

Fortune’s behavior has been somewhat erratic of late

[ND13]

COo CAaINE.......running all around his brain!!!

[brettw22]

I don't think there can be that much of a disconnect between people to have one version of being left at an airport in another country, to something like "we were just about to call him about a record deal that was made without his involvement in those meetings at all"......