JD Fortune retracts INXS story

No wonder Fortune is out of INXS - he keeps changing his tune!
No wonder Fortune is out of INXS - he keeps changing his tune!

All right, let's see if we can get this straight: A couple of weeks ago, INXS vocalist JD Fortune said he was kicked to the curb by the band at a Hong Kong airport. Now he says that wasn't the case at all.

"That was sort of a misquote (on my part)," Fortune recently told Sun Media in Canada. "It was the proverbial handshake. Nobody really said, 'Thanks a lot, kid.' I thought we were going to see each other again. It was kind of like, 'Hey, hey, I'll catch up with you later.'"

The 35-year old singer, who won a reality TV show and recorded an album and toured with INXS, has been in the news lately thanks to some bizarre appearances on Canadian television. Fortune claimed the band gave him the heave-ho in Hong Kong and that he was now homeless and in living in his car.

He did own up to a heavy cocaine habit, however, which he says probably attitubed to his firing.

Band, label president are surprised

Fortune first said the band fired him. The band says it never happened. Now, Fortune says he misunderstood.

As soon as the story broke, however, INXS and the band's label president, Chris Murphy, were like, "Huh?" Murphy issued a statement that the band was working on new material and were planning to contact Fortune.

That's all changed now, of course - at least the contacting Fortune part. "I guess I have no reason to call him now," said Murphy.

It's a weird part of a weird tale for a band that's had a run of bad luck for far too long. Did Fortune, through mispeaking, misinterpreting or whatever wind up sacking himself?

Something tells us we haven't heard the last of this one.

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar WorldGuitar PlayerMusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.