CROWDED HOUSE - FINN HELD WAKE FOR HESTER AT ROYAL ALBERT HALL

CROWDED HOUSE singer NEIL FINN coped with his bandmate PAUL HESTER's suicide by holding a wake at London's Albert Hall. Hester, who left the group in 1994, committed suicide in 2005 after a long battle with depression, and the date of his death coincided with a gig by his former bandmates Neil and Tim Finn. Neil admits he was tempted to fly back to Australia when he heard the news, but instead decided to use the gig to pay tribute to his late pal. He says, "I didn't think I could possibly do anything, much less play the Albert Hall. But then it seemed like, well... there were these shows at the most beautiful venue in the world with a gathering of people who would really be feeling it. "Backstage, we had a wake. People we hadn't seen for over a decade had come from all around, just to be in the same place as us."