INXS singer says broke, homeless after fired from band

5 mins ago

SYDNEY (Reuters) – 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)

i just heard this too. wow. he blew an opportunity of a lifetime. he really could've made a name for himself.

meanwhile i will enjoy some INXS on my headphones.

WTF?

We saw them a year or so ago in concert and he was a chain-smoking, drinking fiend while singing on stage (with a shirt that read "ASS - The Other Pussy" in huge letters). The band was great though!

Jackzilla said:

What is he trying to say here?

I heard about this yesterday

What a dumbass he is. I don't blame the band for kicking his ass to the curb.

Wow!! I was only wondering the other day what had happened 2 the new INXS of late!!!!

The thing is, I thought at the time that the INXS: Rock Star project was a total sham and a really cheap shot and tasteless way 2 replace a lead singer of a band who was a total Rock God, Michael Hutchence!!!!

Why didnt the band leave well alone and leave us all with the memories of the REAL frontman?????
[Edited 2/19/09 23:17pm]

luv4u said:

Yeah, but we don't know why dude was fired.

...and if we want to assume it was because of drugs or alcohol, who is to say that the other band members don't do the same thing?


In a situation like that you don't fire somebody a with a a goodbye freakin' handshake at an airport , after two years? I don't care if he was showing up to gigs wth a chick attached to each testicle and a coke straw hanging out of his nose. Before or at the time of dismissal, explanation or simple announcement is in order

Desire2006 said:

$$$

Ottensen said:

I agree with you.

FUCK YEA!!!


Let the door hit you on the way out!

I love when people talk out of their ass on subjects of bands going on after a death or a lead singer quitting.

First of all EVERYONE does EVERYTHING for $$$...its your job...i mean why do you work??

Second of all, INXS is a band, its not the Michael Hutchence Band its INXS, i understand he is one of the greatest frontmen ever, no kidding, but life has to go on. But INXS is a sound also, Andrew Farris was responsible for 75% of the music and lyrics...does he not matter too? They all matter, its a unit.

Third, to go back to the cashing in thing: If INXS really wanted to cash in they would have done the ROCK STAR thing months after he died, and also had TONS of reissues of albums released weeks later following his death. THEY DID NONE OF THIS. They went into seclusion because they were numb after their "brother" in song died, it took them 8 years to release new music and almost 6 years to even walk on a stage again.

Fourth...If you wanna know all the real details and what the members went through after Michaels death read the book "Story to Story" its the only factual account of the band.

And last but not least, JD, you really fucked up a good thing, plus you have talent, but the band did what it had to do, which also was not the BUSINESS thing to do, they kicked him out because of drugs and behaviour. Now imagine if they did that to Michael who had all those issues for a long time within the band. The band cut not have, god forbid, another tragic death happen.

lastdecember said:

Well damn..pack it. wrap it. and tie a bow around it. To the point and very concise..... How was JD as the frontman of INXS, anygood?

TD3 said:

JD was good, he had a cool soul like sound to his voice, on his own he could easily front any band. Good live voice, good writer for his limited input on the "switch" album, but he fucked up royally, and i totally understand the band not being able to have to go down a road again where they would have a lead singer involved with drugs again.

JD was cool. I still say he ain't no Michael but he was decent. Too bad drugs got in the way.

Timmy84 said:

Nobody is Michael or can ever be. The 80's produced some of the most unique bands ever, those things will never ever happen again, sorry to say

lastdecember said:

Yeah I know that, just saying.

Timmy84 said:

I think its more than drugs getting in JD's way, had JD been the original lead singer, and the things that happend with Michael never happend, it would have been tolerated. But truth be known, from 1991 on, Michael had some heavy drug taking going on, but it was there greatest period of work from 1991-1997, so, not saying it was the drugs that helped, but alot of his situations, depressions, things like that and internal band issues, were producing some of the best music, sad, but that is often the case for creativity