Kirk Pengilly

Infobox Celebrity
name = Kirk Pengilly


imagesize=200px
caption=Kirk Pengilly and daughter April in 2006.
birth_date = birth date|1958|04|04
birth_place = Kew, Victoria, Australia
occupation = musician

Kirk Pengilly (born 4 July 1958, Kew, Victoria, Australia) moved to Sydney and became best friends with fellow band member Tim Farriss. Their first band "Guinness" was a high school band in which Pengilly was the principal songwriter and lead singer. But when The Farriss Brothers formed in 1977 he gave up the main vocalist responsibilities to Michael Hutchence.

INXS

Twenty years on and Kirk has a definitive place in INXS. As principal backing vocalist, saxophonist and guitarist, he contributes to a great deal of the music that INXS release. He has written, produced and performed numerous b-sides.Fact|date=April 2007 Pengilly was also the creator of the rare "Happy Christmas" record sent to early 1980s fanclub members in Australia and the United States. [ [http://www.inxs.com/artists/?a=60 INXS.com the band.band bio ] ] His main instrument though is the guitar. "My eldest brother, Drew, gave me a beat up acoustic guitar when I was about nine and I taught myself playing along to records," Pengilly recalls. His position also sees him as the key publicity spokesperson, a role he does not take lightly. Pengilly also holds the distinction of being the band's archivist, faithfully logging daily entries in diaries that date back to the beginning of INXS.

Other Projects

*In 1982 Pengilly became involved in a one-off EP project with the band, The Igniters.
* In 1983 Andrew Farriss, Garry Gary Beers and himself worked on the 12" release of "Flaming Hands" / "Cast My Love".
* In 1987, Pengilly appeared in the music video "You're Gonna Get Hurt", released by Australian singer Jenny Morris, unrecognizable without his trademark glasses.
* In 1989 when the band was on a break, Pengilly along with Tim Farriss produced an album for local Sydney band, Crash Politics.
* 1993 saw Pengilly playing saxophone on Richard Clapton's album "Distant Thunder", and he has also been a session guitarist for Shona Laing and saxophonist for Martin Plaza.
* Produced an album for his brother Drew's band, Coo, in 1999.
* In 2002, Pengilly co-wrote and co-produced the album Still in Bed by Hughie Murray.

Private Life

*Pengilly has one daughter, April (who is now a model), born in 1988 to his ex-girlfriend Karen Hutchinson. Hutchinson and Pengilly were together for ten years, in which time she toured with the band.
*In December 1993, Pengilly married singer Deni Hines. The marriage lasted a short time, and the two parted ways in early 1995.
*Hines sang backing vocals on INXS' "Not Enough Time".
*Pengilly was once engaged to freelance DJ Louise Hegarty, the relationship lasted for seven years.
*He is currently dating surfing champion Layne Beachley.
*During the 'Dirty Honeymoon' tour of 1994, he sold his Cammeray home for around 1.3 million, monitoring the auction by phone from Los Angeles. Fact|date=May 2007
*He bought a large farm in Kangaroo Valley, and has become quite fond of digging his hands in the soil.Fact|date=June 2007

References