Two Words Collided: 10 Reasons Why INXS’ 'Never Tear Us Apart' Keeps Living On

INXS chief songwriter and band member Andrew Farriss once remarked that many of the band’s lyrics “were particularly poignant and still relevant today.” 

Never Tear Us Apart from 1987, “still gets requested all the time for use with reality TV shows and product placement. You name it – deaths, births, marriages – it's just one of those lyrics.”

That it’s just hug-squeezed the top spot in triple j’s inaugural Aussie-only Hottest 100 countdown should be no surprise. 

It wasn’t just two worlds colliding in Never Tear Us Apart. Ads, movies, TV series, sports clubs and pub karaoke lists all are drawn to it.

It had a wide range of fans. According to triple j, the biggest votes (4%) for the song came from the 18—29 age group.  It was the only song to feature in the top five of both men under 30 and the #1 song choice for women aged 46 — 55. 

Among those who voted for Never Tear Us Apart were Courtney Barnett, G Flip, RÜFÜS DU SOL and The Veronicas. Barnett called it “so epic and dramatic and a great love song. I think that makes it feel really timeless."

Barnett was born the same year the album and single came out. She utterly loved the album. In 2012, she recreated the album for Melbourne’s Pure Pop Records using just guitar and voice.

Here we look at why the song remains a perennial draw around the world.

1. A Successful Debut

It emerged on 1987’s global breakthrough Kick album which sold 20 million worldwide, of which 10 million were in the US. It had regular remixed releases through the years. It has been officially certified 7x Platinum for sales of 500,000 in Australia.

In the streaming era, it has also been discovered by audiences in Asia, South America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

2. A Chart Hit

Also released as the fourth single from the album, Never Tear Us Apart originally charted in ten countries, reaching #14 in Australia and certified 5× Platinum for sales of 350,000. 

It returned to the charts and went to #11 based on downloads after the Channel 7’s ratings buster screening of INXS: Never Tear Us Apart mini-series in 2014.

It reached #7 in the US and #23 in the UK, and went Top 10 in Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands.

Never Tear Us Apart had by 2023 clicked over 850 million streams across all platforms. It is the second most streamed INXS song on Spotify, with 471,306,510 plays. Topping the list was Need You Tonight with 557,023,316 hits. 

3. A Lyrical Masterclass

It was voted "Nation's Favourite Lyric" by viewers of VH1 Australia in 2006.

4. The Singing Jets

In October 2008, members of the Newcastle Jets soccer club made it their club anthem. Of the 531 votes, 343 of them were for Never Tear Us Apart. One member sniffed: “Seriously? A vote? There’s only 1 song.”

In late 2023, country music singer and songwriter and 10 time golden guitar winner, Lyn Bowtell and an all star band recorded a special cover version specially for the women’s team.

5. Powering On

In March 2014, Australian Football League club Port Adelaide adopted Never Tear Us Apart as an unofficial anthem at its home ground Adelaide Oval. Fans would sing the songs holding scarves above their heads. The club then printed official scarves featuring the words. 

INXS members Tim Farriss and Jon Farriss attended a match in April 2015, doing a rendition of the song.

6. Rockers In Prague

The video for Never Tear Us Apart keeps being played because of the vision by Australian film and video maker Richard Lowenstein.

When INXS asked him to helm the video, he said he’d only do it if they agreed to shoot it in Prague, behind the then-Iron Curtain. He’d just attended a film festival at the Czech Republic's capital city and loved its old world vibe and architecture and landmarks. They had never featured in a video and rarely in western movies. 

Michael would relate: "That was shot in the old town centre, it's so beautiful there. One thing about communism is it's kept most of the buildings intact. It's like a medieval city."

Lowenstein highlighted Hutchence’s smouldering charisma. He said: “Michael knew how to work the camera. He knew how to look through the camera lens without being self-conscious." It cemented his rise as a new rock superstar.

It won Best Video at the 1989 ARIA Music Awards. As of July 2025, it had 150 million YouTube views, making it INXS’s best performer on that platform.

7. An In-Gene-ious Origin

(7) Its appeal is that it is such an elegant song, known as much as a medieval European folk number as a rock power ballad. 

When Andrew Farriss first wrote the melody, he recalled it was more up-tempo. It was in the vein of US rocker Gene Vincent’s 1956 hit Be-Bop-a-Lula. But Michael Hutchence wanted it slowed down for the lyric he had in mind.

8. Heartfelt Songwriting

The words are about the instant connection two future lovers feel when they first meet. Farriss called the lyrics “truly inspired. Straight from the heart. I know how much that lyric meant to him. It was a personal love lyric very much in the moment for him." The song’s muse was reportedly his then-girlfriend, Michele Bennett.

In the BBC book series Classic Albums, Hutchence said he was proud of the lyrics because it avoided the requirement of rock ballads. "It's hard to write ballads dealing with love and keep them tough, and stop people from waving their hands in the air all the time and lighting their Bics up.”

9. A Fitting Farewell

After Hutchence's death in 1997, his coffin was carried out of Sydney’s St Andrew's Cathedral by the other INXS members and his younger brother Rhett as Never Tear Us Apart was played.

Televised throughout Australia, the moment remains a poignant one in Australian rock history.

10. A Lasting Legacy

Among those who’ve covered the song or used it in ads have been Ben Harper & French singer Mylène Farmer (a French version), Paloma Faith, UK department store John Lewis, Céline Dion, Tom Jones & Natalie Imbruglia, Allday and True Live. Dua Lipa sang it on stage during her Australian tour in 2025.

Five INXS songs were used in an episode in season two of the TV series Euphoria. The character Cal Jacobs (played by Eric Dane) listens to Never Tear Us Apart on the jukebox and then embarks on a queer physical relationship with his best friend Derek (Henry Eikenberry).

It was such an impactful moment in the use of the song that Spotify streams of the song were up 22% boost in the month following the series finale.

The song was also used in the A24 erotic thriller Babygirl, thanks to INXS fan Nicole Kidman. 

It was to be used in a steamy scene in the office between Kidman’s powerful CEO character and a young intern.

Interestingly, Never Tear Us Apart was the song director Halina Reijn wanted right from the beginning for the scene. Early production versions used the song. But when it came to getting the rights, INXS management said no.

Reijn told the ReelBlend podcast in 2024 that she was so upset “I didn't sleep for a week. I tried every other song but nothing worked.

“Then I called Nicole, I was like, 'I'm so depressed.' She was like, 'Give me a couple of days.' And she did it! She got the rights for us."