John Farnham is ‘kicking goals’ as he prepares to become a grandfather for the first time.
The Australian music legend, 75, is ‘doing great’ after having a cancerous growth removed from his mouth in 2022.
John has faced a long recovery in his highly-publicised cancer battle — but his son James, 36, beamed as he joined Sunrise on Tuesday to give viewers a happy update on his dad’s health.
‘He’s doing great,’ James said. ‘He’s walking around, kicking goals, and annoying mum as normal.’
‘As long as he’s annoying someone, you know he’s on the mend,’ Sunrise host Natalie Barr said.
It is the second piece of happy news for the Farnham family in recent weeks, after James announced his partner Tessa Effendi is pregnant with a baby boy due later this year.
John Farnham’s son James said his dad is ‘kicking goals’ as he prepares to become a grandfather for the first time
‘He’s doing great,’ James said on Sunrise on Thursday morning. ‘He’s walking around, kicking goals, and annoying mum as normal.’
It is the second piece of happy news for the Farnham family in recent weeks, after James announced his partner Tessa Effendi is pregnant with a baby boy due later this year
On Tuesday, he shared that his mum and dad will go by the names ‘Nan and Pop’.
‘We’re all pretty excited to have a little Farnham on the way,’ James told Natalie and Matt.
‘He’ll be a fantastic granddad. Mum and dad are both super pumped.’
John has spent long months in recovery over the last two years amid a harrowing cancer battle.
He discovered he had the cancerous growth in his mouth after his wife Jill insisted on taking him to the doctor for a check up when he developed a persistent mouth ulcer.
The procedure, which saw the tumour and part of his jaw removed, lasted nearly 12 hours. John then underwent eight grueling weeks of radiation and 12 months later, was declared cancer free.
The superstar is now looking forward to getting out in the country with his soon-to-be grandson.
‘They’ll be a great Nan and Pop,’ James said on Tuesday. ‘I can’t wait to take [my son] up the farm and get dad to teach him everything that he taught me.’
This will be the first grandchild for the legendary You’re the Voice singer, whose elder son Robert married his long-term girlfriend Melissa Kelly in 2024
This will be the first grandchild for the legendary You’re the Voice singer, whose elder son Robert married his long-term girlfriend Melissa Kelly in 2024.
In August, James and Robert Farnham shared intimate family moments in an effort to raise money for cancer research.
The brothers are ambassadors for the Cancer Council and James said initiatives like Daffodil Day and Research Giving Day played a crucial role in his father’s survival.
In a caption penned alongside a clip of his interview, James said he was ‘out of [his] comfort zone talking on TV this morning.
‘But even tho [sic] I was a big ball of nerves and sweat, it felt so good to be able to do my small part to help spread the message.’
He asked people to donate to Research Giving Day, if they are able to.
In his memoir The Voice Inside, John detailed some of the harrowing details of his cancer journey.
‘My facial disfigurement from the surgery means I can’t open my mouth wide enough for a strip of spaghetti, let alone to sing,’ he wrote.
‘I can’t get the movement to make the sounds I want to make, that’s where the vibrations and my voice come from. It’s a very disconcerting thing. And trying hurts.’
In his memoir, The Voice Inside, John detailed some of the harrowing details of his cancer journey and said he has high hopes that he’ll one day sing again. Pictured in 1985
He said while he is still not yet able to belt out his trademark voice, he still has high hopes that he will one day be able to sing again.
‘I was given a gift and to be able to get out there and affect people in some way was special, I would like to continue doing that. Though I am not putting all my hopes into it, we’ll see,’ he shared.
John also said he believes the tumour came about as a result of his long-term smoking habit, which he eventually managed to kick.
‘Cancer doesn’t discriminate, but as soon as I was told the results, I couldn’t help thinking it was my own fault, I smoked very heavily all my life,’ he said.
He said he started smoking at the age of 14 and would do so in secret after his disapproving parents once caught him.
His memoir was co-written with Poppy Stockell and sees John tell his story in his own words and with his signature humour.
The book documents John’s early life and stardom growing up in Melbourne in the 1960s, to his comeback 1986 album Whispering Jack.
