Sister of INXS Singer Michael Hutchence, Tina Recalls Growing Up With Her Brother
Late INXS singer Michael Hutchence was one of the most sought after rock stars in the world. Unfortunately he was found dead in 1997 in his hotel room in Sydney’s Ritz Carlton at age 37. At the time, the Australian group was preparing for their 20th-anniversary tour to promote their 10th album titled “Elegantly Wasted.”
His sister Tina, who was the star’s most trusted confidante, released a paperback earlier this year titled “Michael, My Brother: Lost Boy of INXS,” which chronicles his rise to fame and the tumultuous final months of his life.
Tina Hutchence Recalls The Final Days of Her Brother
Tina spoke to Fox News about the last conversation she had with her brother, what it was really like growing up with him and how she wants him to be remembered today.
"I just knew people didn’t have the full picture of Michael. He has been defined many, many times grossly by British newspapers. I wanted the truth out there because I knew the truth. There are still all these theories about how my brother died. I just knew they weren’t true because I had been in close contact with the lead detective on this case. I felt I needed to set the record straight once and for all."
INXS Guitarist Tim Farriss Speaks About Michael
According to INXS guitarist Tim Farriss, Michael suffered a sustainable brain injury from a very unfortunate 'accident.'
"The accident" was the punch to the head Hutchence would sustain just 12 months after Wembley, in an altercation in Copenhagen with a taxi-driver. Hutchence was in Denmark with his girlfriend, model Helena Christensen. Following the attack, he was never quite the same. In 1997, with his personal life in chaos and INXS a declining power, he would hang himself in a hotel room in Sydney.
"He changed after the accident but it wasn't something you could really put your finger on," Farriss reflects. "It was progressive. It kind of crept up and got worse as things in his life became more chaotic. Maybe it was because of the brain injury that things in his life seemed more chaotic. That was the real shame of it: none of us really knew what was happening. There was nothing you could do."
RIP: Michael Hutchence
Tina goes on to tell Fox News that she raised him when he was young.
"When Michael was born, I had just turned 12. I was an only child and I hadn’t been living with my mother. She was living in Sydney and I was in Melbourne with her mom. My mother was a busy model and makeup artist. She was often away for work for two weeks, even six weeks. And back then, we didn’t have the kind of communication we have now with technology."
"So as our mother worked, I found myself getting up early in the morning to take care of Michael and putting him to sleep at night. Gradually, we were together for longer periods of time. And I loved it. Michael was my anchor during those times. He was just a wonderful baby."
