Michael Hutchence documentary is coming to Channel Seven
The highflying life and untimely death of Michael Hutchence will be told in a new Channel Seven documentary which the broadcaster promises will unearth “missing songs” and previously unseen lyrics.
‘Michael Hutchence: The Last Rockstar’ is said to track Hutchence’s final hours and share never-before-seen family videos, photographs and, according to a dramatic new trailer, his last written words from the night he died in a Sydney hotel room.
Bono appears in the trailer. “He was amazing and interesting and then tragic,” the U2 frontman says. “We’re all realising just how great a singer we lost as well as a friend.”
Filmed in five countries over two years, the new investigation is scheduled to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Hutchence’s death in November 2017.
“This is not a biopic treading over old territory – this will make headlines around the world,” executive producer Mark Llewellyn told The Sunday Telegraph. “This is not Michael Hutchence defined by how he died but how he lived: a brilliant musician, a brilliant man, a loving father, a true rock star.”
The platform of television has provided a kick to the INXS legacy on more than one occasion. In 2005 the U.S. reality TV series Rock Star kicked off with a focus on finding a lead singer to replace Hutchence (a gig that went to Canadian singer J. D. Fortune). And in 2014, the ARIA Hall of Famers’ became a new sensation all over again when Channel 7 aired the biographical series “Never Tear Us Apart.”
The new wave icons made history when The Very Best and Kick rose to #1 and #2 respectively off the back of the series, marking the first time a homegrown act had achieved the feat. At one stage, INXS boasted six albums in the top 20 of the ARIA Albums Chart after the TV special, the brainchild of INXS’ creative director and global strategist Chris Murphy. At year end The Very Best finished as the fourth-best selling album and the best seller by an Australian act, according to ARIA trade data.
Watch the trailer below:
This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.