John Farnham reveals his former manager secretly drugged him for years as he struggled to come to terms with his newfound fame as a young man.
The Australian singer, 75, made the shocking claim about Darryl Sambell in his new memoir, The Voice Inside.
Farnham claims that Sambell slipped substances into his coffee during an early period of his career, when he was in control of almost every aspect of his life and career.
“He drugged me for years and I had no idea,” Farnham wrote.
The singer was first alarmed when he found a half-dissolved pill at the bottom of his coffee cup.
When confronted, Sambell reportedly downplayed the situation, telling him, “That’s just something to help you stay awake.”
Sambell “controlled where and when I worked, what I sang, what I wore, what I ate,” says Farnham.
‘He isolated me from friends and family, he tried to keep me away from me [my wife] Jill, he drugged me, and he made me believe that all my success, everything I had, was because of him.”
John Farnham has revealed his former manager secretly drugged him for years. Pictured in 1987
He said the manager’s influence was so great that he did not recognize the manipulation at the time.
Looking back on the deception and its consequences, Farnham admits he feels a deep sense of regret and self-blame.
“I’m so ashamed of myself for not realizing what Darryl was up to and for not opening my mouth more often to put him back in his place.”
He continued, “I didn’t question it, I just carried on as if nothing was false. I still don’t know why I stopped responding.
“I put it down to being young, under stress, tired and feeling insecure and insecure about my own instincts.”
“He drugged me for years and I had no idea,” Farnham writes in his memoir, according to a new excerpt published by The Australian. The discovery came one day when the singer noticed a half-dissolved pill at the bottom of his coffee cup
Farnham also describes how Sambell, who was openly gay at a time when homosexuality was illegal in Australia, made unwanted advances towards him.
“At that time, in the early years, he was aggressively sexually towards me,” Farnham wrote.
“He tried,” and I said, “Darryl, no. Just leave me alone,” or, “That’s not going to happen.”
“I’ve said it enough times that I can now see that this rejection has turned his attraction into jealousy, hatred, and a desire for control.”
Farnham eventually severed ties with Sambell in 1976, ending a decade-long professional relationship.
Despite this, the emotional scars lingered, and it took years for Farnham to come to terms with what had happened.
Farnham says he feels ‘sadness’ about the early part of his career
“Many years have passed since then and until now I have found it very difficult to unravel what happened to me,” he says.
‘But now that I have been confronted with it, I look back on that time with sadness. I’m annoyed with myself for being so gullible and so trusting.’
Sambell died in 2001.