During his first 32 years of life in Canada and the United States, J.D. Fortune didn't live up to his last name. When the fledgling musician submitted demo tapes or invited music executives to shows, rejection followed.

All that disappeared last summer when he was chosen as INXS [ tickets ]' new lead singer through the CBS television show "Rock Star." Australia's INXS--which dates back to the late '70s--used the reality show to replace enigmatic lead singer Michael Hutchence, who died in 1997.

"The first thing that ran through my mind was this thing that I really wanted just came to fruition," said Fortune, calling from a New York hotel where he was promoting "Switch," his debut album with INXS. The first single is the Fortune-penned "Pretty Vegas."

"I was completely humbled, completely humbled. Every ounce of pretension drained out of my body, which is really cool. It was fulfilling."

To gain the lead singer slot, Fortune beat out MiG Ayesa, Brandon Calhoon, Neal Carlson, Marty Casey, Daphna Dove, Deanna Johnston, Suzie McNeil, Dana Robbins, Jessica Robinson, Heather Luttrell, Wil Seabrook, Tara Slone, Ty Taylor and Jordis Unga. Casey, the runner up, was given the opening slot on INXS' tour, which kicked off last month.

Although he spent most of his life in his home country of Canada, Fortune spent six months in Arizona, working under contract as a musician in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler.

Fortune and bassist Garry Gary Beers recently talked to liveDaily.com about "Switch," the "Rock Star: INXS" process and the tour.

Winning "Rock Star" must have been a huge whirlwind for you.

J.D. Fortune: Yeah. It's still sort of full-on overwhelming.

What was it like to be in the recording studio with INXS?

JF: It was as educational as it was loving. It sort of solidified our whole journey through the show and also our experiences individually and collectively.

You said it was educational. What's the most important thing that you learned?

JF: To just trust myself and have the strength of my convictions. We had less than five weeks to record the record. If you're painting a painting in only five weeks, once you've put a slap of yellow or a dab of blue somewhere you can't sort of wipe the canvas clean. That's what this CD was--a blank canvas that everybody painted on.

Did INXS have the music written already?

JF: They had a lot of songs written. But for this record, we collectively came together as a band. I was fortunate enough to be able to co-write three songs on the record, and co-wrote the B-side for our single. It was ... Words can't really describe it. I'm still reeling from the whole situation. It's beautiful.

You must have been flattered that they picked your song as the first single.

JF: Oh yeah. They sort of pulled me into a room. It was very cloak-and-dagger. You know, "Jason we have to talk to you." I thought I was in trouble. They said, "No, just kidding. We think 'Pretty Vegas' should be the first single,'" and I think you could have picked my jaw up from the floor.

How long did it take you to write "Pretty Vegas"--and was it difficult to write with all the others around?

JF: It took four hours. I kind of went away and did my own thing on the show.

That's how it appeared on the show.

JF: That's exactly what I did. When I told them I didn't want my name next to theirs, I meant it. I wanted to put my name on something that was worth putting my name on. If you're going to write a song, write a good one, you know? I've written enough crap. I know when I'm writing something that's worthwhile.

If I remember correctly, you received a lot of flack for wanting to write a song by yourself.

JF: Oh yeah. [Fellow "Rockstar" contestants] Marty Casey and Jordis Unga totally gave me a lot of s--- for separating from the pack. I distinctly remember Marty Casey and Jordis Unga being, you know, the first two people to say, "J.D.'s off doing his own thing, and I don't want to have any part of that." That really hurt my feelings. I just wanted to put my name on something that was cool.

Is "Pretty Vegas" about Las Vegas?

JF: No. I just used Vegas as a metaphor for what we were talking about earlier, when I won. I've always had the slick sort of managers promise me something and it didn't turn out to be that. It was like having hopes and dreams of buying that thing behind the glass window. And you finally save up for it, you put it in your own house and you say, "It doesn't look as shiny in my living room."

Did you have to learn almost every INXS song before the show?

JF: I had to revisit them. I knew a lot of their hits because I'm still a fan. In fact, a month before the auditions started I was still listening to the INXS CD in my car, "Kick." Then I went and bought the greatest hits about three weeks before I even heard of the audition. It's one of those records you can't be without. It's got all their great stuff on it. So, basically, I didn't have to really learn them. I just had to revisit them to get the precise verbiage of it.

How do you think you'll be able to pull it off on stage? Are you nervous?

JF: I do get nervous but it's more of like a nervous energy. I used to get very nervous--dry mouth and start shaking. Then I sort of faced my fears and let them in. When you let your fear in, you can sort of keep an eye on it. As long as I can keep an eye on it and I know what it's up to, then I can pretty much manipulate my own fear, which is kind of cool.

You have some big shoes to fill.

JF: I'm more worried about being as natural as I can be. I'm worried about filling my own shoes. I'm a big, big, big, big, big INXS fan, so everything that I did on this record and everything I did with the band was approached with the utmost respect and integrity and love.

Do you have any plans for after the promotion of "Switch"? Is there going to be another INXS album featuring you?

Oh yeah, we're full out, talking about the second record already so it's really cool. We're hoping to get it to the point where it's like 10, 15 years.

What was it about J.D. that really made you guys think he's the one?

Garry Gary Beers: A whole bunch of things, actually. He sort of proved himself to be a pretty good songwriter when he wrote "Pretty Vegas" as part of the workshop. He was always a pretty riveting guy, performance-wise, and he was always good with the way he spoke on the show. He had the danger factor, the wow factor. Put that all together and he was a star from the beginning.

How did the recording process go with J.D.?

GGB: It was frantic. We only gave ourselves, I guess, five weeks from the end of the day after the finale to deliver the album. It was a blur. We had to pretty much start from scratch the day after the finale. We had all these commitments of videos, photo shoots, media/press interviews every day. We had all the songs written. We were ready, song-wise. It was just a matter of getting down to it. We recorded on a west side studio complex in L.A. and we had three, maybe four, studios going at once. We were running around doing bass here, guitar there and drums there. It was just frantic. But we're used to it.

I didn't realize you started the day after the finale.

GGB: Oh yeah. There was a wrap party after the finale, and J.D. had to get up at 4 a.m. to do about 20 satellite TV interviews first thing in the morning. Then, straight in the studio. That's why I said, "Congratulations, you won. The bad news is: Congratulations, you won." Luckily, he rose to the occasion. That's for sure.

Why did you decide to use a competition like this to find a singer?

GGB: We tried it with a few established singers, and knew we didn't want an established singer that had a career, because it would never be the band. It would be the band and someone else. We decided it had to be someone new, exciting and undiscovered. The only way to do that without exhausting heavily the audition process was the medium of television. We've been making videos forever. We know the power of television. Plus, it would be expensive to travel with all that gear to audition people.

Why did you chose the US to hold the auditions?

GGB: Because there was only one person we trusted to do a so-called reality show, which was Mark Burnett. He's the only guy we approached. If he said no, it probably wouldn't have happened. I don't think he expected it to be such a success around the world as it has been, and all the credit it's gotten. It's a pretty good educational TV show.

Was there anyone else who stood out?

GGB: A lot of people stood out at various points. Jordis' voice came out very strong in the beginning and kind of fell apart toward the end. Ty had probably the best voice of all the guys. MiG was very professional trained. Suzie had probably the best voice out of all of them. The thing was, we were looking for a rock star and Marty and J.D. developed from being crazy guys. They both listened to what we said, and learned how to harness that energy and focus it. Through all the workshops we put forward to them, they were the two that listened the most and worked the hardest and made the biggest change. They're two very intelligent men.

Why did you decide that now was the time to chose a new singer?

GGB: Um, because we wanted to make a record, and didn't have a singer. It wasn't that we decided that just now. Now we decided to do it through television. We tried it with a few other singers. They were established singers and it was a bit like us and them. We figured if we're going to take the gamble, we're going to take the biggest gamble of all, and we landed J.D. Fortune.

What was it like to work with J.D.?

GGB: We look forward to the future. We're extremely proud of our album. We can't believe what we pulled together in that period. Because we were under the gun to get the album out, we never sat down and wrote a song from beginning to end. He sort of sang bits on pre-written bits of music, and etc., etc. We look forward to seeing what this new baby can do, this new band.

So this is a long-term project for you and J.D., then?

GGB: After all the blood, sweat and tears we've been through just in the past five years, up to the point of the television show--the television show was extremely stressful. So many things could have gone wrong. And, thankfully, it didn't. The thing is, against all odds, we got exactly the guy we need. We sit back and think, "How did that happen?"