‘Cruel and brutal’: Farnham family reveal John’s private cancer battle

John Farnham’s sons, Rob and James, have spoken about their father’s private battle with cancer, and whether The Voice can make another comeback to the stage.

John Farnham's sons have spoken about their father’s “cruel and brutal” cancer battle as the comeback kid is set to make another return to Australia’s musical consciousness in the upcoming film, John Farnham: Finding the Voice.

In an exclusive interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly, Rob and James Farnham praised their father’s resilient spirit after suffering a respiratory infection.

“You have to keep positive and not get bogged down,” said Rob Farnham of his father, who last August underwent a successful, 13-hour surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his mouth.

John 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.

“It’s cruel and brutal but they’re the cards you’re dealt in life and cancer doesn’t care who you are. We’re really proud of him. He’s inspiring us every day, but then again, he always has,” Rob said in the Women’s Weekly’s May print edition that began arriving to subscribers this week.

Rob said his father had recovered so well from the last year’s surgery that the Farnham family had directed its energy to the completion of the upcoming movie, opening in cinemas on April 27, with the family of long-time manager and best friend, Glenn Wheatley.

Glenn’s wife, Gaynor Wheatley, told the publication that the film took on new significance following the deaths of her husband and Olivia Newton-John, who passed just weeks before Farnham’s cancer diagnosis.

But the film was almost left incomplete after Farnham became too grief-stricken over Wheatley’s death to face the cameras.

“John was really sad. So I thought, I’ll ring Olivia,” she told the publication. “In typical Olivia style, she said, ‘Yeah darling, I’ll give him a call. He needs a kick up the backside!”.

“It totally changed the context of the film. It’s even more precious to us now because it was Olivia and Glenn’s last interviews and then John … it’s quite profound when you watch it, and takes it beyond what Glenn imagined it would be.”

The Farnham Family Clockwise from bottom left, Rob, Jill, James and John Farnham Picture: Supplied

While Farnham was able to make another comeback, this time from his grief to finish the film, his son James Farnham said his father has achieved everything set out to do on the stage.

Asked if there could be a return to performing, James said “He’s got nothing left to prove”.

“I don’t know what else he’d want to do. He’s done it all, he’s climbed the mountain and his flag is still on top,” James said.

As a son, James knew his father “struggled to get to where he was”, but didn’t know just how hard he struggled until working together to produce the authorised biopic.

“It was much more difficult for them than I realised, and the film has made me appreciate him and how hard he worked even more. What he did was remarkable. But he has always seen the positive. He’s never let things get to him and he has always pushed through.”

The May issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly is out now.