A legendary Aussie band is being hailed as the “under-credited” influence on the music of the last five years in a wave of hot takes by American commentators.
And now INXS will finally be given their flowers for their global impact back home with the highest honour at the 2026 APRA Awards.
As APRA, the body which represents songwriters, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, the band have been named the recipients of the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music.
Not only can you hear the influence of the legendary Aussie rockers in music by Dua Lipa, The 1975 and even Harry Styles, they remain hugely popular in the streaming era with their songs generating more than nine billion plays on Spotify, adding to more than 75 million albums sold worldwide.
They also joined APRA’s 1,000,000,000 list in 2021 courtesy of Dua Lipa’s smash hit Break My Heart, with Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farriss credited as songwriters due to the song’s guitar hook bearing an uncanny similarity to the riff in Need You Tonight.
That song is their most streamed on Spotify with more than 242,000 plays every day.
“You can’t keep a good song down, I guess,” said band member Kirk Pengilly.
“We made a conscious effort to keep things simple – not to overplay and to stay true to ourselves while creating music we genuinely love. I think there’s a real honesty in what we created.”
APRA chair Jenny Morris had a birds’ eye view as INXS swept the globe, touring with the band as a backing singer in the 80s.
“INXS are truly one-of-a-kind. Performing with them in the 1980s, at Wembley Stadium opening for Queen, to the Listen Like Thieves tour across Europe, North America and Latin America, I saw first-hand the love and adoration they generated,” she said.
“From their compelling and timeless songwriting to their intoxicating performances, few bands have ever left people happily gasping for more the way INXS do.
“Michael is as much of a presence in our lives today as the day we lost him, and of course the same goes for the band. The legacy of INXS lives on.
“They remain as relevant as ever, continuing to inspire new generations and bring that unmistakable Aussie spirit to fans around the world.”
Due to chasing their success around the world after the release of the Kick album in 1987, INXS missed opportunities to attend Aussie awards nights over the years.
Pengilly and surviving bandmates Andrew, Tim and Jon Farriss and Garry Gary Beers are expected to attend the APRAs at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on April 29.
Music blog Just Drugs and Rock & Roll is one of many now citing INXS as being “in the collective unconscious of modern music.”
“Their sound is so clearly infused in the sonic architecture of modern music,” the blogger said in a recent post.
“I think they are the under-credited heroes of modern pop music … it’s full of 80s vibes, dance music with rock instrumentation, and that is so exactly from INXS’s 1987 album Kick.”
INXS have also been nominated this year for induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the US.