Aussie icon John Farnham is best known for his hit song, You’re the Voice. However, recently the music icon returned to the spotlight after publicly sharing photos of himself for the first time after undergoing surgery for oral cancer.
The sweet photos were taken at his son Rob Farnham’s wedding. John, 75, looked to be happy and well despite the wedding coming just months after he announced he was cancer-free.
Shared on Instagram, it didn’t take long for the comments section to blow up, with well wishes both for John, whose public appearances have been rare these days, and the newlyweds.
HOW MANY SONS DOES JOHN FARNHAM HAVE?
While some incorrect information is circulating that John Farnham has a daughter, the truth is that he and wife Jillian share two sons, Robert, 44, and James, 36. Rob recently married his beautiful bride and “favourite person in the universe” Melissa Kelly.
“I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for us and I’m truly honoured to have you by my side as my wife for life,” Rob posted to social media.
“It was such an amazing experience sharing it with our close family and friends witnessing our love.”
The entire family joined together in celebrating the happy occasion.
FARNHAM FAMILY HEALTH BATTLES
However, things haven’t been all rainbows and butterflies for the Farnham family. In 2023, John went under the knife to have a tumour removed from his mouth, following a shocking cancer diagnosis in August 2022.
The procedure, which saw part of John’s jaw removed, lasted nearly 12 hours.
Sadly, that was only the beginning. John then went through eight gruelling weeks of radiation.
Now that he’s been officially declared cancer-free, John says he’s the “luckiest man alive.”
However, his youngest son James Farnham, has recently had to battle his own health issues. At the beginning of 2024, James shared that he had major surgery the year prior.
In an Instagram post, he shared that he had diverticular disease.
“Last year, just as Dad was recovering from his cancer surgeries, I also had major surgery to deal with diverticular disease that had caused perforations in my bowel,” he began.
“The surgery saved my life but it has left me with a stoma – a surgically created opening in the abdomen that allows me to poo … into a temporary colostomy bag.
“With any luck, I will be receiving my reversal surgery in the next couple (of) months.”
The power of family in turbulent times can’t be denied, and it was so nice to see the Farnhams come together with smiles and in good health at Rob’s wedding.
However, the recent images have fans questioning…
IS JOHN FARNHAM STILL MARRIED TO JILLIAN BILLMAN?
And the answer is yes! Their love story goes way back. Jillian was a dancer in the musical Charlie Girl – the production that John was also starring in back in the early 1970s.
As he recalls, it was basically love at first sight for him.
“Jillie came out of the theatre, and I saw her. At that stage, she had very long dark hair, down to her very petite bum, and I was history.”
“It took me about three months to get a kiss. We started to go out together and it naturally happened. It was just something that happened,” John said.
The two began dating and eventually got married on 11 April 1973 in Melbourne.
THE APPLE DOESN’T FALL FAR FROM THE TREE
Both of John’s sons are in the music industry. Rob grew up playing the guitar in a band. His passion soon became his career as now he is a singer/songwriter for the rock band Rival Fire. They’ve toured with popular bands like Butterfly Effect and Dead Letter Circus as well as KISS and Birds of Tokyo.
Interestingly, Rob has also dabbled in acting. You might’ve seen him in the films Queen of the Damned and The Wilde Girls.
James, who’s in a relationship with Tessa Effendi, works as a concert audio technician. The youngest son has even helped out on a few of his dad’s tours.
It’s really sweet how close the two sons are with their father. Rob told The Australian Women’s Weekly, “We are really proud of him. He’s inspiring us every day, but then again, he always has,” when speaking about John.
WHERE DOES JOHN FARNHAM LIVE IN AUSTRALIA?
John has long called Melbourne home. However, many don’t realise that while John is considered a much-loved Aussie icon, he was actually born in Dagenham, Essex, England. The singer didn’t move to Australia until he was 10 years old.
He later became an official Australian citizen, and ironically, wound up being awarded the Australian of the Year award in 1987.
