Australian rocker Suze Demarchi came close to becoming Inxs' first female singer when she was drafted in to replace Michael Hutchence following the frontman's death in 1997.

The star, who fronts rock group Baby Animals, has revealed she came close to reaching a deal with the band to take over vocal duties, but the plan eventually fell through due to a number of disagreements.

She tells Australia's Herald Sun, "I thought it was a good idea having a girl because you wouldn't be getting immediate comparisons to Michael. It was really close and was almost going to happen there for a moment. I wasn't happy singing someone else's stuff and to replace Michael was very tough. They wanted to do a Tv show and I didn't want to go down that road. I think they were just shell-shocked about the whole thing."

Inxs continued after Hutchence's death, working with singers including Jimmy Barnes, Terence Trent D'Arby, Jon Stevens, J.D. Fortune and Ciaran Gribbin, before they split for good last year (12).