Michael Hutchence: The Loved One

COMING SOON!

He was the 'new sensation' with INXS and enjoyed a playboy lifestyle until Paula Yates enthralled him. A bitter custody battle with Bob Geldof took its toll and he took his own life. Or did he?

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Michael Hutchence
born: 22-01-1960
birth place: Sydney, Australia
died: 22-11-1997

Australian rock legend Michael Kelland John Hutchence was born the son of a garment trader, Kelland, and make-up artist, Patricia, in 1960.

When Michael was four, the family moved to Hong Kong, where, as a young man, he began singing in a folk group, specialising in ‘Peter, Paul and Mary’ songs.

Moving back to the Sydney suburb of Davidson, Michael met his INXS collaborator, Andrew Farriss.

When his parents divorced in 1975, Michael went with his mother to Los Angeles, while his brother Rhett remained in Sydney. After a year, he had saved enough to return to Sydney, and contacted Farriss with a view to forming a band.

Dropping out of school, Michael formed Doctor Dolphin, aged 17, but Farriss and Hutchence soon formed The Farris Brothers on the day Elvis died, in 1977.

Touring heavily, the band changed its name in 1980 to INXS, and released their eponymous debut album. ‘Shabooh Shoobah’ was released in 1982, by which time Hutchence had developed his musicianship and stage presence. A talented lyricist, he co-wrote almost all of INXS's songs with Farriss, who has attributed his own success as a songwriter to Hutchence's 'genius'.

Making his film debut, Hutchence appeared in ‘Dogs In Space’ in 1986, spawning a top-ten single, ‘Rooms for the Memory’.

The band released their breakthrough album, 'Kick', the following year and toured heavily to promote it. After taking a year off, Hutchence recorded with Max Q, and travelled to Europe to appear as the poet Percy Byshee Shelley in ‘Frankenstein Unbound’, opposite John Hurt, in 1990.

His private life was under the spotlight at this time and often reported in the Australian and international press, with a string of love affairs with prominent models and singers. In 1989, Hutchence began a highly publicised relationship with Kylie Minogue.

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