John Farnham

From the 1967 novelty track "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)" to the present, John Farnham has personified Oz pop, the only singer to have scored #1 hits in five consecutive decades. This playlist of his best work makes for a fantastic chronicle, and begins with his '80s mega-hits "You're the Voice" and "Age of Reason."

John Farnham gave over the bulk of the '70s to his TV work, but in the early '80s he returned to music at the head of the Little River Band, after the coup that removed Glenn Shorrock from the lineup. These tracks were a prelude to his triumphant solo return, which, Farnham later admitted to Molly Meldrum, saved his debt-riddled bacon.

In 1988, John Farnham was named Australian of the Year, and from then on his place in the fabric of national life was assured. In 2005, he further embedded his talent within our country's collective voice by recording I Remember When I Was Young: Songs from the Great Australian Songbook, covering tracks like the Australian Crawl's "Downhearted."

John Farnham stands alone as our best-loved and most successful solo artist, and we've captured the finest cuts of his incredible four-decade — and counting — career right here. From clean-cut '60s pop idol to the fully rounded voice of the nation, Farnham has hit heights most performers can only ever dream about: his 2006 shows with a full symphony orchestra; celebrated hook-ups with the likes of Tom Jones, Jimmy Barnes, Human Nature, and Queen; closing the 2006 Commonwealth Games; the fund-raising concerts for a variety of causes. What a voice, what a man.