John Farnham is recovering in hospital after cancerous tumour removed from mouth

Legendary music icon John Farnham is in a stable condition and recovering after a marathon 12-hour operation to remove a cancerous growth from his mouth.

Veteran entertainment reporter Peter Ford confirmed the 73-year-old had emerged from surgery on Tuesday evening, after ‘cracking jokes’ with hospital staff prior to the delicate procedure.

Ford said the lengthy surgery pointed to the ‘severity of the situation’ but said Farnham had been in high spirits. 

‘John now out of surgery and in ICU. He is in a stable condition. Surgery, as I reported this morning, went almost 12 hours,’ he posted to Twitter.

His family also confirmed the surgery had been successful and he was now being treated in intensive care.     

‘John’s surgery began at 8.00am this morning and was successfully completed at 7.30pm tonight. He has now been transferred to ICU and is in a stable condition,’ his family said in a statement on Tuesday night.

In a separate statement provided by the family, Farnham said a cancer diagnosis was something many people face each day ‘and countless others have walked this path before me’.

‘The one thing I know for sure is that we have the very best specialist health care professionals in Victoria and we can all be grateful for that. I know I am,’ he said.

The family has requested privacy at this time.

It comes three years after Farnham was hospitalised with a severe kidney infection.

The music powerhouse previously said the health scare served as a wake-up call and prompted him to give up smoking.

The musician’s family issued a statement revealing his cancer battle on Tuesday morning sending shockwaves through the entertainment industry. 

‘We have recently discovered that John has a cancerous growth. He has been admitted to hospital this morning for surgery and ongoing treatment,’ it read. 

Farnham also provided a statement, in which he said cancer diagnosis was something that ‘so many people face every single day’. 

‘The one thing I know for sure is that we have the very best healthcare professionals in Victoria, and we can be grateful for that. I know I am,’ he said.

Ford earlier on Tuesday said Farnham’s family was ‘quietly confident things are going to be fine’ and that surgeons were optimistic all traces of the cancerous growth could be removed. 

‘They don’t want people panicking. His wife is there, his two sons are there with him. The doctors are confident that they’re able to get it,’ he said on Sunrise.

‘What is it, we do now know, the family did not want to specify what type of cancer is is or where on the body it is. Fingers crossed it’ll be a good outcome.’ 

Farnham, best known for his iconic Aussie anthem You’re the Voice, said cancer was something that ‘so many people face every single day’.

A source said the musician was being supported by his wife Jill and two adult sons Robert and James. 

The revelation comes just weeks after the Australian music industry was rocked by the death of Farnham’s long-time friend and collaborator, Olivia Newton-John, following her long battle with breast cancer.

The Farnham family expressed their ‘love and sympathies’ to Newton-John’s family in a statement following her death on August 8.

‘Behind that iconic smile was a tenacious fighter. A beautiful voice and a loyal friend. She will be greatly missed,’ the statement read.

He was the last person to perform on stage with Newton-John, at the Fire Fight Australia bushfire relief concert held in February 2020.  He performed three songs and a duet with the Grease star.   

Farnham also lost his long-time friend and manager Glenn Wheatley, 74, in February, who died of complications from Covid-19. 

Farnham’s wife Jillian told Daily Mail Australia at the time that her husband was ‘too unwell’ to publicly discuss the loss of the legendary music producer. 

Wheatley masterminded the rise of Farnham in the early 1980s at a time when the musician was struggling to feed his family. 

Farnham sang his way into Australian hearts as a fresh-faced teenager in the 1960s but had faded into near-obscurity before his most famous album Whispering Jack shot him back to the top some 20 years later.

The 1986 album featured one of the nation’s most popular pop music anthems, You’re the Voice, and propelled Farnham to iconic status.

Farnham followed up Whispering Jack with his chart-topping albums Age of Reason (1988) and Chain Reaction (1990). 

His cancer diagnosis is not the first time Farnham has faced a major health battle.

In 2019, he was forced to cancel his Australian tour at the last minute when he was admitted to hospital with a severe kidney infection.

‘I didn’t realise until too late. I’d been feeling uncomfortable. My wife Jill had been telling me to go to the doctor,’ he explained at the time. 

‘I was very unwell there for a while,’ he said, adding that he was ‘good now’ and ‘it gave me a wake-up call to look after myself a bit more’. 

The kidney infection developed after he underwent a surgical procedure three months earlier which had also led to shows being cancelled.

Farnham said he completely overhauled his lifestyle after the health scare, including  by quitting smoking and cutting back on alcohol.

After battling the kidney infection, he held a charity concert to support Australia’s farming community during the devastating drought, which raised more than $4.4million.

‘We’re talking about generations of farmers losing their properties or animals because of drought and in some cases losing their lives or hurting themselves,’ he said at the time.

Farnham has been recognised with several major honours and awards, including 1987 Australian of the Year, 1996 Officer of the Order of Australia, and 19 ARIA Awards, including his 2003 induction into the Hall of Fame. 

Farnham was born in 1949 in Dagenham, England, and at age 10 emigrated to Australia with his family, who settled in Melbourne.