J.D. Fortune Becomes Fortuneless

Former INXS frontman J.D. Fortune might want to consider changing his stage name, now that he's broke and homeless.

Fortune (real name Jason Bennison), a native of Mississauga, Ont. who was raised in Pictou County, N.S., says he was fired from his job fronting INXS without warning over a year ago and is now living out of the back of a pickup truck.

"I was in an airport in Hong Kong and literally got handshakes of 'Thank you very much,'" Fortune told Global Television's Entertainment Tonight Canada.

"I found myself really alone because I had travelled with these guys for 23 months. Some of the audiences we played for were upwards of 80,000 people."

Ironically, Fortune was living in his car before he won the Rock Star: INXS reality show in 2005 and became INXS' new singer. Original INXS frontman Michael Hutchence died of an apparent suicide (which some argue could have been a solo sexual misadventure) in 1997. Fortune appeared on the band's 2005 Switch album and toured with them over the next few years.

But Fortune became addicted to cocaine during his tenure with INXS, which he admitted to E.T. Canada probably had something to do with his being ejected from the band.

"It got as bad as it needed to be for me to numb out the fact that this was going to come to a screeching halt," he said.

Fortune says he's kicked his drug habit and put all his money into his debut solo album, Death Of A Motivational Speaker, which is due out sometime this year.

"I don't know where I am going from sofa to sofa, from night to night," Fortune said of his current predicament. "I am trying to get through my life."