On October 17 in Sydney, Australia, the surviving members of INXS reunited for the first time since 2017 — and were surprised with a special award commemorating four billion global streams of their hit-packed catalog — a number that sax player Kirk Pengilly says is almost too big for him to comprehend.
“We thought we were just getting together with the record company and some media … so it was a big surprise,” Kirk told ABC Audio after the ceremony. “But it’s just hard to even fathom that — y’know, that’s half the world’s population!”
Kirk called the reunion “really lovely,” adding, “Hopefully we can do it a little more often!” And there’s plenty going on in INXS land that might lead to that.
Out now is Calling All Nations — A Fan History of INXS, a book compiling testimonials from hundreds of fans around the world, detailing their devotion to the Aussie band who brought us “Need You Tonight,” “Never Tear Us Apart,” “New Sensation” and more.
Kirk loves the book because it’s from “the people that mattered: our fans.” He notes, “Reading through it is quite emotional … [to see] just how much we meant to so many of the fans.”
“I sort of forgot how much we did connect with our fans on a face-to-face level,” notes Kirk. As for why they were so chummy with their fans — handing out VIP passes and tickets and hanging with them for hours — Kirk laughs, “We’re Australian!”
But also, he says, “I think we spent so much time together, we ran out of things to talk about — so meeting fans was fun! New blood! New conversations!”
Coming next: a limited-edition Record Store Day release, a Dolby Atmos 30th anniversary mix of Full Moon, Dirty Hearts, and a set of 12″ vinyl remixes.
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