INXS (pronounced ‘in excess’) were an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band’s founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, guitarist Tim Farriss, lead singer and main lyricist Michael Hutchence, and guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly. For twenty years, INXS was fronted by Hutchence, whose ‘sultry good looks’ and magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band. Initially known for their new wave/pop style, the band later developed a harder pub rock style that included funk and dance elements.

In 1984, INXS scored their first number-one hit in Australia with ‘Original Sin’. The band would later achieve international success in the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s with the hit albums Listen Like Thieves, Kick, and X, as well as the singles ‘What You Need’, ‘Need You Tonight’ (the band’s first and only number-one single in the United States), ‘Devil Inside’, ‘Never Tear Us Apart’, ‘Suicide Blonde’ and ‘New Sensation’.