John Farnham opens up about his ‘abusive’ and ‘sexually aggressive’ first manager

In an exclusive interview, John Farnham discusses the deeply troubling relationship he had with his first manager, Darryl Sambell, as revealed in his new memoir, *The Voice Inside*. The Australian singer claims Sambell drugged him, controlled various aspects of his life, and punished him for rejecting his advances.

Farnham, now 75, reflects on the “abusive” nature of this relationship for the first time, stating Sambell treated him “like a piece of meat” and expresses that Sambell was “sexually aggressive” in their interactions. He recalls, “At times, in the early years, he was aggressively sexual with me. He would try it on and I would say, ‘Darryl, no. Just leave me alone,’ or, ‘It’s not going to happen.’ I realize now that this rejection turned his attraction into jealousy, hatred, and a desire for control.”

Farnham was just 17 when Sambell, who was 21 at the time, discovered him performing in a bar in Cohuna, Victoria. After Farnham rose to fame with his hit “Sadie the Cleaning Lady,” Sambell’s control over him tightened. Farnham describes how Sambell dictated “where and when I worked, what I sang, what I wore, what I ate,” isolating him from friends and family, and even attempting to drive a wedge between him and his now-wife, Jill. “He drugged me and made me believe that all my success, everything I had, was because of him,” Farnham states.

The singer recounts Sambell’s tactics to keep him under his control, including isolating him by working him long hours and attempting to bully Jill. “He drugged me with amphetamines to keep me working all night, then sleeping tablets to knock me out in the morning,” Farnham reveals. “I had no idea he was doing this to me for years,” he adds, recalling a moment when he discovered a half-dissolved pill in his coffee.

Feeling a profound sense of shame, Farnham reflects on why he didn’t recognize the abuse sooner: “I still don’t know why I didn’t react more. I chalk it up to being young, stressed, tired, and unsure of my instincts.”

Jill Farnham has previously described Sambell as “evil” in Poppy Stockell’s 2023 documentary, *John Farnham: Finding the Voice*, but this memoir marks the first public acknowledgment from Farnham regarding the abuse he endured. Stockell, who co-wrote the memoir, suggests that Sambell’s influence has kept Farnham from speaking out and engaging with media over the years. She notes, “The shame and guilt of not leaving that abusive relationship earlier is something really hard for John. We see this dynamic play out repeatedly in the industry, where a significant power imbalance allows such behavior to go unchecked.”

Looking back, Farnham expresses relief at finally severing ties with Sambell. After a brief legal battle in 1969 over unpaid profits—where he had to file the lawsuit through his father due to being a minor—he eventually released a statement in 1975 indicating there were “no ill feelings” and that he had no plans to change management. However, he later parted ways with Sambell the following year, calling it a “huge relief.”

Reflecting on his past, Farnham shares, “I was finally free from what I can now see was an abusive relationship that lasted almost a decade. Many years have passed since then, and it’s been challenging for me to unpack what happened to me. But now that I’ve confronted it, I look back with sorrow… I surrendered control over my career, my direction, and my life.”

Darryl Sambell also faced accusations from the rock band Masters Apprentices, who sacked him after discovering he was siphoning their profits. Sambell passed away from cancer in 2001 at the age of 55.