John Farnham: Biography, Facts and Career

John Peter Farnham (born 1 July 1949) is an Australian singer. Farnham was a teen pop idol from 1967 until the mid-1970s, billed as Johnny Farnham. He has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist, although he replaced Glenn Shorrock as lead singer of Little River Band from 1982 to 1985. 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 No. 1 position for a total of 25 weeks. Both the single and the album had top-ten success internationally, including 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 an Australian act. Farnham has become one of his country's best-known and most popular performers, and he is the only Australian artist to have a number-one record (album or single) in five consecutive decades (echoing that of Cliff Richard in the UK), with singles including "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)" in 1967, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" in 1970, and "Age of Reason" in 1988; and albums Whispering Jack in 1986, Age of Reason in 1988, Chain Reaction in 1990, Then Again... in 1993, 33⅓ in 2000, and The Last Time in 2002. Along with touring with numerous artists, including The Seekers and international acts like Stevie Nicks and Lionel Richie, he released various collaborative albums: Tom Jones on Together in Concert (2005); Olivia Newton-John and Anthony Warlow, including Highlights from The Main Event (1998); Two Strong Hearts Live (2015); and Friends for Christmas (2016). Farnham has been recognised by many honours and awards, including 1987 Australian of the Year, 1996 Officer of the Order of Australia, and 22 ARIA Awards, including his 2003 induction into the Hall of Fame. Starting in 1969, he was voted by TV Week readers as the 'King of Pop' for five consecutive years. Aside from his recording career, Farnham performed on stage with lead roles in Australian productions of Charlie Girl, Pippin 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), and as a guest on numerous other popular shows such as The Don Lane Show, Countdown and Hey Hey It's Saturday.

In August 2022, a cancerous tumour was discovered in Farnham's mouth. It was removed in an 11.5 hour operation, involving jaw reconstruction, from which he recovered. In May 2026, Farnham announced "because of the surgeries to my mouth and face over the past few years, singing on stage is not something I can consider again".

Quick facts about John Farnham

• Full name: John Farnham
• Born: 1949-07-01
• Nationality: United Kingdom
• Known as: Musician
• Wikidata ID: Q22072

Profile compiled from public Wikipedia and Wikidata data. Details can change over time.