Nearly nine months after INXS singer Michael Hutchence shocked the music world by taking his life in a Sydney, Australia, hotel room, his former bandmates have begun plans to honor his memory with an all-star benefit gig that could feature such big-name artists as David Bowie and U2's Bono.

"The logistics are just mind-blowing and schedules have to be worked out," said the band's Australian publicist, Shawn Deacon, on Tuesday, adding that the benefit would be at least a year in the making. "The date is changing every day."

Although INXS guitarist Tim Farriss made what Deacon called a "very premature" statement about the plans to honor the late singer with a benefit show in Australia or London, various rock stars -- including such major artists as Elton John, Bowie and Bono -- already have been approached to take part in the event.

"Tim was a very bad boy," Deacon said, adding that it is still unclear who would benefit from the concert's proceeds. "Tim shouldn't have said anything because it's so early to comment on it. To stage something like that and try to organize everybody and the place and the venue ... "

Earlier this week, Farriss told the Sydney newspaper The Sunday Herald that the group is planning a show to benefit Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily, the 2-year-old daughter left behind by Hutchence. The 37-year-old INXS singer committed suicide by hanging himself in his Sydney hotel room in November 1997.

Deacon confirmed that John, Bowie, Bono, Tom Jones, Iggy Pop and Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon, all "mates of Michael's," have been asked to perform at the concert. The tentative plan is to have the singers step in and perform such classic INXS songs as "Devil Inside" and "Need You Tonight" with the remaining members of the band.

Bono paid tribute to his departed friend in February at a Sydney concert when he dedicated the U2 song "Wake Up Dead Man" to Hutchence, as well as played the INXS song "Never Tear Us Apart" (RealAudio excerpt) over the PA after the show.

It remains unclear if the show will take place in London or Australia and, despite Farriss' comments, Deacon said it is undecided whether the event will be a benefit for Tiger Lily, Hutchence's only child with television host Paula Yates, or for a children's charity.

INXS' manager, Martha Troup, declined to comment on reports of the benefit concert or on the future of the band.

According to Deacon, the group's surviving members -- Garry Gary Beers (bass), Kirk Pengilly (guitar/saxophone) and brothers Andrew Farriss (guitar/keyboards), John Farriss (drums) and Tim Farriss (guitar) -- are all working on their own projects this year, plans that were in place prior to Hutchence's suicide. Deacon declined to elaborate on the nature of those projects.

Earlier this year, Troup released a statement on the band's future in the wake of Hutchence's death. "It had always been planned that 1998 would be the year for individual projects and activities for the members of INXS. This has not changed. Also, there is definitely more in store for the band," Troup said.

Troup has said there are more than 40 unreleased songs by INXS that might be issued in the future. A solo album by Hutchence, produced by Black Grape's Danny Saber and former Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill, is expected to be released this year.

Reacting to another report from Australia in which guitarist Farriss had speculated that the band would go on under the Farriss name, Deacon said, "That was Tim talking. Any decision like that needs to come from the whole band."

Meanwhile, some longtime INXS fans have been divided over the notion that the two-decade career of the multi-platinum band might be coming to an end.

"I'm a little sad it's over, but I have 20 years' worth of music that I can listen to anytime, so the music will never be over," said Kylie-Jo Glynn, a 26-year-old Australian fan who runs the "Tribute to Michael Hutchence" webpage. "[But] INXS deserve to have the time to put their energies into something else, whether it be family or a new musical venture."

Another fan, 18-year-old Danilo Meira of Brazil, wrote in an e-mail that it would take more than Hutchence's death to break up the band. "They have been work partners for more than 20 years," wrote Meira, webmaster of the "Elegantly INXS" tribute site. "They are more than a band. They are like brothers. So ... we are expecting to see them work together for another 20 years (and more)."