June 29, 2000:

US Sales for Michael Hutchence
INXSweb Exclusive: Michael's album sold 207 copies last week in the US, bringing its cumulative sales to date to 28,271. The top three markets were Chicago, Baltimore, and Phoenix. (thanks to jackie)

Hand Speaks Out
InMusic&Media reports: New South Wales coroner Derek Hand, appearing on Nine Network's "A Current Affair" a week before his retirement, reveals he is a bit puzzled by Paula Yates questioning his finding in the death of INXS singer Michael Hutchence. Yates was unhappy he found it was suicide, not auto-eroticism, that claimed the singer's life in a Sydney hotel room. Hand said, "I'm afraid I can't understand her thinking. She wanted her child to be told it was auto-eroticism as compared to suicide. I would think that any caring parent would be able to explain suicide to someone, and the reason for suicide, as against trying to explain auto-eroticism death." (thanks to kerry bergh)

June 22, 2000:

Birthday Greetings
Happy Birthday to Garry Gary Beers, who turns 43 today!

Garry Radio Interview
During an interview with Triple M radio this past weekend, Garry revealed that the recent Melbourne gig was actually supposed to have been INXS' last before they called it quits. Instead, the show went so well that the band performed a second show in Sydney. He added that even after three years of not performing a full INXS set, they all just got up there and clicked together, doing what they do best and really enjoying it. There was no word on whether Jon Stevens would become a more permanent lead singer, but Garry said that Stevens did a fantastic job and actually made
less mistakes than the rest of the band. When asked if there are any more plans on the horizon, Garry replied that the band is just now getting used to the idea of the possibility of doing some more stuff in the future. (thanks to ben swinfield)

June 15, 2000:

US Sales for Michael Hutchence
INXSweb Exclusive: The debut album from the late Michael Hutchence continues to suffer from poor sales in the United States, selling just 277 copies this past week. This is down from sales of 301 last week. Total sales-to-date now stand at 27,811 copies sold. (thanks to jackie)

New Fansite
Dawn "Angel" Guzman has launched a new fansite dedicated to Michael Hutchence and his daughter Tiger Lily. The site features photographs of both father and daughter, and also displays fanwork. Check out the site at http://www.angelfire.com/80s/michaelhutchence/.

Cover of "Don't Change"
A sample of the cover of "Don't Change" that appears on the soundtrack to the recent Aussie film Sample People is available at http://www.samplepeople.com.au/djbooth.html. The cover is performed by 4 Star with vocals by Kiva. None other than Andrew Farriss served as executive producer for this updated version. The soundtrack is now available at Amazon.com. (thanks to mitch robertson)

INXS Cartoon?
Triple M radio in Sydney has reported that production has started in the USA on a cartoon series featuring INXS. No independent verification has of yet been received. (thanks to gail warren)

June 14, 2000:

Fan Gathering
There is an INXS fan gathering scheduled at the Bites 'n Bytes internet-bistro in Ratingen, Germany (next to Duesseldorf and near Cologne) on July 22, 2000 starting at 7pm local time. Winterland, a German rock band influenced by INXS, will perform at the event. For more information, please email Andrea and Chris. (thanks to andrea mueller)

ONYA! Award Nominations
An Excess of INXS has been nominated for an award in the Australian Online Music Awards (ONYA! 2000), sponsored by OzEmail Internet and Microsoft. The ONYA! Awards were created to honour innovation, pioneering & excellence in the creation, presentation, delivery and commerce of music and music technology via the Internet. This is the second straight year inxsweb.com has been nominated. Public voting has started and will end on July 15. Please click on the logo to the right to submit your vote! Only one vote per person is allowed, and every Australian voter will also be in the running to win an Apple iMac computer! Thank you all for your kind support.

In addition to An Excess of INXS, nominated in the "Australian Fansite" category, two related sites have been nominated in the "Australian Artist Site" category that honors achievements in official sites. INXS.com and MichaelHutchence.org have both received nominations for the first time in this category. Please support these excellent websites by casting a ballot on their behalf.

June 7, 2000:

Yates wins libel damages
Television presenter Paula Yates has won substantial, undisclosed libel damages over claims she deliberately became pregnant by Michael Hutchence to trap him into a permanent relationship. Ms Yates' solicitor, Anthony Burton, told Mr Justice Eady she had suffered "serious injury to her reputation and has been caused acute hurt, distress and embarrassment" by the allegations, which were taken from a book about Hutchence published last year.
Mr Burton said it was alleged that Paula Yates "deceitfully and without the knowledge of her partner, Michael Hutchence, deliberately became pregnant by him in order to entrap or ensnare him into a permanent relationship with her whether he liked it or not".
He added that it was also alleged she had "tastelessly" created a false story after Michael Hutchence's death telling how they had both received fertility treatment to conceive their child, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily, who was born in July 1996.
Ms Yates had been Hutchence's partner from 1994 until the INXS lead singer's death in November 1997.
The claims were contained in a book by Vince Lovegrove and published by Faber & Faber, which released a warranty assuring the matters contained in the book were true.
In turn, Faber & Faber relied on an equivalent warranty from the book's original Australian publisher. Mr Burton said Associated Newspapers Ltd, Faber & Faber, and the Australian publishers "have between them agreed to pay substantial damages to the claimaint and her legal costs in settlement of her claims".
Ms Yates' principal concern, he said, was to show that Tiger was a wanted baby.
After the hearing, Paula Yates said: "I am happy. I think when people start to tell lies about a three-year-old child anyone would take action. "I am getting used to hearing nonsense every single day about myself." (BBC News)

June 6, 2000:

Launch of Michael Hutchence Fan Club
Since Kelland Hutchence, the father of rock icon Michael Hutchence, opened his son's award winning Memorial Website, tens of thousands of fans around the globe have logged on to browse through a virtual memorial fashioned with graphics, text, video and sound files. So overwhelming has been the response to the Memorial Website that Kelland has collaborated with Swiss web designers Mario and Jacky Ferrari and INXS enthusiast Ange Perou to form the Official Michael Hutchence Fan Club. The Fan Club will be officially launched on Thursday 8th June, 2000 as part of a festive activities celebrating the reopening of Sydney's Hard Rock Cafe. For more information click here.

Goo Goo Dolls cover available
Goo Goo Dolls' unplugged rendition of Don't Change is available for the entire month of June at melodicrock.com. Another downloadable track is R.I.P. (Millie) from Jon Stevens' Noiseworks. (thanks to jason)

June 5, 2000:

INXS Live On The 'Net
INXS' live performance at the Metro in Sydney with Jon Stevens will be broadcast on the internet starting today at both chaosvision.com and inxs.com. The concert, broken up into three parts, will be aired over the next three successive weeks. The complete concert will then remain online for one week, commencing June 26th. The show's first six songs are released today: "Guns In The Sky," "New Sensation," "Taste It," "Time," "Kiss The Dirt," and "Heaven Sent."

INXS Tribute Show in Argentina
El Duelo, an Argentinian band inspired by INXS, will perform a two hour show of INXS covers on June 10 at Teatro Verdi (Av. Alte Brown 736 Cap. Fed.) The venue has a capacity size of 1,200 people, and the gig will kick off at 11pm. Contact kapete@arnet.com.ar for more information on this "monster tribute" show.

Tiger Photographs
Two new, recent pictures of Michael's daughter Tiger Lily have appeared on the web -- please visit pages 19 and 20 in the "Tiger Pix" section of Donna B's website to view the photographs.

Letter to the Editor...
A letter to the editor appearing in this week's Entertainment Weekly:
"Could these kids (N*Sync) really kick anybody's ass? Doubtful. Might loosen a curl or scuff the kidskin. Give me a street-smart Bono, an unwashed Michael Hutchence in smelly leathers... These poor kids today. They'll never know what it is to rock." Melissa McGee, Temple, TX (thanks to emfarriss)

June 4, 2000:

Behind the music re-airing
VH-1 has announced it will re-air its special "Behind the Music: Michael Hutchence" program in the United States on Monday, June 26 at 9pm (ET/PT). (thanks to joe)