For many years, John Farnham hesitated to tell his story, preferring to let his music do the talking.
But following much reflection and a tumultuous chapter in his personal life, he has finally penned his much-anticipated memoir.
John, 75, has authored The Voice Inside alongside filmmaker Poppy Stockell, who wrote and directed the acclaimed 2023 documentary, John Farnham: Finding The Voice.
Together, they recount the story of how a young boy from Melbourne found pop stardom in the 1960s before going on to release the highest-selling Australian album of all time, Whispering Jack.
In between, there are tales of John’s stalled career, near financial ruin, and in more recent years, his health struggles with throat cancer.
“John felt it was the right time [to share his story],” Poppy explains to New Idea.
“I think cancer makes you look really deep inside yourself.
“The deaths of [John’s manager] Glenn Wheatley and [close friend] Olivia Newton-John also shifted his perspective on life.
“Maybe it’s a combination of all these things along with [wanting] to reflect on the huge life he’s had.”
Surprisingly, Poppy’s first time meeting John only came about after she’d made her documentary about him. While John was happy for it to go ahead, he didn’t want to be interviewed for it.
But the film’s release impressed John so much that Poppy says he later told her: “I think you get me” – and asked her to co-write his memoir.
“The film was incredible because it was intimate, but John wasn’t in there,” Poppy says. “So the book really plugs that gap in all those stories. It’s his perspective.”
And just like the film, Poppy says The Voice Inside doesn’t shy away” from an unflinching recount of the highs and lows of John’s life – including his 2022 cancer diagnosis.
“John had really dark thoughts,” Poppy reveals.
The book also features two chapters written with John’s wife of more than 50 years, Jill.
She offers details about the harrowing “12-hour surgery where the doctors thought they’d lost [John] a few times”, says Poppy.
For music fans, the memoir also offers plenty of insight into the stories behind John’s greatest hits, including his anthem ‘You’re the Voice’.
“That song got him out of financial absolute destitution,” Poppy dishes. “And he’s so moved by how much the song moves people as a collective … it’s incredibly powerful.”
Writing The Voice Inside took place over a six-month period. Poppy would sit with John for five to six hours a few times a week”.
“He’s an incredible storyteller of course, [because] that’s what singers do,” she recalls.
“They sing stories. And he had me in tears. We cried together and we laughed. He’s hilarious as well.
“It was an amazing emotional journey.”
Just like in his decades-spanning music career, Poppy was astounded at John’s relentless work ethic.
“He doesn’t muck around! And it was painful for him [to speak], because it wasn’t long after his surgery, so his mouth was constricted because the scar tissue does make things a lot tighter,” she says.
Despite his health issues, John insisted on voicing the audiobook version.
“He was a little bit worried at first about how he sounds,” Poppy explains.
“[But we told him to] just lean into the truth. This is what it sounds like after you’ve had a huge cancerous tumour removed from your mouth. And he sounds like John. These are the battle scars of surviving cancer.”
“[The audiobook] is like getting to sit around a campfire with [John].
“You wouldn’t want to hear the story being told by anyone else but him.”
THE VOICE INSIDE BY JOHN FARNHAM and POPPY STOCKELL is out now in hardback, audiobook, and eBook.
