Entertainment Tonight Canada had an interview with JD Fortune. Do you remember him? He was the Canadian guy who won that INXS reality show competition and got to be their new lead singer. He was such a great story because before the contest he had been living out of his car and dead broke. Well, after he won the contest he toured with the band for about two years before they fired him and now he is broke and homeless and living in his car. He didn't indicate if it was the same car as before or if he has a different car he is calling home now.
Here's the thing about this. I think that homeless people have it rough and it is so hard to build any momentum to ever get out of your car or off the streets. The odds are stacked way against you. Homeless people who make it off the streets rarely let themselves go back. I don't know if we are supposed to feel sorry for this guy now or what. But, I will say that if I got paid the kind of salary he got paid for two years and had virtually no expenses I would not be living back in a car after it was over. What the hell did he spend all his money on? Did he think the gig would last a lifetime? Nothing lasts forever. It was such a cool story when he won the contest and I think everyone really wanted him to win. Now I think he is just some kind of idiot for letting himself get back into the same place again with no chance of winning the lottery a second time.
How embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteA BBC article quoted him as saying he spent all his money on cocaine during their tour.
ReplyDeleteKinda like how in 20 years I'll say I spent all my money on Zingers and malt liquor.
He is an idiot. I believe I read elsewhere that all the dough he made went to coke, or some other drug(s).
ReplyDeletenote to Lindsay Lohan...here's what spending all your money on drugs will do to you ! so proud he's Canadian -NOT
ReplyDeleteWhat's the problem?!?
ReplyDeleteHe HAS a car! There's a lot of 'homeless' people without one.
Maybe he can trade it in for a spacious Mini-Van.
Now THATS living!
actually it showed him with a truck with what looked like a kingcab....
ReplyDeleteToo bad he's not a U.S. citizen - our new Messiah could give him a house.
ReplyDeleteYou would think that he had more sense than that. Did he get fired because of his cocaine use? If so, he really blew it. There are a million singers out there that would have loved to have that kind of opportunity.
ReplyDeleteStupid.
I concur with your last sentence Enty. I have zero pity for this foolish, foolish man. He has ONLY himself to blame for his circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI admit I watched every episode of Rock Star INXS and I never, ever liked this guy. Even back then there was talk that he had lied about his homelessness and other boohoo poor me crap just to get sympathy. The INXS guys went crazy over a song JD wrote and performed about Las Vegas. I think they signed him just to get the song.
ReplyDeleteIf JD is still playing the same game (or singing the same song), he's just trying to get attention. I don't believe it, well, except for the coke part.
SO WHAT DID HE DO WITH THE MONEY ?
ReplyDeleteEl, he spent everything he had getting his solo album done once he was fired. he's had no backers or support so he had to pool all his own money, which wasn't very much after the coke binges with the band.
ReplyDeleteI watched this show also, and never liked this guy. I was a Marty Casey fan all the way.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that he blew all his money (no pun intended if it really was on coke) just proves to me that my douche-dar was right on target the whole time.
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ReplyDeleteI also watched the show and he used to be a hottie....look him up. Damn, what a shame!
ReplyDeleteyes he probably spent a shitload on coke, but "no expenses"? I am SHOCKED that an entertainment lawyer doesn't understand that the way touring works (as well as videos) is that the record company fronts the money and it is clawed back from ticket and swag sales. it is conceivable that a group 15 years out of their prime would not get a lot coming in and yet still have high bills. i'm sure that guy is a cokehead because i know someone who was backstage at massey hall who saw him do it, but, there is another layer to this which no one has picked up on.
ReplyDeleteAllright, hotseat...please share.
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ReplyDeletei don't even know what to say...i'm too busy loling @ trogdor, Ror, and Babs' comments...love 'em!
ReplyDeleteteehee!
I wonder what was in his contract, or rather, what wasn't. Because while it's true that you have to pay the record label back for everything and don't make any money until you break even, most artists manage to get songwriting royalties, or, if they don't write music, at least artist royalties. I think the operative word in this article is "salary". There was probably a clause in his contract saying that he would be paid for services rendered but not get a cut of any royalties. Even for that song he wrote - the label/ band could have bought it from him as a work for hire. But HE probably thought he had it made when he won that contest and never bothered having a lawyer look at the contract before signing it.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is what happens when you do Stupid Things.
or trust the wrong people....
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree with Hotseat and Harriet--it's not just that he didn't save money and blew it all on coke. Granted, it sounds like he blew what little money he did make on coke, but I'm guessing he had a shitty contract, as one gets on reality shows (I'm looking at you, American Idol) and that shitty contract gave him a small percentage of the shitty amount of money INXS probably makes on tour.
ReplyDeleteAfter all this publicity I would guess that INXS will hire him back--unless what they want is another reality show. In the meantime this guy will get some money for selling his story and if he's really lucky, some other gig.
It's weird that this is coming out now....the article said they have not been touring for a year or so. I see he has a solo album coming out and a part in a movie due out in 2010.
ReplyDeleteI watched Rock Star: INXS & liked everyone, except this jackass. Like IndigoBlue, we were totally pro-Marty (whose album "Marty Casey & the Lovehammers" is incredible), but were thrilled when he came in 2nd-b/c it meant he could record HIS music & (hopefully) become famous in his own right. Funny, this is exactly what my fiance & I predicted would happen to him. We figured that since JD was already WAY too big for his britches, that INXS wouldn't put up w/ his diva act for very long-I just can't believe he lasted as long as he did.
ReplyDeleteI now have the overwhelming urge to listen to "Trees" :) (though, "Clouds" is my favorite from the album) "It'll be you & me, up in the trees..." :D
didn't they fire him for his massive DRUG habit?
ReplyDeletei think it's obvious where the money went. up his nose or in his arm and probably the same for a bunch of hangers-on.
this is why they call it 'dope.'
This was in the Toronto Star with regard to his interview on Entertainment Tonight Canada:
ReplyDeletePart of Fortune's downfall appears to be linked to his heavy use of cocaine when he was with INXS. "It got as bad as it needed to be for me to numb out the fact that this was going to come to a screeching halt," he told the Global TV show.
He's an idiot. Given the opportunity of a lifetime and this immature little twat squandered it. The self-pity dripping from the quote makes me want to punch him in the face. Hard. Very hard. But it still wouldn't knock any sense into his empty head. He just doesn't get it. I hope he spends the rest of his life playing dives in St. Catharines and Uxbridge. (nothing against these two towns, but they're far removed from the bright lights this jerk craves)
"...didn't indicate if it was the same car..."
ReplyDeleteBwahahahah!
I've never heard a Kelly Clarkson song, but I read that as soon as she won Idol, she got an accountant and told him "All I want is to never work a crap job again," or somesuch. So supposedly she could already retire if she wanted. Must be nice, huh?
ReplyDeleteShe knew it may not last, and prepared for it. I really admire her for that.
Kelly won the lottery, but was very, very smart.
I don't quite get how anyone could go on a show like that and think it's something that would last. From that quote, sounds like he knew it, but just wanted to party anyway. But then, it would take a very strong person not to get sucked into that lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteI often wonder what happened to the little guy who won with Tommy Lee and snotty Gilby Clarke. Once that other guy (sorry, I forget Mr. Metallica's name) hurt his shoulder, that was it. Over before it began.