The Lost Boy: The life and legacy of INXS frontman Michael Hutchence

He was one of the world’s most loved pop stars – as much for his sexual charisma as his singing voice – but in the 1990s, it all fell apart. As a new documentary casts fresh light on the late INXS singer, Nadine O’Regan examines Michael Hutchence’s life and legacy

With Helena Christensen in 1994 Photo by Eoin O'Hara

‘I’m basically pretty shy. There’s a bullying mentality in England. It’s scary.”

Those are some of the last words spoken by Michael Hutchence in a new documentary about his life - and for many, it’s a version of the INXS frontman they may only barely recognise.

Hutchence was, after all, the artist the public had come to love in the 1980s for his confident on-stage swagger, ...