INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence apparently committed suicide Saturday at a Sydney hotel, leaving fellow band members waiting at a rehearsal studio where they were preparing for the rock group's 20th-anniversary tour.
A worker at the Ritz Carlton found the body shortly before noon after Hutchence failed to appear for a morning appointment with the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Hutchence's father and girlfriend, Paula Yates, confirmed it was the 37-year-old singer.Hunchence was found hanged.
Investigators removed a leather belt from the scene. No illegal drugs were found, although there were "a number of prescription medications," Inspector Christopher Hogg said. An autopsy will be conducted Monday.
The death of the singer prompted daylong radio tributes to INXS, which sold 20 million records since 1981, peaking in the late 1980s.
Rock music commentator Ian "Molly" Meldrum said Hutchence's death came as a complete surprise. "I saw Michael and Paula with their baby daughter in Los Angeles around about eight weeks ago, and I've never seen Michael more peaceful and happier in his life," he said.
Hutchence had flown from his London home to Sydney earlier this week to prepare for the band's 20th anniversary "Lose Your Head" tour, which was to start Tuesday.
The tour - which was to have been the group's first in their homeland of Australia for more than three years - has been canceled, according to concert promoter Michael Gudinski.
Yates' lawyer, Anthony Burton, said the singer's girlfriend was being comforted by friends at the couple's home in Chelsea, southwest London. They have a daughter, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily.
Last month, Hutchence said he planned to marry 37-year-old Yates on the Tahitian island of Bora Bora in January.