About J.D. Fortune
Jason Dean Bennison (born 1 September 1973), better known by his stage name J.D. Fortune, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. He was the frontman of the Australian rock band INXS for six years after winning the first season of the CBS reality television series Rock Star: INXS; in 2005, replacing its late lead singer Michael Hutchence. After the show, Fortune fronted INXS through an extended 2+1⁄2-year world tour supporting the release of the album Switch, INXS's first studio album with Fortune, and the only album with new INXS material after Hutchence's death. Switch also marked Fortune's only album with the band before parting ways in August 2011 due to creative differences and to work on his solo projects. == Early life == J.D. Fortune was born Jason Bennison on 1 September 1973 in Mississauga, Ontario and raised in Salt Springs, Pictou County, Nova Scotia to Robert Bennison and Sandra (née Fortune). He also has a younger sister, Sarah-Jane, and a dog named Presley (named after Elvis Presley) Bennison's parents divorced when he was five years old and he mostly spent his earlier years with his grandparents while his mom worked shifts for a living. Bennison was his estranged father's name; he adopted his mother's maiden name upon starting his career in music. He had his early education at Cawthra Park Secondary School and West Pictou Consolidated School but dropped out before graduating after being offered a job on a television show in Toronto, Canada. He began to show his interest in music and performing at a very young age after finding the soundtrack for Kurt Russell's movie Elvis. He stated, “That was my video game, my TV, my everything back then, I just listened to that album all day long, every day.” Fortune held a number of jobs before finding his way into the music industry; he worked as an extra on the Jerry O'Connell children's show My Secret Identity, worked at a martial art school as a teacher and an Elvis Presley impersonator at a local karaoke bar, and briefly worked as a truck driver.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.