John Farnham was the man of honor for an all-star concert Sunday night (Sept. 20) in Melbourne, but Chris Martin almost stole the show.
The Coldplay frontman appeared remotely with an original song written for the legendary Australian singer. The last time Australians got a chance to see Martin up close was in 2024, when the British band played to more than 700,000 fans on the Australasian leg of their Music of the Spheres stadium tour.
For his spot on Farnham’s big night, Martin stripped it right down. Playing an acoustic guitar, Martin delivered a surprise number that was both self-deprecating and deferential to two great Australians, the late cricketing great Shane Warne and Farnham.
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“Seventeen years ago in Melbourne, my friend Shane said to me: ‘There’s been a bloody big bushfire. It’s something you should see,’” Martin sings, in video posted by TEG Dainty, co-producers of the event.
“’I’m going in up to Kinglake to check on how they are and I made us a mixtape, we can listen in the car.
“And I really do love Coldplay. I love Coldplay, it’s true. But my favorite is John Farnham, he’s a better singer than you.”
It’s true, Martin admitted.
“Well thank you John, thank you John, I think you’re really great. You made me get much closer to my cricket playing mate,” he continues. “Well thank you John, oh thank you John, one day we’ll all be gone. But the thing about John Farnham songs is that they’ll keep living on.”
Martin was one of more than 120 artists and musicians who performed at the sold-out Rod Laver Arena for The Songs Of John Farnham: A Living Legend – The Celebration Concert, produced by Cochrane Entertainment and TEG Dainty.
Other performers included Vanessa Amorosi, Tina Arena, Jimmy Barnes, Kate Ceberano, Diesel, Human Nature, Jack Jones, Richard Marx, Jessica Mauboy, Keith Urban, Mark Vincent and Ross Wilson, with Celine Dion and Hugh Jackman delivering remote performances.
Sadly, Farnham, whose 1986 album Whispering Jack was the first homegrown LP to shift more than 1 million copies in Australia, and which is considered to this day to be the best-selling domestic record in these parts, was unable to attend due to deteriorating health.
The concert was a fundraising and awareness platform for Head and Neck Cancer Australia, and beamed into HOYTS cinemas nationwide, shifting more than 23,000 tickets.
“Demand for the live broadcast was incredible, with sessions selling out rapidly, additional screenings were added to accommodate the response from fans,” says HOYTS general manager of programming and content Michelle Gater.
Details of an encore season will be announced soon, reps say.
Watch Chris Martin’s performance here.
