John Farnham is a terrific dad. Someone to look up to, a glorious basket of positivity, fun and silliness. Just ask his son.
James Farnham shared a sweet message as Australians celebrated Father’s Day last Sunday, Sept. 6, and gave fans a rare glimpse of his father, John, the beloved pop veteran.
“From one father to another, I’ve realised just how much you’ve taught me over the years… some useful, some questionable,” James writes. “You’ve always been a great dad and someone I’ve looked up to my whole life. Now that I’m a dad myself, I just hope Jett looks up to me the same way I’ve always looked up to you.”
John Farnham has “always been positive, fun, silly and never taken yourself too seriously, which I’m pretty sure is where I get most of my silliness from,” he continues. “Thanks for making dad time good fun all these years.”
The post is accompanied with four photographs, each telling a story in the timeline of the Farnhams. Among them, an image of John, with flowing long blonde hair and a baby James in his hands. A teary James holding his own baby son, Jett. And a recent photo of John and his wife Jillian Billman staring down at baby Jett.
John Farnham has stepped out of the spotlight since undergoing marathon surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his throat in 2022. His time away from the public glare hasn’t dimmed his superstar status in these parts.
An all-star concert at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on Sept. 20, The Songs Of John Farnham: A Living Legend The Celebration, was a swift sellout. The concert will feature 120 artists and musicians, all of them selected by Farnham, and raises funds for Head and Neck Cancer Australia.
Separately, a musical based on Farnham’s career will premiere on Nov. 15 at the Roslyn Packer Theatre in Sydney, while Sony Music is releasing a 40th anniversary edition of Whispering Jack, which is paired with the live recording, Whispering Jack Live In Concert, along with new, numbered vinyl and range of merchandise to mark the special occasion.
Earlier, John Farnham: Finding The Voice won the 2024 AACTA Award for best documentary and is recognized as the highest-grossing Australian music documentary in history, earning more than A$2.57 million at the box office.
With 1986’s Whispering Jack, Farnham orchestrated one of the all-time great comebacks. The album spent 25 weeks at No. 1, en route to shifting more than one million copies, becoming the first domestic LP to do so. It remains the highest-selling album ever in Australia by a local talent.
Whispering Jack, of course, features Farnham’s signature song, “You’re The Voice,” a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom, and, four decades on, the unofficial anthem of Australia.
Farnham has confirmed it is “just not possible” for him to sing or perform again following his cancer ordeal. “We can rule that out,” he told the Herald Sun in May. “Because of the surgeries to my mouth and face over the past few years, singing on stage is not something I can consider again.”
