INXS frontman Michael Hutchence dies of apparent suicide in Sydney

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.

Australian TV stations and the Australian Associated Press reported that Hutchence was found hanged.

INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence, center, was found dead of an apparent suicide Saturday morning in a Sydney hotel.

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 carried out today.

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 tomorrow.

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 London home. 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.

Formed in Perth in 1977, INXS shot to international success a decade later with the album ''Kick,'' which sold 9 million copies. It featured four hit singles: ''Never Tear Us Apart,'' ''Need You Tonight,'' ''New Sensation'' and ''Devil Inside.''

The band toured throughout the world and performed its stylish dance-rock at major charity concerts, including the Live Aid series in the 1980s.

The group once cranked out a hit album every year or two, but Hutchence remained self-deprecating about his success.

''I basically just stumble through all this,'' he told the Associated Press in an interview earlier this year. ''I am a tenacious, ambitious person, it seems, if I have to admit it to myself, but I didn't notice at the time.''

Record sales for the group had fallen in recent years, but Hutchence remained a celebrity in Australia, largely because of his high-profile romances with Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, model Helena Christensen and Yates, the former wife of rock star Bob Geldof.

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