Remember that show back in 2005, Rock Star: INXS? It was a competition to find a singer to replace the late, INXS lead singer, Michael Hutchence.
The winner, ironically named J.D. Fortune, has now found himself homeless, jobless and living out of his car, which oddly enough is exactly the state he was in before he won the frontman job.
Sigh…where did it all go wrong? At first, Fortune made it seem like he was completely blindsided. After touring around the world for two years, his bandmates basically shook his hand at a Hong Kong airport, wished him well and sent him on his way.
Well, there was another, tiny contributing factor. Fortune is a big cokehead. Isn’t substance abuse what ended up being the death knell for INXS the first time around? INXS; It’s not a directive, it’s just a band name. J.D. claims to be drug-free for two years now, but addicts aren’t know for their truth-telling skills.
It’s such a lesson. When success comes, you have to be ready for it. Fortune obviously wasn’t and now he’s right back where he started. Sad.
He was drunk half the time on the show! If they didn’t see this coming, it’s because they didn’t want to. MiG would have been by far the best choice.
Obviously, I’m not still carrying a grudge because my fave didn’t win the show!
I realize that it is not unlikely to imagine a celebrity abusing substances, but as someone who knows many relatives of J.D, I can assure you that even if he has hit rock bottom, his family would never allow him to be living on the streets. He will most likely be back in our hometown recovering if that is, in fact, what he needs.
I’ve never been a big INXS fan and I didn’t participate in any candlelight vigils when Michael Hutchens (sp?) died but when the lead singer is that iconic, they can’t be replaced (looking at you Queen).
They played at Bluesfest in Ottawa a few years ago and we had tickets for all the shows. We went to see Metric (I believe) and then headed over to see the end of the INXS show. Cougar central!!!!! We had a blast watching the overweight secretaries drink beer from plastic cups and “rock out” to “INXS.”
Okay, JD used to teach martial arts at the highschool my little cousins went to before he was on Rockstar… so we’re talking around 2004.
JD often tried to score drugs of the teenage guys and OFTEN tried to score with my little cousin. Who was pretty, but 15 at the time. This didn’t stop him from trying.
My cousins all got super drunk at a house party and called me to come pick them up, and there was JD. 30 years old, hanging out with teenagers. I was 24 at the time and felt uncomfortable just seeing him there. Of course, a year later he ended up on Rockstar…
Douchebag.
I watched that whole show. I hated this guy. He was so arrogant and really not all that great. The guy who came in second, Marty, was so much better and, now that I think about it, much too good for INXS.
I know, right-Marty Casey was way more talented! This guy was a fool.
that’s what ya get for trying to duplicate PERFECTION, ASSHOLIO.
michael hutchence = heaven sent, walkin’ talkin’ SEX IN A PAIR O’ TIGHT PANTS! with the pipes to match, *oh* such SOUL….love him.
this dude? goo-goo-gooooooood riddance.
that’s what ya get for trying to duplicate PERFECTION, ASSHOLIO.
michael hutchence = heaven sent, walkin’ talkin’ SEX IN A PAIR O’ TIGHT PANTS! with the pipes to match, *oh* such SOUL….love him.
this dude? goo-goo-gooooooood riddance.
The good:
– He has really pretty eyes. Lash jealousy here.
– Nice thick hair and whatnot.
– He sang one really good new INXS song called “Afterglow” or some such shit. Did a fab job. Undeniable.
Ok the bad:
– Those ears. Why the fuck has he not had them pinned? It’s 2009. You can practically get that done on your lunch hour.
– The ‘tude.
Um.
– The complete lameness of him trying to replace the irreplaceable.
What else.
– Well, this photo above isn’t helping. It stresses me about and makes me angry. In my head I’m all “Nonononononono!” and then scroll past real fast-like. Then I go back and look again and the vicious cycle begins.
His song “Pretty Vegas” was lame as hell…this guy was a total douchebag. INXS needs to go on youtube and find his replace like Journey found the little Filipino dude that has a dead on voice to match Steve Perry.
Wow, not much love for JD here…
I am a huge JD and INXS fan. I was deeply saddened when I heard what happened with the band. But, JD has a solo project coming out soon and by what I’ve heard on his myspace music profile, it is going to be great.
They edited JD to look like an ass on the RS show. Then at the end, when it was becoming clear that he was the front runner, they started to show him in a better light.
As for his addiction problems, I wish him the best with that. Famous or not, rich or poor, it is something difficult to over come.
I just hope the public will give him a chance to show what kind of an artist he truly is.
INXS should have died when Michael Hutchence did. Sorry but trying to replace him was like if the remaining members of Nirvana tried to replace Kurt Cobain. They were just not the same band anymore. The new INXS material was an insult to the old INXS.
ditto, absolutely true.
I was not really aware of INXS until the Rock Star show made me a real fan of their music. JD’s voice best suited their catalogue, so I was glad he won. He’s no Michael Hutchence, but who is. Yes, he was a jerk on the show, while Marty and Mig seemed to be squared-away guys. But arrogance usually hides huge insecurities and that was JD. This guy was 32 going on 20. He has big-time daddy/role model issues and he thought he had found a bunch of big brothers in INXS. Now he is dumped after they used him to get a 3 1/2 year lease on life for the band and a lot of money in their bank accounts. John Stevens, lead replacement for one year, warned him they would “rape and pillage” him, and now JD finds he was not “right for their band INXS” after all. Its too bad. INXS is one of the best performance bands I have ever heard. I caught them in concert in 2006, right after the release of Switch, which was a decent album and they were excellent, including poor hapless JD. If he was on drugs, his “brothers” should have gotten him into rehab. But, they weren’t his brothers, were they?