Turns out it was way more than that.
Fortune has finally come full circle with the real story behind his departure from INXS.
The process started, really, with an interview on Entertainment Tonight Canada back in 2009. The story that aired shocked many, as Fortune told of his dismissal from the band, his drug addictions, including cocaine, and his ultimate return to Canada only to find himself living in his car – the same place he was when he signed up for the “Rock Star: INXS” TV series.
When ET Canada asked how bad the drugs had gotten, J.D. admitted, "It got as bad as it needed to for me to numb out the fact that I knew this was going to come to a screeching halt."
Today, Fortune looks back with the perspective of time on his side.
"If you went, 'Hey, here's the keys to a legendary rock band, we want you to drive it for a little while,' anybody in their right mind [would] go, 'Rock 'n' roll, man! This is great,'" he tells Spinner. "But when you start driving too fast, you realize, 'Holy s---, I can run out of gas if I'm pushing the pedal to the metal all the time.'"
But now the band is ready to move on, as is Fortune. "I feel like the detour was the whole 'Rock Star: INXS' show, the touring, all that pressure, all the expectations," he says. "That was the detour that took the focus away from where we needed to be as a band in INXS, and where I needed to be as an individual."
"Because we were forced together so quickly from that television show, we didn't have time to just hang out as mates," he says. "What's been happening now is because we don't have the urgency that the 'Switch' record had on it -- we went to 33 countries in 22 months or something like that -- we had a chance to breathe and look at it.
"We both came to this sort of really happy understanding. Like when we played the Vancouver Olympics, it all sort of culminated together and became a very Zen moment where we looked at each other and went, 'We're a f---ing band. This sounds great.'"
Check out the full INXS article at Spinner here.
INXS’ latest album, “Original Sin,” is out now.
INXS – What You Need
2010 Winter Olympics
BC Place - Vancouver, BC – January 24, 2010
See also:
J.D. Fortune: INXS working on a “very rock” album
Singer J.D. Fortune back with INXS
AC/DC: “Back In Black” named #2 Australian album
New INXS album due in January
