INXS’s ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ Voted Australia’s Greatest Ever Song

"Never Tear Us Apart," the 1987 single by INXS, has been voted the best Australian song of all time in a poll held by national radio station triple j.

The stats:

• 2.65 million votes were cast, with the results revealed in an all-day countdown on triple j on July 26.

• The gender split of voters was 56% women, 38% men, 2% non-binary and 4% not stated.

• The largest portion of votes came from 18–29-year-olds.

• The 2000s had more songs in the poll than any other decade.

• 1971’s “Eagle Rock” by Daddy Cool was the oldest song to make the list, at Number 45.

• At 11 minutes and eight seconds, Stevie Wright’s “Evie (Parts 1, 2 & 3)” was the longest song, coming in at Number 96.

• The poll was an Australian-only variation on triple j’s annual Hottest 100, in which people vote for the most popular songs from around the world in the prior calendar year.

Sometimes you kick:

• “Never Tear Us Apart” was the fourth single from INXS’s sixth album, Kick.

• It peaked at Number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was one of four singles to make the US Top 10, including Number 1 hit “Need You Tonight.”

• Joining “Never Tear Us Apart” in the poll’s Top 10 were “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye featuring Kimbra (No. 10), Cold Chisel’s “Flame Trees” (No. 7) and “Khe Sanh” (No. 8) and Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over” (No. 5).

• The full list is here.

What they said:

• Jon Farriss, INXS drummer (speaking to triple j): “I’m just so blessed to be amongst such beautiful people, my brothers. We dreamed of doing it, but we never really thought, being that far and isolated in Western Australia that anything would come of it. We loved music so much that we lived and breathed it. I just feel very blessed and so grateful.”