I was a big fan of JD Fortune with INXS. I thought he had the charisma and sound of Hutchense and delivered the goods live and on Switch. The guy may be an insufferable prick, but IMO he was a perfect fit.

Alas, he's been canned and they've now moved on to yet another new vocalist (any bets on how long he'll last?).

Decent song but INXS now sounds like a combo of Coldplay and the Wallflowers. Another brilliant move by these geniuses:

http://www.inxs.com/Tiny_Summer.html


"INXS's new frontman is an Irish songwriter who sang backing vocals with Snow Patrol. Ciaran Gribbin has been tapped to join the Australian hard-rockers, replacing JD Fortune, a Canadian singer who was recruited via a 2005 reality show. "The most amazing part of my musical journey is about to begin," Gribbin said. "I know that as a fact."

Gribbin is INXS's fourth singer since 1977, the best-known being Michael Hutchence, who killed himself in 1997. Gribbin's predecessor, Fortune, was hired and fired twice in six years; in a recent press release, INXS refer to him only as their departed "special guest singer".

Gribbin is hoping to avoid such an ignominious exit. A veteran songwriter, the 35-year-old's credits include the soundtrack to Killing Bono, Madonna's song Celebration, and lots of work under the name Joe Echo. He also appears in the choir for Snow Patrol's 2006 album Eyes Open. "I've worked hard and … grown in confidence, grown in ability," Gribbin told Billboard . "In a way I'm slightly nervous, and in another way I'm unbelievably excited."

INXS guitarist Andrew Farriss was the one who found Gribbin, meeting him at a party in Sydney in 2009. By the end of the night, Gribbin recalled, he was "sitting on a balcony, singing Mystify with the guy who wrote it". The recruitment was "organic", Farriss said. "I just enjoyed the guy's company and really enjoyed his voice and listening to his songs, his music."

The new INXS are already in studio, with six tour-dates booked in November and December. "A baptism of fire is the best way to describe the live shows," Gribbin admitted.

The band's last album, 2010's Original Sin, did not chart in the UK. Maybe this time, Snow Patrol can help."





btw, I like how they call INXS "hard rockers" in the article.

This is just me typing, but I'm glad JD Misfortune is gone. A coked-up no talent who made the band a lounge act. I despise him and the whole Rock Star: INXS debacle.
Hopefully, they've made a good choice here, although they never should've let Jon Stephens go in the first place. It's quite obvious however, Hutchence was more or less irreplacable. I will give this new lineup a shot though.

I knew we'd get the "Fortune sucks", "Stephens was the man" comment from IP as soon as I typed that first post. I knew it was just a matter of time.

Could not disagree with you more.

That's OK, I knew you'd lament his departure. I didn't say Stephens was the man-just that he shouldn't have departed way back.
Sorry I can't agree with you-I'll try to have another opinion next time.

A BETTER opinion please!

I, too, will miss JD in INXS. I picked him as the winner during ROCK STAR's third episode. He just seemed to "fit".

Having said that, I really like the new track!!! More, please!

I'm currently listening to a KFOG compilation i put together with what I thought were my favorite performers from all 18 volumes.

Just played "INXS" Never Tear Us Apart. I have no idea which singer was on this recording, but it felt like I was listening to a bar cover band, NOT INXS. Yuch.

From INXS.com:

INXS...The touring ends... The music lives on...

Perth, Western Australia, November 11: It ended fittingly where it began 35 years ago, in Perth, when INXS drummer Jon Farriss declared to a 15,000+ capacity house on the opening weekend of the brand new Perth Arena and the final night of the Matchbox Twenty / INXS Australian tour that from this point INXS would bring down the curtain as a live touring band. In a fitting homage to the band, Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas joined the band (INXS) and vocalist Ciaran Gribbin on stage and performed INXS’s signature closer, Don’t Change, in the band’s encore.

The remaining band members of INXS, Tim, Andrew and Jon Farriss, Kirk Pengilly and Garry Beers issued this statement.

“We understand that this must come as a blow to everybody, but all things must eventually come to an end. We have been performing as a band for 35 years, it’s time to step away from the touring arena”

“Our music will of course live on and we will always be a part of that.”

“We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all the friends and family that have supported us throughout our extensive career. Our lives have been enriched by having you all as a part of the journey”

INXS forged their reputation as one of the world’s greatest live bands, relentlessly touring the US, Europe, South America, and the Far East constantly throughout the 80’s and early 90’s, fuelled by the success of records such as Listen Like Thieves, Kick, X, and Welcome To Wherever You Are.

That hard earned and hard won live reputation took INXS to the very pinnacle of the live world touring circuit with such memorable performances headlining iconic venues across the world… in the UK [Wembley Stadium 80,000], the US [Texas Stadium 60,000] and Rio De Janeiro [Rock in Rio 120,000].

But with the high, came a bitter and cruel blow… the loss of their charismatic and irreplaceable front man Michael Hutchence in November 1997.

“It’s been 35 years for INXS as a live touring band and unbelievably it’s been 15 years ago since we lost Michael” said Jon Farriss.

“We lived for each other in the trenches and we loved each other. It was the six of us against the world and then suddenly and inexplicably we were but five. We were lost right at the moment we were on top.”

The band struggled to deal with the enormity of it all and the easy solution was to just call it a day.

“We never took a soft option, it was the adversity, the challenge and the struggle that forged us into the live working band we became. And this was as big as it could possibly get when it came to a challenge” said Andrew Farriss, “and in the end we decided for a whole bunch of reasons to march forward. To us there was no other option, families always move forward.”

The bands manager Chris Murphy said, “They believed unconditionally in each other and they also believed unconditionally in the music. People fade, sometimes way too early… that is life whether we like it or not. To live to 80 plus is a life well lived. To lose Michael so young was a tragedy for all of us. But with this band, their legacy, their music was just so damn good, it was always destined to live beyond all of us.”

The last 3 years has seen a resurgence of INXS with their songs being hammered on radio and a rise in audience numbers with the live show. The song Original Sin, with Rob Thomas on vocals, reached number 1 on the Billboard dance charts.

As Jon Farriss says,“INXS’ touring days could never last forever. We wanted it to end on a high. And it has”

End statement.




NB/ The band will be making no further comment

How the hell is Rob Thomas singing on their final song fitting? Pathetic. This doesn't say if they will still record or not, but nobody has cared for years so I doubt it. I did hear a number of songs on the internet last year or this year they recently did and they weren't bad.
Hutchence really was a once in a lifetime singer/frontman.