British-born Australian singer-songwriter and musician John Peter Farnham was born 76 years ago in Dagenham, Essex, is married and has 2 sons.
John was born in the UK, but when he was 10 years old, he moved with his family to Melbourne, Australia. There he attended primary and high school and commenced his music career whilst he was still a student. In fact, in 1964, John joined a band called ‘The Mavericks’ with whom he performed on weekends. Late in the following year, he became the lead singer of another band named ‘Strings Unlimited’ and they performed regularly in a local hotel.
After acting as a backing band for another pop singer, a record manager heard John singing and was so impressed that he offered him a solo record contract. In late 1967, his single ‘Sadie (the Cleaning Lady)’ was released and was an Australian number 1 hit, rendering Farnham a teen pop idol. By the mid-70s, he had 9 more albums and another number 1 hit single i.e. a cover version of ‘Raindrops keep falling on my Head’ in 1969.
Apart from music, John also performed in some stage musicals like ‘Dick Whittington and his Cat’, ‘Charlie Girl’ and ‘Pippin’. By this time, Farnham’s music career went a bit downhill and so he focused more on stage productions and appearing in TV shows as a guest as well as a host. He starred in a sitcom and narrated some documentaries as well.
In 1980, John joined rock band ‘Little River Band’ and 2 years later became their lead vocalist. Together they recorded 3 studio albums with moderate success. In 1986, John left the group and proceeded as a solo artist. That same year, he released the number one international hit ‘You’re The Voice’.
Over the years, John supported numerous charitable institutions and this year has won 3 awards with regards to his book memoire ‘The Voice Inside’.
Since the beginning of his career, Farnham released 21 studio, 3 soundtrack, 6 live, 19 compilation and 13 video albums, 3 EPS and 74 singles. Over the years he has collaborated with several other artists like Olivia Newton-John and Tom Jones and has also provided vocals for some movie soundtracks.
To date John won 57 awards including 21 ARIA, 8 King of Pop, 10 Logie and 14 Mo. He was also inducted in both the ARIA and the Victoria Halls of Fame.
*Image: no infringement intended. Source: perthnow.com.au