Andrew Farriss was one of the driving creative forces behind INXS, the Australian sextet who was one of the biggest rock & roll bands of the 1980s. Farriss co-wrote the lion's share of INXS' biggest hits, usually collaborating with the group's lead singer Michael Hutchence, amassing a songbook that helped define the decade: "The One Thing," "Original Sin," "What You Need," "New Sensation," "Need You Tonight," "Never Tear Us Apart," and "Devil Inside." INXS cycled through a number of lead singers following Hutchence's death in 1997, eventually retiring from the road in 2012, a move that paved the way for Farriss to launch a solo career at the end of the 2010s. On his own, he specialized in rootsy, Americana-influenced rock, a sound showcased on his eponymous 2021 solo debut.

Born in Perth, Western Australia, on March 27, 1959, Andrew Farriss and his family -- including his older brother Tim and younger brother Jon, both members of INXS -- relocated to Sydney in 1971. Shortly afterward, the brothers began playing music, with Andrew learning piano, Tim guitar, and Jon drums. Andrew formed Doctor Dolphin in 1976, convincing his classmate Michael Hutchence to join not long afterward. The next year, the pair and bandmate Garry Gary Beers merged with the band of Tim and his friend Kirk Pengilly, adding Jon as a drummer. Originally known as the Farriss Brothers, the group cycled through a couple of name changes before settling on INXS in 1979.

INXS released their self-titled debut in 1980, but had their breakthrough in 1982, when "The One Thing" and "Don't Change" reached number 14 on the Australian charts, with the former cracking the Top 40 in America. Over the next few years, INXS steadily built an audience around the world, scoring another international hit with 1985's "What You Need," then having a multi-platinum global blockbuster with Kick, whose first four singles were Top Ten hits in the U.S. During this time, Andrew occasionally stepped outside of the band to write for or produce other artists, including Tom Jones, Yothu Yindi, and Jenny Morris, for whom he produced the 1989 hit album Shiver. By the mid-'90s, the hits slowed down for INXS but the band's worldwide fame didn't wane.

It took INXS a while to find its footing after the unexpected death of Michael Hutchence in 1997. The group spent 1998 in seclusion, then re-emerged with Jimmy Barnes -- a singer who duetted with Hutchence on the 1987 hit "Good Times" -- for a brief set in 1998; they played with Terence Trent D'Arby and Russell Hitchcock in 1999 during a ceremony to celebrate the opening of Sydney's Stadium Australia. A full concert with Jon Stevens and Suze DeMarchi followed in 2000, with Stevens spending time as an official member in 2002 and 2003. INXS signed up for the 2005 reality TV competition Rock Star: INXS where they auditioned for a new frontman. J.D. Fortune won the contest and he sang on 2005's Switch, staying with the band through 2011. Cirarin Gribbin toured with the band through 2012, at which point the group retired from the road.

Andrew spent the first few years following INXS' semi-retirement relatively quietly, accepting a 2016 induction to the Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame but making no new music until 2019, when he released his solo single "Come Midnight." The song showcased a new, country-influenced direction for him, a sound he deepened with the 2020 EP Love Makes the World. His self-titled full-length debut appeared in 2021. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi