John Farnham

John Farnham
AO
Farnham in 2014
Born
John Peter Farnham

(1949-07-01) 1 July 1949 (age 75)
Dagenham, Essex, England, UK
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Years active1964–present
Spouse
Jillian Billman
​
(m. 1973)​
Children
  • Robert
  • James
Musical career
OriginMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
GenresPop rock, adult contemporary, soft rock, soul music, R&B
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
  • keyboards
  • percussion
Labels
Formerly of
Websitejohnfarnham.com.au
Signature

John Peter Farnham AO (born 1 July 1949) is a British-born Australian singer. Farnham was a teen pop idol from 1967 until 1979, billed until then as Johnny Farnham. He has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer.[1] 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.[2][3]

In November 1986, his solo single "You're the Voice" peaked at No. 1 on the Australian singles charts.[4][5] The associated album, Whispering Jack, held the No. 1 position for a total of 25 weeks.[4][5] Both the single and the album had top-ten success internationally, including No. 6 in the United Kingdom and No.1 in Sweden.[6][7] 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.[8]

Farnham has become one of his country's best-known and most popular performers,[1] 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;[4][5] 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.[4][5][9] 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).[10]

Farnham has been recognised by many honours and awards, including 1987 Australian of the Year, 1996 Officer of the Order of Australia, and 19 ARIA Awards, including his 2003 induction into the Hall of Fame.[9][11][12][13] Starting in 1969, he was voted by TV Week readers as the 'King of Pop' for five consecutive years.[14][15][16][17]

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.[1] 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.[1][18]

  1. ^ a b c d McFarlane (1999). Encyclopedia entry for "John Farnham". Archived from the original on 29 August 2004. Retrieved 16 May 2014.; retrieved 24 January 2010.
  2. ^ Holmgren, Magnus; Reboulet, Scott; Albury, Lyn; Birtles, Beeb; Warnqvist, Stefan; Medlin, Peter. "John Farnham". Australian Rock Database. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  3. ^ Holmgren, Magnus; Reboulet, Scott; Warnqvist, Stefan; Birtles, Beeb; Sciuto, Tony. "Little River Band". Australian Rock Database. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
  5. ^ a b c d "John Farnham discography". Australian Charts Portal. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  6. ^ "The Official Charts Company – John Farnham". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  7. ^ "John Farnham Whispering Jack". Australian Charts Portal. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference ARIA 2023 u905 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b "Farnham". Music Australia. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  10. ^ Ryan, Gavin (4 July 2015). "ARIA albums John Farnham Olivia Newton John have the no1 album". Noise11.com. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  11. ^ "ARIA 2008 Hall of Fame inductees listing". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 2 August 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  12. ^ "Winners by Artist: John Farnham". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  13. ^ "2003 17th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  14. ^ "TV Week "King of Pop" Awards". Milesago. 2002. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  15. ^ "Top 40 TV". Televisionau.com. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  16. ^ Jenkins, Jeff; Ian Meldrum (2007). Molly Meldrum presents 50 years of rock in Australia. Melbourne: Wilkinson Publishing. ISBN 978-1-921332-11-1. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  17. ^ Atkinson, Ann; Linsay Knight; Margaret McPhee (1996). The dictionary of performing arts in Australia. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-86373-898-9. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  18. ^ Warner, Dave (June 2006). Countdown: the wonder years 1974–1987. Sydney, N.S.W.: ABC Books. ISBN 0-7333-1401-5. Retrieved 15 December 2008.