John Farnham’s sons Robert and James share health update on their dad

Music legend John Farnham’s sons have given an update on his health and expressed shock at the irony of their dad’s cruel cancer battle.

Music legend John Farnham’s sons have given an update on their dad’s health ahead of a new biopic showcasing the singer’s life.

The highs and lows of Farnham’s career are chronicled in a new Australian documentary Finding the Voice, which will hit cinemas on May 18.

In an exclusive interview with Sunrise, Rob and James Farnham said their dad was a “fighter” and recovering well after suffering a respiratory infection.

The brothers also expressed shock at the irony of their dad’s mouth cancer describing it as a “sick joke”, but remained positive about his progress.

“It’s a fairly long road, as cancer is, but he is doing well and we get to spend a lot of time with him and his spirits are up so that all we can ask for,” Robert said.

John Farnham’s sons James and Robert at the premier of Finding the Voice. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“He’s really strong, he is resilient and he is quite stubborn so I wouldn’t say it’s a tough road, I’d say it’s just another thing that he has to go through, as a lot of people have to go through.

“Cancer is a horrible thing and he’s got great support. The hospitals he has been at in the past have been fantastic, the staff were amazing, the doctors were fantastic so it would have been a lot harder without the amazing medical teams that we have here in Australia.”

Farnham has been receiving ongoing treatment, care and rehabilitation and was admitted to the hospital at the end of March for treatment of a respiratory infection.

The Farnham family Robert, Jill, James and John Farnham. Picture: Supplied

In August last year, the 73-year-old underwent a marathon 12-hour surgery at a Melbourne hospital to remove a cancerous tumour from his mouth.

And as the music legend continues to recover, his sons said the documentary was “amazing” to watch and that it showed their father’s story in a “real and really raw way”.

“He’s pretty proud of it but he hasn’t seen it yet,” James said.

“He doesn’t really like to listen or watch himself so it’s going to take a bit for him to watch it but he’s proud of the whole situation and very happy with it all.”

JOHN FARNHAM: FINDING THE VOICE REVIEW

Rating: ****

By National Film Reviewer Leigh Paatsch

He is the voice.

And there is no longer any need to try and understand it.

Not now that a new deep-diving documentary charting the life, times and lasting legacy of John Farnham makes it perfectly clear why he must be regarded as one of the most significant figures in Australian music history.

While John Farnham: Finding the Voice can hardly be classified as a raw, warts-and-all portrait of the enduringly popular singer, this well-researched and appealingly mounted production does capture the essence of the man in all the departments that truly count.

There is the modesty of a bloke that never got too big for his boots. There is the humility of a bloke who kept on going when others sunk their boots into him. There is the loyalty of a bloke who stuck firm with those who stuck out the tough times right alongside him.

And then there is the voice. That voice. A weapon of disarming clarity, astonishing pitch and pure emotional potency quite unlike anything else heard on these shores.

A voice that can make a rousing, lighters-in-the-air, stadium-shaking anthem feel as if it is being sung just to you.

As all good music docos should, Finding the Voice does not simply focus on the glory days of Farnham as a prolific hit machine.

Australian singer John Farnham in a scene from the documentary film John Farnham: Finding the Voice.

The bad old days suffered through by Farnham get just as much coverage here, and put into fascinating context just how many opportunities were missed and chances were taken before legitimate fame, fortune and respect finally beckoned.

We come to learn that the formative phases of Farnham’s career could only be classified as character building, to say the very least.

The blessing of that breakthrough hit Sadie the Cleaning Lady turned out to be a curse that did untold damage to Farnham’s reputation and self-confidence for almost two full decades.

The one-time King of Pop was exiled to the forgotten fringes of show business for a considerable length of time.

Australian singer John Farnham and his long-time friend and manager, the late Glenn Wheatley.

If Farnham wasn’t playing to near-empty rooms on the club circuit, then he was probably misdirecting his talent in any number of ill-fitting ways (including musical theatre, light-entertainment TV and a stint fronting a past-their-prime Little River Band).

Then came that one last fateful roll of the dice, an all-or-nothing risk that rapidly catapulted John Farnham from pretender to contender to phenomenon: the selection and recording of a collection of songs that would become the mega-platinum album Whispering Jack.

Through the recollections of bandmates (most of whom have spent their entire careers with the singer), soulmates (most notably, Farnham’s famously supportive wife Jill) and best mates (his manager the late Glenn Wheatley and wife Gaynor), the scale of the mountain climbed by one song in particular – the immortal earworm You’re the Voice – looks just as daunting and impressive now as it must have back in 1987.

Though the documentary does go on to rightly celebrate the stellar sequence of albums, singles and sellout tours that elevated Farnham’s name to a rarefied altitude above and beyond the big time, it never gets carried away by overplaying his considerable achievements.

Just like the man himself, the doco keeps its feet firmly planted on the ground, and goes about its business both amiably and comprehensively.

Originally published as John Farnham’s sons Robert and James share health update on their dad