{"id":771651,"date":"2026-07-01T07:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T07:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/771651\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T07:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T07:57:11","slug":"john-farnham-celebrates-77th-birthday-with-family-as-he-continues-mouth-cancer-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/771651\/","title":{"rendered":"John Farnham celebrates 77th birthday with family as he continues mouth cancer recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Farnham celebrated a special 77th birthday on Wednesday, surrounded by his loving family and one very smiley grandson as he continues to recover from a gruelling cancer fight<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The music legend\u2019s son James shared a heartwarming birthday tribute on social media that included a photo of Farnham and one-year-old Jett looking happy as Larry sitting on his grandpa\u2019s knee.<\/p>\n

\u201cHappy Birthday Grandpa! We love you so much,\u201d James wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for everything and being who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The photo is new, rare look at Farnham who has kept out of the spotlight recently amid his cancer battle and confirmation he will never sing again.<\/p>\n

Farnham was diagnosed with mouth cancer in August 2024, undergoing what doctors called life-saving 12-hour surgery to remove the cancer. He also required reconstruction surgery to his face and jaw.<\/p>\n

As he embarked on his recovery, The Voice singer struggled with speaking and eating and was left unable to sing like he once could.<\/p>\n

Farnham confirmed in May<\/a> that he would never sing again, telling the Herald Sun<\/a>: \u201cWe can rule that out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the surgeries to my mouth and face over the past few years, singing on stage is not something I can consider again. It\u2019s just not possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

He made the sad admission while announcing an incredible concert he has curated in honour of his music to raise vital funds for Head and Neck Cancer Australia.<\/p>\n

\"TheCamera IconThe Songs of John Farnham: A Living Legend \u2014 The Celebration Concert will see a star-studded line-up perform at the tribute concert for one night only in Melbourne at Rod Laver Arena on September 20. Credit: AAP<\/p>\n

The Songs of John Farnham: A Living Legend \u2014 The Celebration Concert will see a star-studded line-up perform at the tribute concert for one night only in Melbourne at Rod Laver Arena on September 20.<\/p>\n

Artists set to perform include Celine Dion, Hugh Jackman, Keith Urban, Richard Marx, Tina Arena, Jimmy Barnes, Mahalia Barnes, Kate Ceberano, Diesel, Hans, Human Nature, Jack Jones, Jessica Mauboy, Ruby Rodgers, Jon Stevens, Mitch Tambo, Mark Vincent and Ross Wilson.<\/p>\n

The concert is expected to make a significant contribution to supporting Australians affected by these types of cancers, the charity told AAP.<\/p>\n

It sold out within hours of going on sale last month with premium tickets priced at $1650 and cheapest seats priced at $179.<\/p>\n

Also set to honour the Aussie icon\u2019s lifework is a musical playing in Sydney in November and December called Whispering Jack: The John Farnham Musical.<\/p>\n

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the highest-selling Australian album of all time, Whispering Jack, Sydney Theatre Company and artistic director Mitchell Butel have joined forces with Michael Cassel Group, TalentWorks and acclaimed writer Jack Yabsley to bring Farnham\u2019s life, mischief and musical genius to the stage.<\/p>\n

Michael Paynter from Jesus Christ Superstar has been cast as Farnham.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Farnham celebrated a special 77th birthday on Wednesday, surrounded by his loving family and one very smiley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":771652,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,134,136],"class_list":["post-771651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771651","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=771651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}