{"id":754786,"date":"2026-06-23T09:50:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/754786\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T09:50:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:50:15","slug":"no-issue-major-star-cleared-to-join-keith-urban-hugh-jackman-and-celine-dion-at-john-farnham-tribute-concert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/754786\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No issue\u2019: Major star cleared to join Keith Urban, Hugh Jackman and Celine Dion at John Farnham tribute concert"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Kylie Minogue has been cleared to play at a charity concert in honour of Australian singer John Farnham later this year, despite claims her commitments at the 2026 AFL Grand Final would mean she was off limits.<\/p>\n<p>If she agrees, the Spinning Around hitmaker will join the likes of Keith Urban and Richard Marx at Melbourne&#8217;s Rod Laver Arena on September 20, where Celine Dion and Hugh Jackman will also appear via satellite.<\/p>\n<p>Just days later, Minogue, 58, will <a class=\"body-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skynews.com.au\/breaking-news\/kylie-minogue-locked-in-to-perform-at-afl-grand-final\/news-story\/ce508e93d7a8169d05e6f5ef005138bc\" data-tgev=\"event119\" data-tgev-container=\"bodylink\" data-tgev-order=\"ce508e93d7a8169d05e6f5ef005138bc\" data-tgev-label=\"breaking-news\" data-tgev-metric=\"ev\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">headline the AFL final pre-game show at the MCG<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"poster-img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9b71a478282e430167e66e284905bce8.jpeg\" data-sctrack=\"op-poster-img\" alt=\"John Farnham reveals he will never sing in public again\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>She is estimated to be paid $3 million for the gig.<\/p>\n<p>According to reports, Farnham, 76, invited the pop princess to perform at The Songs of John Farnham: A Living Legend, but due to the &#8220;exclusivity&#8221; of her AFL performance, concert organisers claimed the offer was &#8220;blocked&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The AFL has now denied this and declared Minogue is free to perform at the tribute concert if her schedule allows it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSchedule permitting, there is no issue from the AFL on Kylie paying tribute to John ahead of her Grand Final performance,\u201d an AFL spokesman told Confidential.<\/p>\n<p>The show&#8217;s promoter, Tony Cochrane, said he is &#8220;delighted&#8221; by the AFL&#8217;s decision and hopes Minogue will agree to their offer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo we, as producers, want Kylie to do the show? Absolutely. Without a shadow of a doubt, Kylie is one of Australia\u2019s greatest talents, and she\u2019s very close to John,&#8221; he told the newspaper.<\/p>\n<p>Farnham&#8217;s manager, Gaynor Wheatley, added that the You&#8217;re the Voice singer would love for Minogue to perform.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe absolutely would welcome Kylie with open arms. We adore her,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Minogue and Farnham have been friends for years, and the popstar previously described herself as a &#8220;forever superfan&#8221; of his music.<\/p>\n<p>The Aussie legends also performed together at the Tour of Duty Concert in 1999 in honour of Australian troops, singing a duet of Johnny O&#8217;Keefe&#8217;s Shout.<\/p>\n<p>The September 20 concert will see artists performing Farnham&#8217;s songs to raise money for Head and Neck Cancer Australia.<\/p>\n<p>The tribute concert is one of several projects celebrating Farnham&#8217;s legacy, alongside Whispering Jack: The John Farnham Musical, which is set to premiere in Sydney in November.<\/p>\n<p>The beloved singer left the spotlight four years ago when he was diagnosed with mouth cancer.<\/p>\n<p>He <a class=\"body-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skynews.com.au\/lifestyle\/celebrity-life\/john-farnham-heard-for-the-first-time-after-cancer-surgery-two-years-ago-as-he-releases-audiobook-excerpt-from-memoir\/news-story\/20b8647dd641f4a15e51cb77e6ba6645\" data-tgev=\"event119\" data-tgev-container=\"bodylink\" data-tgev-order=\"20b8647dd641f4a15e51cb77e6ba6645\" data-tgev-label=\"lifestyle\" data-tgev-metric=\"ev\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">underwent a gruelling 12-hour surgery<\/a> in August 2022 to remove the tumour and had eight weeks of radiation treatment.<\/p>\n<p>As a result of the cancer treatment, Farnham confirmed <a class=\"body-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skynews.com.au\/lifestyle\/celebrity-life\/we-can-rule-that-out-aussie-icon-john-farnham-confirms-he-will-never-perform-again-after-oral-cancer-battle\/news-story\/0be100e3cb9fe65daf5f6a4cbac99376\" data-tgev=\"event119\" data-tgev-container=\"bodylink\" data-tgev-order=\"0be100e3cb9fe65daf5f6a4cbac99376\" data-tgev-label=\"lifestyle\" data-tgev-metric=\"ev\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">he will never be able to perform again<\/a>, and he has difficulty speaking and eating.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, the 76-year-old admitted he initially rejected plans for a tribute concert, but changed his mind when organisers suggested it could raise money for a good cause.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"poster-img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d48dd4de18b69be571f4f720606aba2b.jpeg\" data-sctrack=\"op-poster-img\" alt=\"Musician John Farnham set to become a grandfather\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis (tribute concert) isn\u2019t about me \u2013 it\u2019s about giving something back and supporting a cause that means a great deal to me,&#8221; he told the Herald Sun.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fact that so many extraordinary artists from around the world have so generously agreed to be part of this night is incredibly humbling.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kylie Minogue has been cleared to play at a charity concert in honour of Australian singer John Farnham&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":754787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[49418,64,63,447,134,63349,63496,647,221809],"class_list":["post-754786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-afl-grand-final","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-john-farnham","tag-kylie-minogue","tag-melbourne","tag-rod-laver-arena"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754786","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=754786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/754787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}