Heart surgery for NZ born INXS rocker

INXS rocker New Zealand-born Jon Stevens will undergo open heart surgery in Sydney next week.

In a statement released yesterday, Headline Artists Management said Stevens, 46, was taken to hospital on Friday after doctors discovered a blockage in one of the main arteries to his heart during a routine check-up.

He will undergo open heart surgery at a Sydney Hospital on Tuesday.

"Jon's condition will prevent him performing for a short while until he makes a full recovery," the statement said.

His management said Stevens had two stents inserted into the arteries in his heart in December.

Noiseworks became successful in the late 1980s and Stevens went on to tour and record with INXS from 2000, after the 1997 death of frontman Michael Hutchence.

- NZPA