Jimmy Barnes Reunites with Son David Campbell at Age 10

Legendary rocker Jimmy Barnes has opened up about the emotional moment he first met his son David Campbell after abandoning him when he was born.

The Australian singer, 68, revealed on Richard Wilkins and son Christian’s The Apple & The Tree podcast, he told David he was his father when he was 10 years old after spending time with him on several occasions.

‘I used to go see David when he was young but he didn’t know who I was. It must have been so weird for him,’ Jimmy admitted.

‘I’d been on tour with Cold Chisel and I’d be hungover and I’d have a leather jacket on and I’d turn up.’

Christian then asked David how old he was when he found out that the rocker was he real father.

Legendary rocker Jimmy Barnes has opened up about the emotional moment he first met his son David Campbell after abandoning him when he was born

‘I found out when I was 10. It was very overwhelming,’ David admitted.

‘I was having anxiety and I didn’t know who to talk to But this was the easier part of it because working out my sister was my mother [was hard].’

Jimmy said: ‘He got unwell and he’d get migraines and we didn’t know what to do to calm him down. But there is no real way of softening that.’

The singer admitted he felt relived when he told David he was his father and said it didn’t take long before they developed a relationship.

The Australian singer, 68, revealed on Richard Wilkins and son Christian’s The Apple & The Tree podcast, he told David he was his father when he was 10 years old after spending time with him on several occasions

Jimmy also praised his wife Jane, who he met in 1979, as she was determined to help them have a close relationship.

During a radio interview on GOLD 104.3 in April 2015, David spoke more about his unusual upbringing.

‘I was raised in Adelaide and the woman who raised me told me I was adopted. She [later] told me that she was actually my grandmother,’ he said at the time.

‘I found out when I was 10. It was very overwhelming… I was having anxiety and I didn’t know who to talk to. This was the easier part of it but working out my sister was my mother [was hard],’ David admitted

He added: ‘The woman I thought for 10 years was my sister was actually my mother.’

In a 2008 interview with ABC’s Talking Heads, David admitted he was more shocked to discover the truth about his mother than to learn who his father is.  

‘It was quite a shock. It was probably more a shock finding out that my mother was my sister,’ he said, adding that it ‘opened up a whole Pandora’s box of emotions’.