INXS
INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney.[4][5] The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, guitarist Tim Farriss, lead singer and main lyricist Michael Hutchence, and guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly.[6] For 20 years, INXS was fronted by Hutchence, whose magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band.[4][6] Initially known for their new wave/pop style, the band later developed a harder pub rock style that included funk and dance elements.[4]
This article is about the band. For the album, see INXS (album). For the TV miniseries, see INXS: Never Tear Us Apart.
INXS
The Farriss Brothers
Sydney, Australia
1977–2012
In 1984, INXS had their first number-one hit in Australia with "Original Sin". The band achieved international success in the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s with the hit albums Listen Like Thieves, Kick, and X, and the singles "What You Need", "Need You Tonight" (the band's only US number-one single), "Devil Inside", "Never Tear Us Apart", "Suicide Blonde" and "New Sensation".[7][8][9][10]
After Hutchence's death on 22 November 1997, INXS made appearances with several guest singers, and toured and recorded with Jon Stevens as lead singer, beginning in 2000.[5] In 2005, members of INXS participated in Rock Star: INXS, a reality television series that culminated in the selection of Canadian J.D. Fortune as their new lead singer.[11] Irish singer-songwriter Ciaran Gribbin replaced Fortune as lead singer in 2011. During a concert on 11 November 2012, INXS stated that the performance would be their last, although they did not announce the band's permanent retirement.
INXS has won six Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards, including three for "Best Group" in 1987, 1989 and 1992;[12] the band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001.[13][14] INXS has sold over 50 million albums worldwide, making them one of Australia's highest selling music acts of all time.[15][16]
History[edit]
Early years[edit]
The origins of the band began with Andrew Farriss convincing his fellow Davidson High School classmate, Michael Hutchence, to join his band, Doctor Dolphin.[17] The band contained two further classmates, Kent Kerny and Neil Sanders, as well as Garry Beers and Geoff Kennely, both from a nearby high school, Forest High School.[17] In 1977, Tim Farriss, Andrew's older brother, invited Andrew, Hutchence and Beers to join him and his schoolmate Kirk Pengilly. Tim and Pengilly had been playing together since 1971 as either an acoustic duo, Kirk and Tim, or as a four-piece band called Guinness[17] (named after their bass player's dog).[18] Together with younger brother Jon Farriss they formed "The Farriss Brothers", who consisted of Garry Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar, Michael Hutchence on lead vocals and Kirk Pengilly on guitar and saxophone.[4][6][19] The band made their debut on 16 August 1977 at Whale Beach,[20] 40 km (25 mi) north of Sydney.[20]
The parents of the Farriss boys relocated to Perth, Western Australia in 1978, taking Jon to continue his schooling and as soon as Hutchence and Andrew finished school, the rest of the band followed.[5][20] They briefly performed as The Vegetables, singing "We Are the Vegetables", before returning to Sydney ten months later,[20] where they recorded a set of demos.[17] At a chance meeting in the car park of the Royal Antler, a pub in Narrabeen on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, New South Wales, Tim was approached by Gary Morris who was the manager of Midnight Oil.[17]
The band began to regularly support Midnight Oil and other local bands. Morris advised that a member of the Oils crew had come up with a new name and suggested they change it to INXS.[17] The name INXS was inspired by English band XTC and Australian jam makers IXL.[5][20] Pengilly later explained that Morris was interested in turning the group into a Christian band, which the band briefly considered before rejecting the idea.[17]
The band's first performance as INXS was on 1 September 1979 at the Ocean Beach Hotel in Umina[21] on the Central Coast of New South Wales and by the end of 1979, after passing on the Christian band image, they hired Chris "CM" Murphy as their manager and continued taking on the Oz pub circuit.[5][18][20][22] Murphy was an adept business manager and negotiator and by early 1980 the band had signed a five-album record deal with a Sydney independent label, Deluxe Records, run by Michael Browning, a former manager of AC/DC.[4][5][17]
