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"Rock Star: INXS" was a gamble that paid dividends.
For CBS, it was a ratings win. For Mark Burnett, the producer behind "Survivor" and "The Apprentice," it bolstered his reputation as the King Midas of reality television. And the show has
revived INXS's career: With new singer J.D. Fortune in tow, the group has returned to the charts with the single "Pretty Vegas"; Switch, the band's first LP since 1997, lands in stores on November 29; and a 22-date North American tour is slated to kick off in Canada on January 18 (see "INXS Insist Finding J.D. Was An 'Organic' Process, Think 'Angels Got Together' ").
The success of the first season aside, it remains to be seen whether "Rock Star" will return for a second season. But if the series is added to next summer's CBS lineup, expect to see Van Halen tapping into America's rock and roll pipeline for a new singer.
While a spokesperson for Van Halen said the band has no comment regarding pending projects, a source close to the show claimed that the core Van Halen trio — brothers Alex and Eddie Van Halen and bassist Michael Anthony — will be auditioning potential frontmen and women for the show's still-hypothetical second season. The winner would be stepping into the shoes — and, in one case, the chaps — previously worn by David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar, and (briefly) former Extreme singer Gary Cherone.
The news follows weeks of rumors concerning potential "Rock Star" second-season bands, with Van Halen and even Alice in Chains being the popular frontrunners. Earlier this week, a spokesperson for Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell scoffed at the notion that the band would even consider appearing on the show.
On Tuesday, "Rock Star: INXS" co-host and former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro declined to discuss the show's future or confirm whether he's been approached to reprise his role for a second season. However, he did say, "Van Halen would be awesome — I'd just love to sit and hang with Ed."
And judging from Navarro's show-ending comments during the season finale — that the show had given him his "best summer ever" — it seems likely that he'd accept an offer to return.
"Not only did I get to hear some great rock songs every week, but I got to know all the guys in INXS and all the singers and hang out with them a lot," Navarro said. "I made some really great friends, and I also got to be a part of helping some artists reach out and touch their dreams. Whether or not they won the show wasn't the point; the point was they got to do their craft in front of millions of people. [INXS are] going to be members of my musical family forever, and hopefully I'll be the same for them."
— Chris Harris, with additional reporting by Jim Fraenkel
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