Hotel where Michael Hutchence died

On the morning of November 22, 1997, Michael Hutchence — the lead singer of INXS — was found dead in room 524 of the Ritz-Carlton hotel at 33 Cross Street in Double Bay, an affluent harbourside suburb of Sydney's eastern suburbs. He had checked in under the name 'Mr. Murray River' several days earlier. A housekeeper discovered him at around 11:50am. The coroner returned a verdict of suicide by hanging. He was 37 years old. INXS had been in Sydney rehearsing for a 20th anniversary world tour; the weeks before his death had been marked by severe personal stress, including an ongoing custody dispute involving his partner Paula Yates and her children from her marriage to Bob Geldof.

Hutchence had been one of the most magnetic and physically compelling frontmen in rock music — a singer who brought an unusual combination of sensuality, intelligence, and genuine musical instinct to a band that was, at its peak, one of the biggest in the world. Kick, released in 1987, sold over ten million copies and produced four top-five singles in the United States. Songs like 'Need You Tonight', 'Never Tear Us Apart', and 'Devil Inside' defined the sound of a particular moment in popular culture. His death sent a wave of grief through Australia and through the global music community.

The Ritz-Carlton Double Bay subsequently became the Stamford Plaza Double Bay, and after a major refurbishment reopened in 2014 as the InterContinental Sydney Double Bay. It continues to operate as one of Sydney's luxury hotel properties. The room in which Hutchence died has attracted ongoing fan interest, though the hotel does not publicly acknowledge it. His cremated remains are at the Northern Suburbs Crematorium in North Ryde.