John Farnham’s All-Star Concert Celebration Gets Cinematic Release

A one-off concert celebrating the remarkable career of John Farnham will get the big screen treatment.

As previously reported, Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena will host The Songs Of John Farnham: A Living Legend The Celebration on Sunday, Sept. 20, featuring 120 artists and musicians, and raising funds for Head and Neck Cancer Australia.

The show was a rapid sell-out, organizers say. Now, show producers Cochrane Entertainment and TEG Dainty have struck a deal to broadcast the concert live into HOYTS’ national network of cinemas.

“This is an extraordinary event for Australian music, and the opportunity to take it beyond Rod Laver Arena and into cinemas across the country is unprecedented and incredibly exciting,” comments Paul Dainty, the legendary concert promoter who leads TEG Dainty.

Performers on the night will include Keith Urban, Tina Arena, Jimmy Barnes, Kate Ceberano, Ross Wilson, Human Nature, Richard Marx, Jessica Mauboy and Jon Stevens, with Farnham’s longtime musical director Chong Lim handling musical direction and arrangements. Celine Dion and Hugh Jackman will join in via a satellite feed.

Farnham personally invited each artist appearing at the show, and he has a record-breaking connection with the 15,000-capacity Rod Laver Arena. The veteran singer has performed at the Olympic Park venue on 94 occasions, doing so to more than 1 million total fans.

“The extraordinary response to this concert has shown just how deeply John Farnham’s music continues to resonate with Australians,” adds Cochrane Entertainment founder Tony Cochrane. “We wanted this celebration to be something truly special, and now, through HOYTS, we have the opportunity to share that experience with John’s fans right across Australia.”

With 1986’s Whispering Jack, Farnham engineered one of the all-time great comebacks, Released through Sony Music, the album spent 25 weeks at No. 1, en route to shifting more than one million copies, becoming the first domestic LP to do so. It remains the highest-selling album ever in Australia by a local talent.

Whispering Jack houses Farnham’s signature song, “You’re The Voice,” a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom, and, four decades on, the beloved unofficial anthem of Australia.

The legendary, ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted artist faced his toughest challenge yet in August 2022, when he underwent major surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his mouth. Since then, he has made only a handful of rare public appearances, and in 2024 October was heard for the first time in more than two years by way of an audiobook excerpt for his memoir.

Whispering Jack this year enjoys its 40th anniversary with an expanded edition pairing the original LP with the live recording, Whispering Jack Live In Concert, along with new, numbered vinyl and range of merchandise to mark the special occasion.