Former FAITH NO MORE Frontman Asked To Join INXS

Former FAITH NO MORE and current FANTOMAS/TOMAHAWK frontman Mike Patton has sensationally revealed that he was asked to be the singer for INXS after Michael Hutchence died back in 1997. Speaking to the East Bay Express, Patton denied that he made up the story, stating "Absolutely it's true! I couldn't make something like that up!"

According to the article, which was published last week, the remaining members of INXS didn't appreciate Patton's amusement over the invitation, nor that he was laughing about it in the press. "They got all uppity," he told the publication. "From that point on, I just tried to make fun of them at every available opportunity, I tried to talk as much shit as I could."

Patton apparently even went so far as to badmouth the group on Australian radio, making a tasteless joke in the process. "The DJ kept pressing it and pressing it," Patton recalled, mimicking an Australian accent: "'What do you mean you said no? You didn't even consider it?' And I said, 'Would you?' And he said, 'Of course, they are one of the most prestigious Australian acts,' blah blah blah. He'd ask me a few other questions, and then he'd go back to it. 'So really, about that INXS thing ...' I said, 'OK, look. I did consider it. I told them that the only way I would do it was if I came on stage and could rig up a noose and hang myself while I was singing.'"

As it turned out, that joke went out on national radio during National Suicide Awareness Week—and while Michael Hutchence's parents were listening, no less.

"I was rough, but hey, you can come out snarling when your back is against the wall," Patton said. "And plus they suck!" he added, laughing. "Fuck them! They are fucking godawful! And not only that, I turned them down and they didn't want me to talk about that fact? Kiss my ass! Dingo-loving sons of bitches!"

To read the entire interview with Patton in East Bay Express (originally published on July 10th),click here.