John Farnham, billed under stage name Johnny Farnham from 1964 until 1979, is a British-born Australian pop singer who has released 21 studio albums, 6 live albums, 3 soundtracks, 19 compilation albums, 13 video albums, 3 extended plays and 74 singles.
Manager Kenn Brodziak changed his stage name to John Farnham in 1980, and he released his first album under this banner Uncovered, featuring his version of The Beatles hit single "Help!". His career has mostly been as a solo artist but he replaced Glenn Shorrock as lead singer of Little River Band during 1982–1985. Aside from solo releases, Farnham has recorded albums and duets with other artists or bands, including Tom Jones and Olivia Newton-John.
Background Farnham was vocalist for The Mavericks from 1964, by late 1965 he had joined Strings Unlimited, In 1966, they recorded a three-track demo tape with Farnham on vocals, Stewart Male on lead guitar, Barry Roy on rhythm guitar, Mike Foenander on keyboards and Peter Foggie on drums. Talent manager, Darryl Sambell, saw Strings Unlimited perform on 29 April 1967 and encouraged Farnham to go solo. Farnham recorded an advertising jingle, "Susan Jones", for airline, Ansett-ANA, and signed a contract with EMI. Farnham's debut single was a novelty song, "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)", released in November 1967. His debut extended play, Johnny Farnham, followed in December, and his single peaked at No. 1 on the Australian National Singles Charts for five weeks in early 1968. NOTE: Go-Set published its National Singles Charts from October 1966 until August 1974, they were compiled by Ed Nimmervoll. Selling 180,000 copies in Australia, "Sadie" was the highest selling single by an Australian artist of the decade. Farnham's debut studio album, Sadie was issued in April 1968. Other No. 1 singles are "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" in 1969–1970, "You're the Voice" in 1986 and "Age of Reason" in 1988; and his No. 1 albums are Whispering Jack in 1986–1987, Age of Reason in 1988, Chain Reaction in 1990, Then Again in 1993, Anthology 1: Greatest Hits 1986-1997 in 1997, Highlights from The Main Event with Olivia Newton-John and with Anthony Warlow in 1998, 33⅓ in 2000, The Last Time in 2002 and in 2015 and Friends for Christmas.
Albums Studio albums + List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and certificationsTitleDetailsPeak chart positionsCertifications(sales thresholds)AUS NOTE: Kent Music Report (KMR) was used contemporaneously for Australian Singles and Albums charting from mid-1974 until Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974. For pre-1970 data: NOTE: Chart positions back calculated by Kent in 2005.Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks: Top 50 peaks: NOTE: Australian albums and singles information, used for chart peak positions of later John Farnham releases after Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) regulated the charts itself (from week ending 26 June 1988) and is based on information supplied by ARIA. Top 100 peaks between January 1990 and December 2010: "Talk of the Town": N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached. All ARIA-era singles chart peaks to 18 September 2018: N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the single's peak on the national chart.NORNZLSWESWI NOTE: Some information in Swiss German.UKReleased as Johnny Farnham (1964–1979)SadieReleased: April 1968 Label: EMI/Columbia (OSX-7854) Producer: David Mackay Formats: LP — — — — — — Everybody Oughta Sing a SongReleased: November 1968 Label: EMI/Columbia (SOEX-7891) Producer: David MacKay Formats: LP12 — — — — — Looking Through a TearReleased: July 1970 Label: EMI/Columbia (SCXO-7920) Producer: Howard Gable Formats: LP 11 — — — — — Christmas Is... Johnny FarnhamReleased: December 1970 Label: EMI/Columbia (SOEX-9700) Producer: Howard Gable Formats: LP — — — — — — JohnnyReleased: August 1971 Label: His Master's Voice/Columbia (OSCD-7680) Producer: Howard Gable Formats: LP 24 — — — — — Together(with Allison Durbin)Released: August 1971 Label: His Master's Voice/Columbia (OCSD-7682) Producer: Howard Gable Formats: LP 22 — — — — — Johnny Farnham Sings the ShowsReleased: June 1972 Label: Axis (Axis 6000) Producer: Howard Gable Formats: LP — — — — — — Hits Magic & Rock 'N RollReleased: June 1973 Label: EMI (EMC-2502) Producer: Peter Dawkins Formats: LP — — — — — — Johnny Farnham Sings Hits from the MoviesReleased: September 1974 Label: EMI (SOELP-10018) Producer: Peter Dawkins Formats: LP — — — — — — J.P. Farnham SingsReleased: November 1975 Label: EMI (EMA-310) Producer: Peter Dawkins Formats: LP — — — — — —Released as John Farnham (1980–present) UncoveredReleased: 3 July 1980 Label: Wheatley Brothers, RCA/Sony BMG (WBEX-1002) Producer: Graham Goble Formats: LP, MC 20 — — — — – AUS: GoldWhispering JackReleased: 29 September 1986 Label: Wheatley, Starcall, RCA/Sony BMG (SFL1-0149) Producer: Ross Fraser Formats: LP, MC, CD 1 12 2 1 3 35 AUS: 24× Platinum NZ: Platinum Age of ReasonReleased: 25 July 1988 Label: RCA/Sony BMG (SFL1-0168) Producer: Ross Fraser Formats: LP, MC, CD 1 9 6 4 — — AUS: 8× Platinum NZ: Platinum Chain ReactionReleased: 24 September 1990 Label: RCA/Sony BMG (VPL1-0830) Producer: Ross Fraser Formats: LP, MC, CD 1 — 8 35 — — AUS: 8× Platinum NZ: Gold Then Again...Released: 18 October 1993 Label: RCA/Sony BMG (74321166652) Producer: Ross Fraser Formats: MC, CD 1 — 34 — — — AUS: 4× Platinum Romeo's HeartReleased: 3 June 1996 Label: RCA/Sony BMG (74321373002) Producer: Ross Fraser Formats: MC, CD 2 — — — — — AUS: 4× Platinum 33⅓Released: 7 July 2000 Label: RCA/Sony BMG (74321773912) Producer: Ross Fraser, John Farnham Formats: CD, digital 1 — — — — — AUS: 3× Platinum The Last TimeReleased: 7 October 2002 Label: RCA, Sony BMG, Gotham (74321969012) Producer: Ross Fraser, John Farnham Formats: CD, digital 1 — — — — — AUS: 3× Platinum I Remember When I Was YoungReleased: 6 November 2005 Label: RCA, Sony BMG, Gotham (82876747652) Producer: Ross Fraser, John Farnham Formats: CD 2 — — — — — AUS: 2× Platinum JackReleased: 15 October 2010 Label: Sony BMG (88697751692) Producer: Ross Fraser, John Farnham Formats: CD, digital 2 — — — — — AUS: Gold Friends for Christmas (with Olivia Newton-John)Released: 11 November 2016 Label: Sony Music Australia (88985387172) Producer: Chong Lim Formats: CD, digital 1 — — — — — AUS: 2× Platinum "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.
Live albums + List of live albums, with selected chart positions and certificationsYearDetailsPeak chart positionsCertifications(sales thresholds)AUSNORNZLReleased as Johnny Farnham (1964–1979) Johnny Farnham Sings the Big Hits of '73 Live!Released: October 1973 Label: EMI (EMC-2506) Producer: Peter Dawkins Formats: LP 45 — —Released as John Farnham (1980–present) Full HouseReleased: 4 November 1991 Label: Sony BMG, RCA, Wheatley (VPCD-0843) Producer: Ross Fraser, John Farnham Formats: MC, CD 2 11 16 AUS: 5× Platinum Highlights from The Main Event(with Olivia Newton-John and Anthony Warlow)Released: 14 December 1998 Label: Sony BMG (74321638832) Producer: Ross Fraser Formats: CD 1 — — AUS: 5× Platinum Live at the Regent Theatre – 1st July 1999Released: 30 August 1999 Label: Sony BMG, RCA, Gotham (74321699032) Producer: Ross Fraser Formats: CD 7 — — AUS: Platinum John Farnham & Tom Jones – Together in Concert(with Tom Jones)Released: 20 March 2005 Label: Sony BMG (82876682212) Producer: Ross Fraser Formats: CD 3 — —AUS: Platinum The Acoustic Chapel SessionsReleased: 30 September 2011 Label: Sony BMG (88697969872) Producer: Ross Fraser Formats: CD+DVD, digital download 10 — — Highlights from Two Strong Hearts: Live(with Olivia Newton-John)Released: 26 June 2015 Label: Sony BMG (88875103742) Formats: CD, digital download 1 — — AUS: Gold NZ: Gold "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.
Soundtrack albums + List of soundtrack albums, as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certificationsTitleDetailsPeak chart positionsCertifications(sales thresholds)AUSReleased as Johnny Farnham (1964–1979) Charlie Girl (with Anna Neagle and Derek Nimmo) Released: May 1972 Label: His Master's Voice Format: LP 29 Pippin (with Colleen Hewett)Released: July 1974 Label: EMI Format: LP 60Released as John Farnham (1980–present) Jesus Christ Superstar (with Kate Ceberano and Jon Stevens)Released: 6 July 1992 Label: Mushroom Format: CD, cassette 1AUS: 4× Platinum Finding the Voice: Music from the Feature Documentary (with various artists)Released: 19 May 2023 Label: Wheatley, Sony Format: CD, digital 2
Compilation albums + List of compilation albums, with selected chart positions and certificationsTitleDetailsPeak chart positionsCertifications(sales thresholds)AUSGERNZLReleased as Johnny Farnham (1967–1979) The Best of Johnny FarnhamReleased: 1971 Label: WRC (S/4875) Formats: LP — — — Johnny Farnham's Greatest HitsReleased: 1976 Label: WRC/EMI (04643) Formats: LP — — —Released as John Farnham (1980–present) The Best of John FarnhamReleased: 1980 Label: Axis (AX-430007) Formats: LP — — — John Farnham Phenomenon (18 Farnham Classics)Released: May 1987 Label: J&B (JB300) Formats: LP, cassette 44 — — Another Side of John FarnhamReleased: 1987 Label: Axis (AX-701355) Formats: LP, CD, cassette — — — Time Brings ChangeReleased: 1988 Label: Axis (AX-701443) Formats: LP, CD, cassette — — — Where Do I Begin?Released: 1995 Label: EMI (8145732) Formats: CD — — — The Classic Gold Collection – Through the Years (1967–1985)Released: 6 November 1995 Label: EMI (8145802) Formats: CD — — — Johnny FarnhamReleased: 1995 Label: EMI (8146482) Formats: CD — — — Anthology 1: Greatest Hits 1986–1997aka Greatest HitsReleased: 29 September 1997 Label: Sony BMG (74321518692) Formats: CD, cassette, digital 1 40 13 AUS: 5× Platinum NZ: Gold Anthology 2: Classic Hits 1967–1985 (Recorded Live)Released: 29 September 1997 Label: Sony BMG (74321518702) Formats: CD, cassette 12 — — AUS: Platinum Anthology 3: RaritiesReleased: 10 November 1997 Label: Sony BMG (74321518712) Formats: CD 20 — — AUS: Gold Love SongsReleased: July 2002 (Europe only) Label: Sony BMG (74321916842) Formats: CD — One Voice: The Greatest HitsReleased: 20 October 2003 Label: Sony BMG (82876556482) Formats: 2×CD, digital 2 — 29 AUS: 4× PlatinumCollectionsReleased: 12 October 2008 Label: Sony BMG (88697375442) Formats: CD — — — Essential: John FarnhamReleased: 31 January 2009 Label: EMI (2426622) Formats: CD, digital — — — The Essential John Farnhamaka The Essential 3.0Released: 21 August 2009 Label: Sony BMG (88697553842) Formats: 3×CD, digital 6 — — ARIA: Gold "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.
Video albums Title DetailsPeak chart positionsCertifications(sales thresholds) NotesAUSWhispering Jack – Live in ConcertReleased: 1987 Label: BMG Producer: David Mackay Formats: TV, VHS (PAL) AUS: Gold Recorded live at the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre, Melbourne in March 1987 and was broadcast on national TV. An edited VHS version (100 min) was released later in 1987. An even further edited DVD version (68 min) was included on the 20th Anniversary re-release of Whispering Jack on 25 November 2006. Classic Jack Live!Released: July 1989 Label: BMG Producer: David Mackay Formats: TV, VHS (PAL) 6 AUS: 2× Platinum Recorded during the Age of Reason National Tour live from National Tennis Centre, Melbourne and televised in May 1989 on Seven Network, an edited VHS version (90 min) was released in July. Recorded with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Re-released on DVD (PAL) on 13 November 2005. Chain Reaction Live In ConcertReleased: 1990 Label: BMG Producer: David Mackay