Michael Hutchence - Tributes

Tributes

• Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran, a friend of Hutchence and Yates, and Geldof's best man, wrote an eerily prophetic song, "Michael". It was recorded in 1996 and released on, Medazzaland, a month before Hutchence's death. Its lyrics include:

"Trust you to get caught up in somebody's war; you'll come out of it all intact, I'm sure.

Just remember what friends were put here for;

Michael, you've got a lot to answer for, and I know that you're gonna call ... if you need me."

Duran Duran were touring to support the album when Hutchence died, and Le Bon found the song too difficult to perform – it was cut from the set for the remainder of that tour. During subsequent tours, it was re-included.

• Nick Cave sang, "Into My Arms", at the funeral on 27 November 1997, which was broadcast live on Australian TV. Out of respect, Cave requested the song not be televised.
• Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins wrote "Shame" on their 2 June 1998 album, Adore.
• Powderfinger's "Private Man" on their 7 September 1998 album, Internationalist.
• The Church's "This is It" on their 9 September 1998 album, Hologram of Baal'.
• Terri Nunn of Berlin and Corgan collaborated on "Sacred and Profane" for the Berlin 2000 album, Live: Sacred & Profane. Nunn stated, "He was a very big inspiration for both Billy and me. The song is about my first experience seeing him because that changed my life. He influenced me probably more than anyone else as a performer. I became 12 years old in five minutes wanting to have sex with him. That’s all I wanted! Oh my God. Everybody did! You just wanted him. He was the epitome of rock star".
• U2 and Bono have made several tributes:
  • "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" on 2000 album All That You Can't Leave Behind, which Bono wrote in the form of an argument about suicide where he tries to convince Hutchence of its foolishness. Bono characterised it as a good old row between friends, which he felt guilty for never having with Hutchence in real life.
  • Bono dedicated "One" to Hutchence on the live video, PopMart: Live from Mexico City. During the intro, he refers to Hutchence as "a great mate, a great singer".
  • On both PopMart and Elevation Tours, Bono dedicated, "Gone" to Hutchence by yelling "Hutch!" at its beginning.
  • On U2's Vertigo Tour on 13 November 2006 in Sydney, Bono said "Blow a kiss to Heaven to Michael Hutchence" before playing "With or Without You".
  • On 24 November 2007, U2 played a secret gig at the Little Noise Sessions in Islington, London. During their performance of "Desire", Bono changed the lyrics of a verse to include a line from INXS' "Need You Tonight", "I've got to let you know / You're one of my kind."
• INXS dedicated many performances including:
  • 2002 Just For Kicks tour, they dedicated "Never Tear Us Apart" to him and had a screen which showed pictures throughout his life.
  • Switch (2005) has "God's Top Ten" for Hutchence and his daughter, Tiger; and "Afterglow", for Hutchence alone.
• At a 2007 show in Adelaide supporting INXS, Simple Minds's vocalist Jim Kerr dedicated "Gloria" to Hutchence, saying "it's about a woman, but it'd have to be with Michael". At a New Zealand show 2 months later, he re-dedicated "Gloria".
• Prince played "What You Need", with Maceo Parker on saxophone, during after-shows in London's indigO2 club during his 2007 Earth Tour.