INXS To Record Without J.D. Fortune

INXS will head back into the studio to work on new material without a singer.

INXS business manager Chris Murphy told the Melbourne Herald Sun newspaper that keyboardist/guitarist Andrew Farriss and bassist Garry Beers have begun pre-production on the follow-up to 2005's Switch in Los Angeles.

It's not known who will sing on the album, considering J.D. Fortune is no longer in the band. Murphy said Fortune had only been on a contract that covered one album and one tour, and he didn't understand the Canadian's recent comments about having been booted from the band.

"The whole thing has been bizarre — he was basically a contractor and his contract had ended," Murphy said. "Why is he suddenly complaining 14 months later?"

Fortune claimed last month that INXS had kicked him out of the band and left him at a Hong Kong airport with only a handshake. He also said he was homeless and living out of the back of a pickup truck. INXS later denied Fortune's allegations and Rockstar: Supernova winner Lukas Rossi invited Fortune to stay with him and his wife in California.

Fortune previewed his upcoming debut solo album, The Death Of A Motivational Speaker, on his MySpace page on Sunday.