MUSIC NEWS:Northern Irish musician Ciarán Gribbin, aka Joe Echo, was announced as the new singer of rock band INXS this week. The singer-songwriter from Derry has co-written tracks for Madonna, Snow Patrol and Paul McCartney, as well as contributing songs and music to film soundtracks.

Speaking to The Ticket, Gribbin said he first met the band's keyboardist and main songwriter, Andrew Farriss, at a house party in Sydney, where they "got on like a house on fire".

"Then someone said, 'Sing an INXS song,' and as Andrew played the guitar, I sang Mystify. We kept in touch over the next year via e-mail, etc, and six months ago I got a call out of the blue, inviting me to co-write with him in Australia."

Since then, Gribbin has been writing with the band and rehearsing both old and new material for future gigs. "I really can't wait to get out there on stage with the band and hopefully give the INXS fans the hits that they expect, and some quality new music," he said.

The Australian band have performed with a number of guest singers since Michael Hutchence's death in 1997. The most recent, a Canadian named JD Fortune, who was selected through the reality TV show Rock Star: INXSin 2005, was reportedly fired from the band last month.