Farnham announces comeback tour

17:19 AEST Wed May 27 2009

By Katherine Field

 

 

Tired of being retired and sick of doing crosswords, Australian music legend John Farnham is making a musical comeback, yet again.

 

"I'm tired of being retired," Farnham, 59, said as he announced a national tour for later in the year.

 

"I want to go out and play again."

 

Farnham has been in semi-retirement since performing live at the Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony in Melbourne in 2006.

 

But speculation surrounding the singer's retirement has circulated since 2002 when he announced his Last Time tour.

 

A disgruntled fan who purchased tickets for the tour lodged a complaint with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) after Farnham announced he would tour again, with singer Tom Jones in 2005.

 

The consumer watchdog decided not to take action.

 

Farnham joked that the crossword books had been "piling up" and he was "thrilled" to get back on the road.

 

"I've been able to put the band back together. None of them died in the interim, which is good," he laughed.

 

"My hair's got a little thinner over the time.

 

"I haven't. That's okay."

 

Farnham said his decision was galvanised after performing his classic song You're The Voice with Coldplay's Chris Martin at the Sydney Sound Relief bushfire concert earlier this year.

 

"When I walked off stage I was two-foot taller," he said.

 

"To have the reaction that came from that was unbelievable.

 

"I didn't expect it."

 

Responding to comments that it would be looked at as just another comeback, Farnham said he knew there would be cynics.

 

"If that's the way it's looked at that's the way it's looked at," he told reporters at Sydney's Lyric Theatre on Wednesday.

 

His tour called John Farnham Live By Demand will kick off in Sydney on September 3 before going to the Hunter Valley, Hobart, Brisbane, Perth, The Barossa Valley and Melbourne.

 

The shows will be much more intimate than in the past, he said.

 

"As I said before I'll never tour on the scale that we did in the past at those huge venues," Farnham said.

 

"It was fun at the time and I thoroughly enjoyed it but that was then and this is now."

 

Asked whether he was up to the task of touring, Farnham, who turns 60 in July, said: "Absolutely, rock n' roll.

 

"I'm not dead yet."

 

Farnham is also planning to release an album of new work but wants a more grown up sound.

 

"The difficulty is finding grown up songs. I don't want to sing 'ooh baby, I love you baby'," he said.

 

"I'm not going to hurry this."

 

Martin has reportedly offered to pen some new songs for his new album.

 

The tour is also considered a coup for Farnham's manager Glenn Wheatley, who was sentenced to 15 months in jail for tax evasion in 2007 as a result of Operation Wickenby investigations.

 

Source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=818494

...He's back. again

Saw that on the news, sort of expected it. But they made a mistake. It was all of Coldplay at Sound Relief, not just Chris. Jeez the media needs to learn that there are other people in the band.

Anyway, thanks for posting.

I'm just loving seeing the SR performance all over the news again.

I know! Yeah the whole band has pull..........

He's "the voice"!!:rolleyes:

I heard this on the new last night and I'm like: Not again.

lol, is this the 15th comeback tour?

Uhh...:uhoh:

 

 

lol, is this the 15th comeback tour?

No, the 1000000000th. :( :confused:

Aww, Johnny. I can't believe I miss SR though... I was in Sydney for the Coldplay concert and everything.

Uhh...:uhoh:

 

 

 

No, the 1000000000th. :( :confused:

 

Wow, dee, you know about John Farnham??:shocked2::shocked2::shocked2: