Michael Hutchence - Death

Death

On November 22, 1997, Hutchence was found dead in a Sydney hotel room under mysterious circumstances.

On 6 February 1998, after an autopsy and coronial inquest, New South Wales State Coroner, Derrick Hand, presented his report which ruled that Hutchence's death was a suicide while depressed and under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Former girlfriend Kym Wilson and her then boyfriend, Andrew Reyment, were the last people to see Hutchence alive when they left him at 4:50 am; he was still awaiting a phone call from Yates in London concerning whether she would bring their daughter Tiger to Australia. Hutchence's second last outgoing phone call was to his personal manager, Martha Troup's voice-mail, "Marth, Michael here. I've fucking had enough". When Troup returned the call there was no answer. At 9:54 am he talked to his former longtime girlfriend, Michele Bennett, who stated that he was crying, sounded upset and said he needed to see her. Bennett arrived at his door at about 10:40 am but, there was no response. Hutchence's body was discovered by a hotel maid at 11:50 am. Police reported that, "He was in a kneeling position facing the door. He had used his snake skin belt to tie a knot on the automatic door closure at the top of the door, and had strained his head forward into the loop so hard that the buckle had broken".

After Hutchence's death, Geldof and Yates each gave police statements on the phone calls they exchanged with Hutchence that morning but did not volunteer their phone records. Yates' statement on 26 November included "He was frightened and couldn't stand a minute more without his baby ... was terribly upset and he said, 'I don't know how I'll live without seeing Tiger'". Yates contended that Geldof had repeatedly said, "Don't forget, I am above the law" referring to his influence since Live Aid. Her statement said that she had informed Hutchence of the custody hearing being adjourned until 17 December and that consequently she would not be bringing their daughter out to Australia as previously intended. Yates indicated that Hutchence said he was going to phone Geldof, "to let Tiger come to Australia".

Geldof's police statements and evidence to the coroner indicated that he patiently listened to Hutchence who was "hectoring and abusive and threatening". A friend of Yates and Geldof confirmed the substance of this call and added that Geldof had said, "I know what time the call ended, it was 20 to 7, I was going to log it as a threatening call". The occupant in the room next to Room 524 heard a loud male voice and swearing at about 5 am, the coroner was satisfied that this was Hutchence arguing with Geldof.

On 27 November, Hutchence's coffin was carried out of St. Andrew's Cathedral by members of the band and his younger brother Rhett. "Never Tear Us Apart" was played in the background. Nick Cave, a friend of Hutchence, performed his 1997 song "Into My Arms" during the funeral and requested that television cameras be switched off. Rhett claimed in his 2004 book, Total XS, that on the previous day at the funeral parlour, Yates had put a gram of heroin into the dead Hutchence's pocket.

In 1999, Yates claimed that Hutchence's death may have resulted from autoerotic asphyxiation, in a paid interview on 60 Minutes, in a documentary film on Channel 4 Television and in opposition to her previous statements given to the police investigators and the coroner. Hand had specifically considered the suggestions of accidental death (coupled with the fact that Hutchence left no suicide note) but had discounted it based on substantial evidence presented to the contrary. Despite the official coroner's report, fans and relatives considered his death accidental. In 2000, Patricia Glassop (Hutchence's mother, who had remarried) and Tina Schorr (his sister), gave an interview on This Morning asserting that Yates had, on more than one occasion, made threats of harming herself or the baby if Hutchence did not marry her; and, that they believed she said this again on the morning of his death, directly precipitating his suicide.

Simon LeBon of Duran Duran, a close friend of Hutchence, wrote the lyrics to the song "Michael, You've Got A Lot To Answer For" about his friend and the apparent troubles he was having at the time. The song appears on their October 1997 release Medazzaland, and ends with the line "And I know that you're going to call... if you need me." But Hutchence was found dead less than a month after the album came out, having apparently never made that phone call to LeBon.

Bono of the Irish rock band U2, a good friend of Hutchence, wrote "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", which is interpreted as an intervention with him. In a 2005 interview, Bono regretted that he had not spent more time with Hutchence. Ali, Bono's wife, had seen Hutchence prior to the Australian trip and noted, "he looked a bit shaky to her".