A young John Farnham with then-manager Darryl Sambell (left).
A young John Farnham with then-manager Darryl Sambell (left).
Warning: This story contains allegations of sexual harassment and drug harm.
Australian music legend John Farnham makes a series of disturbing claims about his late former manager in his new book.
Australian music legend John Farnham makes disturbing claims about his late former music manager in his new book, revealing that he was secretly drugged “for years” in the early part of his career.
In new excerpts from his memoir The Voice Inside published by The Australian overnight, Farnham opens up about the mistreatment he suffered from manager Darryl Sambell during the early years of his career, when he was a teen pop idol in the 1960s with hits like Sadie the Cleaning Lady.
Farnham writes that Sambell “drugged me for years and I had no f***ing idea,” until one day he discovered a half-dissolved pill in the bottom of his cup of coffee.
Asked what it was, Sambell told his client: “That’s just something to keep you awake.”
Farnham also writes that his manager, who was openly gay, was “aggressively sexual” towards him and he would constantly find himself having to fend off his advances.
“I said it often enough that I can see now that this rejection turned his attraction into jealousy, hatred and a desire for control.”
In his new book, Farnham says he feels “sorrow” about the early part of his career. Photo / Getty Images
That domination went on for years, with Sambell controlling “where and when I worked, what I sang, what I wore, what I ate.”
Farnham ended up “isolated from friends and family,” even from wife Jill, who he married in 1973.
Farnham finally sacked Sambell in 1976, later forming one of Australian music’s most successful partnerships with music manager Glenn Wheatley, who helped his career soar to new heights in the 1980s and 90s.
Sambell died in 2001. Farnham writes in the new memoir that he now looks back on the early years of his career with a mixture of sorrow and shame: “I feel so ashamed of myself for not realising what Darryl was up to or speaking up more often to put him back in his place.”
He admitted he had found it hard to “unpick” what had happened to him until forced to confront it while writing his memoir.
“But now that I’ve confronted it, I look back on that time with sorrow. I’m annoyed at myself for being so gullible and trusting,” he writes.
Farnham’s book will be released this week, with the music icon making a surprise announcement earlier this month: He’ll narrate the audiobook himself, more than two years after undergoing gruelling surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in his mouth.
A small taster of the audiobook has already been released by publisher Hachette Australia, and fans will hear one of Australia’s most recognisable voices sounding a little different post-cancer treatment as he explains why it’s taken him so long to write his memoirs.
John Farnham performing on stage at the 2004 Mission Estate Winery Concert in Napier. Farnham finally tells his story in his new book, The Voice Inside. Photo / Andrew Labett
“I don’t enjoy talking about myself, I really don’t. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an egomaniac, but dredging up the past is just not something I’ve ever really enjoyed,” Farnham says.
“I’ll try and share as much as I can, but that’s not easy because I’ve never really been that open. I guess there are reasons for that. Reasons for my reluctance …”
Farnham has largely stayed out of the public eye since announcing in August 2022 that he was to undergo immediate surgery after being diagnosed with cancer.
The same day, he underwent a 12-hour surgery, involving a jaw reconstruction, to remove a tumour in his mouth.
