{"id":701340,"date":"2026-05-29T03:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T03:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/701340\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T03:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T03:22:16","slug":"john-farnham-tribute-concert-to-be-held-in-september-at-melbournes-rod-laver-arena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/701340\/","title":{"rendered":"John Farnham tribute concert to be held in September at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena"},"content":{"rendered":"

A tribute concert has been announced for Australian music legend John Farnham, with Celine Dion, Hugh Jackman and Keith Urban among the stars set to perform at the show later this year.<\/p>\n

The concert, dubbed The Songs of John Farnham: A Living Legend, will be held at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on September 20, with funds raised on the night going toward the cancer service that supported Farnham during his cancer battle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Farnham, 76, has told the Herald Sun he will not be singing on stage again, telling the publication it was “just not possible” for him to perform following cancer-related mouth and facial surgeries.<\/p>\n

Jimmy Barnes, Tina Arena, Human Nature, Jessica Mauboy, Kate Ceberano, Ross Wilson and Richard Marx are some of the other big names touted to perform at the concert.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dion and Jackman will be performing from overseas via satellite.<\/p>\n

\"Keith<\/p>\n

Keith Urban and Jessica Mauboy will perform at the September concert. (Getty Images: Paul Miller)<\/p>\n

Farnham was diagnosed with mouth cancer in 2022 and he was hospitalised with a respiratory infection in March 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In August 2023, Farnham confirmed he was cancer free.<\/p>\n

His last public performance was as part of Sydney’s Fire Fight fundraising concert in February 2020.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

John Farnham has been one of Australia’s most beloved music performers for decades. (Supplied: National Film and Sound Archives)<\/p>\n

Funds raised at the concert will be donated to Head and Neck Cancer Australia.<\/p>\n

In a statement Farnham said the night was about “giving something back and supporting a cause that means a great deal to me”.<\/p>\n

“The fact that so many extraordinary artists from around the world have so generously agreed to be part of this night is incredibly humbling,” he said.<\/p>\n

“[It] says far more about the spirit behind this event than it does about me.”<\/p>\n

Ahead of the concert, Dion said it was “an honour and a privilege for me to be included to celebrate the extraordinary legacy John has given to music”.<\/p>\n

“John Farnham is truly one of the great voices of the world,” she said.\"Celine<\/p>\n

Celine Dion will perform at the concert from Paris via satellite. (AP:\u00a0Jacques Boissinot\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n

“I have such beautiful memories of the time we shared on stage together \u2014 his generosity, his humour, and that incredible voice that fills your heart the moment you hear it.”<\/p>\n

Farnham is one of Australia’s most successful performers, with his 1986 album Whispering Jack selling more than 1.6 million copies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was named Australian of the Year in 1987 and has won 21 ARIA awards.<\/p>\n

In 2024 Farnham released his first memoir<\/a>, The Voice Inside, which details the monumental triumphs of his career as well as the immense struggles he has faced.<\/p>\n

Tickets for the concert go on sale on June 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A tribute concert has been announced for Australian music legend John Farnham, with Celine Dion, Hugh Jackman and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,1617,142322,134,36597,63349,2899,221809,341546],"class_list":["post-701340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cancer","tag-celine-dion","tag-entertainment","tag-hugh-jackman","tag-john-farnham","tag-keith-urban","tag-rod-laver-arena","tag-tribute-concert"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}