John Farnham makes huge announcement, one year on from cancer surgery

John Farnham has issued his first personal statement since undergoing a 12-hour surgery to remove a cancerous tumour, one year ago.

John Farnham has revealed he is cancer-free in his first personal statement since undergoing mouth surgery a year ago.

The Aussie music icon, 74, had a tumour removed from his mouth during a 12-hour surgery in Melbourne last year, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.

He has been “in and out of rehabilitation care” since, according to the statement.

To mark the anniversary, Farnham told fans today that he is now officially “all clear” of cancer.

John Farnham is cancer-free. Picture: AAP Image/Joel Carrett

“I am the luckiest man I know right now. It’s been a year since my first surgery and to be honest I’ve lost count as to how many other procedures there’s been since then,” he said in his statement.

“I’m sure someone’s kept track of them all – let’s just say, there’s been a few. But, I’m home now and I’m a very grateful and happy man. I’m sitting here in my living room lapping up the attention from my beautiful wife, Jill, my boys Rob and James and my mini Schnauzer, Edmund.

“It’s only now that I can start to appreciate and comprehend, for myself, how many messages of love and support have been sent to me over the past year. I don’t know what to say, other than thank you so very much. It honestly means the world to me. Thank you to everyone who took the time to write and send a message.

“Today is a special day. And I’m going to mark it by having a pizza – because I can! I can’t wait to see what might be next on the menu. Bring on 2024.”

He underwent surgery on his mouth one year ago and has been privately recovering since. Picture: Supplied/Instagram

The statement also included a message of thanks “to everyone across Australia and the world” from the entire Farnham family “for the extraordinary amount of generous messages and well wishes” they’ve received during the singer’s health battle.

Earlier this year, an Australian-made documentary about Farnham’s life, Finding The Voice, was released, focusing on the “untold story” of his humble beginnings in the Melbourne suburbs to “record-breaking pop success”.

His sons, Robert and James, praised the filmmakers in an interview on Sunrise in May, revealing they were impressed with the efforts to show their father’s story in a “real and really raw way”.

“We got to see a rough cut of it and it was just phenomenal,” Robert said.

“It wasn’t fluff, it was real and that we loved about it,” James added.