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“All magic comes with a cost, man.”
JD Fortune has lived the kind of rock’n’roll story that sounds completely fucking ridiculous if you try to write it down as a screenplay.
Canadian kid. Rock Star: INXS winner. International fame. Frontman for one of the biggest bands on the planet. Private jets. Massive stages.
And somewhere in the middle of all that, there were some very different nights.
In my chat with JD, we got past the INXS mythology and into the man who lived it — including the period when he was sleeping in his car, eating two-minute noodles and simply trying to get through the day.
“When you’ve been sleeping in the car and eating two minute noodles… when you’re standing on that stage, looking back at that, holy fuck, this is fucking everything,” Fortune says.
The ridiculous part? Six months later, everything had changed.
“Six months later, I’m on a fucking TV show. And then I become the lead singer for one of the world’s greatest rock bands. And then I’m flying on a private jet tour in the world.”
It’s the sort of story that could easily become a standard rock-star cliché, but Fortune doesn’t talk about the highs without acknowledging the lows that came with them.
“All magic comes with a cost, man.”
That attitude runs through the entire conversation.
We also went deep into Michael Hutchence, including Fortune’s emotional connection to INXS’s “Searching” and the legendary ARIA Awards performance that still gives him goosebumps.
“That is a man that is in so much pain and anguish of what he was going through,” Fortune says of Hutchence. “And despite all of that, bro, he fucking killed it.”
Stepping into Hutchence’s shoes also taught Fortune something about himself.
“Stronger than I thought I was.”
Twenty years on, Fortune says he’s learned to leave the manufactured rock-star persona behind and put more of himself into the performance.
“I’ve learned to put my whole self forward, be vulnerable with the audience.”
That vulnerability seems to be the difference between simply performing the songs and actually living inside them.
And after everything he’s been through, Fortune still sees getting on stage as a privilege.
“I’ve always thought of that as a huge honor. And I take that responsibility very seriously.”
JD Fortune returns to Australia in October for another run of INXS songs, including an Adelaide show at The Gov on October 20.
But if this interview proves anything, JD Fortune’s story is considerably bigger than the songs.
It’s about getting knocked flat, somehow getting back up, and being grateful enough to still give a fuck when the lights come on.
JD FORTUNE October 2026 Australian Tour Dates
Thursday 1ST October QUEANBEYAN, The B
Friday 2nd October THIRROUL, Anita’s Theater
Saturday 3rd October MARICKVILLE, Factory Theatre
Wednesday 7th October, NEWCASTLE, Nex Newcastle
Friday 9th October, TWEED HEADS, Twin Towns
Saturday 10th October, BRISBANE, The Triffid
Friday 16th October, DONCASTER, Shoppingtown Hotel
Saturday 17th October, MELBOURNE, Max Watts
Tuesday 20th October ADELAIDE, The Gov
Saturday 23rd October PERTH, Astor Theatre
Tickets On Sale Now From: https://metropolistouring.com/
This is the gospel.
I bite crowd surfers.
Killer.
