Crazed Fan Tried to Kill INXS Singer Michael Hutchence

A former bodyguard has told how a crazed fan tried to kill INXS singer Michael Hutchence with a letter bomb.

Hutchence shrugged off the attack, saying “our aim is to entertain people” and insisting the 1993 tour must go on.

The “clumsy package” was sent to the Australian pop star at a German hotel where the band were staying during their Get Out Of My House World Tour.

Jeff Pope, a former policeman who worked with INXS for a decade, made the revelations before the Australian premiere tonight of a TV movie about the band called Never Tear Us Apart.

Mr Pope said: “Of course it was shocking and he was taken aback by it but he and I had asked the questions about the price of fame and that was that.”

The bodyguard took delivery of the parcel, became suspicious about its contents and called the police. He said: “It looked heavy and lumpy. I have done bomb disposal courses and I knew you don’t touch stuff like that. It was meant to burst into flames the moment Michael opened it. I told him what had happened and we decided we didn’t want it to become a issue, something that was going to grab everybody’s attention.

“Michael was very worldly, so he knew what the world was made up of and the kind of people that were in it. He accepted it for what it was and the fact that it didn’t do any harm.”

Hutchence was dating British TV presenter Paula Yates when he died in a Sydney hotel room in 1997 at the age of 37. The coroner ruled it as suicide. Mr Pope added: “He was a good bloke and a very worldly man. His death was completely out of the blue.”

Never Tear Us Apart may be shown in Britain at a later date.