There are some songs that do not just live on radio playlists or greatest hits collections. They live in people. They become part of the fabric of a place, stitched into memories, family moments, road trips, pubs, heartbreaks, late nights, dance floors and the kind of singalong moments where strangers suddenly feel like mates.
For Australians, INXS are one of those bands.
In October 2026, former INXS frontman JD Fortune returns to Australian stages with his band for JD Fortune Plays The Best Of INXS, a national tour celebrating one of this country’s most loved and enduring catalogues. After the success of his 2025 Australian tour, JD is bringing the show back for another run, with fans set to hear iconic INXS tracks including Need You Tonight, Never Tear Us Apart, New Sensation, Mystify, Devil Inside, Don’t Change, Suicide Blonde and Original Sin, alongside his own INXS chapter with Pretty Vegas, Devil’s Party and Afterglow.
JD’s connection to Australia was clear from the opening moments. This is not just another stop on a tour map for him. Australia carries history, emotion and a real sense of home.
“I love Australia. It’s my second home,” JD says when reflecting on the 2025 run.
That response from Australian audiences clearly stayed with him. JD joked that he would have come back six months ago if he could, and even floated the idea of moving down here one day. There is a warmth in the way he speaks about the country, but also a deep respect for what these songs mean here. INXS music is not casual background noise in Australia. It is generational. It belongs to people who grew up with it, people who discovered it through their parents, people who lived through the Kick and X eras, and people who came to the band later through JD’s time with them.
For JD, that connection between crowd and song is exactly what music is supposed to do. INXS were never a band trapped in one narrow lane. Their music had rock swagger, pop hooks, funk, soul, danger, romance and atmosphere. It could cross genres and scenes without losing its identity. JD spoke about how INXS music brings people together, how it invites listeners in rather than forcing itself onto them.
That might be one of the reasons the songs have lasted so strongly. INXS wrote music with movement, heart and space. You can dance to it, cry to it, make out to it, break your heart to it, or stand in a packed room and sing it back with everything you have.
Of course, JD’s own place in the INXS story is a unique one. In 2005, he was launched into global attention after winning Rock Star: INXS, the televised search for a new vocalist following the passing of Michael Hutchence. It was an opportunity most singers could only dream of, but it was also an enormous weight to carry.
Stepping into a band with that much history, grief, expectation and global recognition was never going to be easy. JD does not speak about it like someone who took it lightly. He remembers the pressure vividly. There was no slow easing into the role, no gentle transition, no quiet period of adjustment. It was studio work, rehearsals, touring and the reality of suddenly standing backstage while tens of thousands of people chanted the band’s name.
“There was no quarter,” JD recalls. “You want the job? Here it is.”
That line says a lot. JD had the voice, the charisma and the drive, but nothing can truly prepare someone for walking into that kind of machine. In the interview, he looked back with honesty at that younger version of himself, describing a time marked by anger, pressure, depression and uncertainty. Before joining INXS, he had been through a rough process that stretched close to a year, even living out of his car at one point while hoping everything would work out.
Then, almost overnight, he became the last person standing.
What followed was nearly eight years of recording, touring, videos, performances and life inside one of Australia’s most iconic bands. JD speaks about those years with gratitude, but also with the perspective of someone who has had time to understand what that level of pressure can do to a person. He talks about the lessons learned the hard way, especially around touring, partying, protecting your voice and knowing when to pull yourself back.
One of the most powerful reflections came when JD talked about what he would tell his younger self now.
“You don’t have to go to every party you’re invited to.”
It is a simple line, but it lands with the weight of experience. JD is older now, more grounded, and far more comfortable separating the seriousness of the music from the ego traps that can surround the business. He still takes the songs seriously. He still takes the performances seriously. But he does not take himself too seriously anymore, and that maturity seems to have given him a healthier relationship with the work.
A major part of JD’s INXS legacy is Switch, the band’s eleventh studio album, released in 2005 and produced by Guy Chambers. It remains INXS’ last album made up entirely of new material, and the only INXS album to feature JD on vocals.
When Jai mentioned revisiting Switch before the interview, JD was clearly moved. It reminded him that, yes, he really did write with those guys. He really did ride around with them, hang out with them, record with them and live inside that chapter. Looking back on the making of the album, JD says he still has very clear memories, describing it as a period where he was constantly taking mental snapshots.
There is something very human in that image. A singer who grew up idolising INXS suddenly sitting in a studio with the band and Guy Chambers, looking around and realising he was inside the dream. JD spoke about the surreal nature of those early days, being asked if he wanted a beer by members of INXS, heading to Australia for the first time, and even feeling like parts of it had somehow appeared in his dreams before it happened.
Eventually, though, the mystique wore off and the work took over. That is where Switch became more than a surreal moment. It became the album where JD had to find his own space inside a band with a massive history. Songs like Pretty Vegas, Devil’s Party and Afterglow gave him that space.
Pretty Vegas remains the clearest stamp of JD’s INXS chapter. It is not just a song he performed. It is a song he helped create, and when he sings it now, it still carries pride. JD spoke about the reaction when he introduces songs from Switch live, and how fans know the words, the moments, and even the little crowd parts that make the song explode in the room.
That matters. For a catalogue as beloved as INXS, the Switch era could easily be overlooked by those focused only on the classic hits. But JD’s Australian shows are giving those songs room to breathe again, alongside the giants of the catalogue. For fans who connected with that era, it is a chance to hear those tracks live from the voice who lived them.
JD also spoke warmly about the 2025 crowds, the nostalgia in the room, and fans showing up with old shirts from his INXS days, some still carrying his signature from years earlier. Those moments are clearly not lost on him. They are reminders that this chapter meant something to people.
And while the 2026 tour celebrates the best of INXS, JD is not standing still creatively. He is still writing, still working on new music, and still chasing the strongest songs. He explained that one reason his next project has taken time is because the writing keeps evolving. Just when he thinks he has the songs, another one arrives that feels stronger, and the whole process shifts again.
That is the curse and gift of being a songwriter. You keep chasing the next thing that feels true.
For Australian fans, though, the immediate focus is October 2026. JD Fortune is coming back with a show built around energy, nostalgia, respect and celebration. It is a chance to hear these songs live again, delivered by a vocalist who knows what it means to carry them, who understands the pressure of that history, and who still speaks about the experience with gratitude and humour.
When asked what fans should expect when they walk into these shows, JD kept it simple.
“Prepare to get elegantly wasted.”
Thrills, chills and spills, as he put it. A proper night out. A celebration of songs that still move people, still fill rooms, and still belong deeply to Australian music history.
JD Fortune Plays The Best Of INXS hits Australia in October 2026, including Adelaide at The Gov on Tuesday October 20.
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/jd-fortune-canada-plays-inxs-2026/
