John Farnham
John Peter Farnham (born 1 July 1949) is a British-born naturalised Australian citizen retired singer, actor and television personality. He started as a teen pop idol from 1967 to 1979 and thereafter became an adult contemporary entertainer. Although mostly working as a solo artist, Farnham replaced Glenn Shorrock as lead singer of Little River Band from 1982 to 1986. In November 1986, his solo single "You're the Voice" peaked at No. 1 on the Australian singles charts. The associated album, Whispering Jack, held the number-one position for a total of 25 weeks. Both single and album had international top-ten chart success, including the album at No. 6 in the United Kingdom and No. 1 in Sweden. Whispering Jack is the third-highest-selling album in Australian history and as of May 2023 remains the highest-selling album in Australia by any Australian artist.
Farnham became one of his country's best-known and most popular performers and is the only Australian musical artist to have a number-one record (album or single) in six consecutive decades (echoing the achievement of Cliff Richard in the UK), with singles including "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)" (1967), "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (1970) and "Age of Reason" (1988) and albums Whispering Jack (1986), Age of Reason (1988), Chain Reaction (1990), Then Again... (1993), 33⅓ (2000), The Last Time (2002) and Two Strong Hearts Live (2015). Farnham has toured with numerous artists, including the Seekers and international acts Stevie Nicks and Lionel Richie. He released collaborative albums with Tom Jones on Together in Concert (2005) and with Olivia Newton-John on Highlights from The Main Event (1998), Highlights from Two Strong Hearts (2015) and Friends for Christmas (2016).
Farnham has been recognised by numerous honours and awards, including 1987 Australian of the Year, 1996 Officer of the Order of Australia, and 22 ARIA Music Awards, including his 2003 induction into their Hall of Fame. Starting in 1969, he was voted by TV Week readers as the 'King of Pop' for five consecutive years. Aside from a recording career, Farnham acted in musical theatre with lead roles in Australian productions of Charlie Girl (1971), Pippin (1974) and 1992's Jesus Christ Superstar. He starred in his own TV series and specials, including It's Magic (with Colleen Hewett), Bobby Dazzler, and Farnham and Byrne (with Debra Byrne). He guested on numerous popular shows, The Don Lane Show, Countdown and Hey Hey It's Saturday.
The artist married former dancer Jillian Billman in 1973, whom he met when both were in Charlie Girl. The couple have two children. Farnham had been managed by Darryl Sambell from 1967 to 1976 and by his long-term friend, Glenn Wheatley from 1980 to the latter's death in 2022. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane described Farnham as "the most successful solo artist in the history of Australian rock and pop... [He] has retained an affable sense of humour and a simple, unpretentious 'everyman' charm which also makes him one of the most respected celebrities in Australian entertainment history". In August 2022, a cancerous tumour was discovered in Farnham's mouth, which was successfully removed in an operation involving jaw reconstruction. He has not performed publicly since mid-2023. In May 2026 Farnham issued a statement, "because of the surgeries to my mouth and face over the past few years, singing on stage is not something I can consider again".
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