Honouring a Living Legend

I have been watching the posts pour in about the John Farnham tribute concert, and I found myself crying with every single one.

On September 20, more than 120 performers and a 38 piece orchestra filled Rod Laver Arena for "The Songs of John Farnham: A Living Legend." Keith Urban, Jimmy Barnes, Tina Arena, Kate Ceberano, Jessica Mauboy, Human Nature, Richard Marx and Ross Wilson took the stage. Celine Dion and Hugh Jackman sent tributes from afar. Chris Martin performed an original song for him, "A Better Singer Than Me," over video link. John was not be there in person. According to reports, after cancer related surgery, he now requires full time care and continuous oxygen support.

Every proceed from that night went to Head and Neck Cancer Australia, the service that has supported him through his own battle with this insidious disease.

We so rarely honour our greats while they can still feel it. We wait for eulogies.

John Farnham got to watch (I hope), an entire nation stand up and say thank you while he is still here to receive it. Our thanks. For his passion for music and performing. And for his incredible voice. That is beautiful. And even more so, when the person being honoured is kind and well - human.

I have been blessed to have worked with John Farnham three times.

Twice was when I was in television production, shooting promo clips for him. He was an absolute gentleman. Always a pleasure to work with. We had long days of filming, and his care for the crew was so authentic and human. Not performed. Not for show. Just who he is.

I had worked with quite a few celebrities by this time. And quite a few were prima donnas who believed they were 'above' the crew, even though we were the ones that made them look good. John Farnham was always humble. Always making us laugh. And occasionally breaking out in song.

The third time I worked with him, the band I was in at the time was his support act on one of his several "Farewell Tours".

He came out to listen to us. He spoke with us after we had finished and before he went on. And he congratulated us on our performance. That is not something every headliner does. It told me everything about the kind of man he is. Well, in truth, it backed up what I already knew of him.

When I was a teeny tot, my father had John Farnham play at his nightclub. My "always ahead of his time" father got his autograph. Somewhere in a box, I still have that autograph from him.

What makes John Farnham's story even more powerful, is that it was never a straight line to the top. He had a story of Celebrating Success One Failure at a Time. At various points in his life, #failureisthecurriculum

He had his first taste of fame young, with "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)," which became the biggest selling Australian song of the 1960s. But that song, as verified by his biography, boxed him in. For years afterward he was written off as the kid who sang Sadie. By the mid 1980s he was, by his own account, close to broke and experiencing record companies turn their backs on him. His tenacity allowed him to take one last crack at it.

That last crack became "Whispering Jack," the album that features"You're the Voice" and went on to become the biggest selling album in Australian chart history. In his memoir, "The Voice Inside," written with Poppy Stockell, he describes the moment it clicked, recording in a garage studio: "Sitting in that garage, for the first time in my career, I got to sing and be me in the way I wanted to sing and be me."

That line stays with me. The comeback did not happen because he chased what worked before. It happened when he finally let himself be exactly who he was. There is a lesson in that, in writing our own playbooks and being exactly who we are. Not what people want, or expect us to be.

I play "You're the Voice" at high volume and sing along, and to this day I cannot get through it without crying. The words. The story. The images I conjure up. John's passion and his cry for peace, are my triggers for tears, every time.

In another act of generosity, John Farnham and the song's copyright holders, had to give permission for the 1 Million Women climate campaign to use a newly recorded cover of Your The Voice, as their global anthem for the Paris Climate Conference in November 2015.

I selected "The Voice Inside" for my book club and I learned so many more amazing things about him. A man who was flat broke and written off, who became the voice of a nation, and who still, decades later, walks off stage to thank the crew and check on the support band.

And whose life and talents are honoured while he is still here.

How wonderful might it be if we all honoured those we respect, who have given us joy, and who have impacted our lives while they were still here. A phone call? A short visit? Even a handwritten note. Something that saids, "Thank you, you have made a difference in my life and I am honouring you."

John Farnham, in our few encounters, taught me a lot about generosity and grace.

I believe in the power of music to unite us all. I believe in the power of love to create a better world. And i believe in the power of #authenticity to steer us forward on the Road of Humanity.

Thank you, John Farnham, for so many wonderful experiences, for your powerful music, and for your incredible voice. Bless you and your family.

Celebrating Success One Failure at a Time is now available as a book, an audiobook, and an online course. You can bring this conversation to your organisation as a keynote, workshop, or leadership programme.