"Crazy" development stuns John Farnham
John Farnham has been left stunned by a "crazy" resurgence in his popularity following the premiere of the documentary about his life.
John Farnham: Finding the Voice aired on Monday night and follows the highs and lows of his remarkable career.
The documentary has smashed viewing records, with the television broadcast of the film quickly becoming the most watched entertainment program on Monday.
The film, which became the highest Australian grossing feature length documentary of all-time since opening at cinemas in mid-May, had 1.3 million viewers nationally for the Seven broadcast.
In the days following the premiere, Farnham’s popularity has had a massive resurgence, with his albums dominating more than half the ARIA charts.
Speaking to The Morning Show hosts Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies, entertainment editor Peter Ford said that “everybody has kind of rediscovered John Farnham” after seeing the award-winning doco.
“Yesterday, at one point John had 12 of the top 20 in the albums charts and then he had another five in the 20 to 40,” Ford said.
“This includes Greatest Hits Collections, Age of Reason, Full House, of course, Whispering Jack, even his Christmas album with Olivia Newton-John got into the charts in July."
“So, you know, it’s just fantastic that people have gone and discovered that music again."
“John’s still going through a challenging time, even though we’ve got the great news that he is cancer free. Obviously it’s still a tough road."
“And so to have this success in the box office at the movies, the biggest documentary ever to go in cinemas, the TV success and now the chart success ... good, good days.”
The resurgence of Farnham's popularity comes just days after his son Robert gave a heart-warming update on his father's health following his major surgery.
The 74-year-old underwent a 12-hour operation after being diagnosed with throat cancer, with surgeons removing a tumour in his mouth and reconstructing his jaw.
Now, Robert says his dad is now “cancer free” and is “really really happy”.
“He’s doing fantastic,” he said on Sunrise. “Just the other day he was, you know, walking around with his cane and did a little bit of a dance, which was pretty fabulous."
“He’s walking with his dog a lot — so he’s really, really happy.”
“Like we’ve said before, cancer is a terrible, terrible thing. And it’s his time to walk that road, but he’s cancer free."
“He sings at home again, the whole thing.”
Image credits: Getty Images