J. D. Fortune

J.D.Fortune
Fortune at an INXS performance at Mystic Lake Casino, Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 28, 2011
Background information
Birth name	Jason Bennison
Born	(1973-09-01) September 1, 1973 (age 43) Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Origin	Salt Springs, Nova Scotia, Canada
Genres	Rock, new wave
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	vocals, guitar
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Sony
Associated acts	INXS

J.D. Fortune (born Jason Bennison on September 1, 1973) is a Canadian rock singer and songwriter. He was the winner of the 2005 CBS reality television series Rock Star: INXS, and fronted INXS until August 2011.

J.D. Fortune, was born as Jason Bennison in Mississauga, Ontario and raised in Salt Springs, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. J.D. grew up listening to his grandfather sing and started performing at a very young age. He attended Cawthra Park Secondary School and West Pictou Consolidated School but dropped out before graduating after being offered a job on a television show. Bennison is his estranged father's name, and Fortune is his mother's maiden name. He has a sister, Sarah-Jane, and a pug named "Presley" (after Elvis Presley).

Fortune performed at the Friendship Festival and at Toronto's SkyDome in front of 50,000 people. He also worked as an entertainer and pop songwriter for an Ontario TV show, an Elvis Presley impersonator and he fronted a band named JUICe, which recorded an album named In Retrospect.

Fortune was living in his car, under a bridge, when he applied for and was selected as a contestant on CBS's TV show, Rock Star: INXS. On September 20, 2005, after an eleven-week televised audition process, Fortune won and joined INXS.

INXS, with Fortune, released their album Switch in November 2005. Three singles from the album were released over the next twelve months including the track "Pretty Vegas" which was co-written by Fortune and INXS's Andrew Farris, amongst others. The week of February 25, 2006, "Pretty Vegas" reached its highest charting at Number 7 on Billboard.