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.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/818494/farnham-announces-comeback-tour
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Anyone else sick of this dude returning? I'm a fan, and even I get sick of it
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Subject: He's got as many comebacks as...well, John Farnham... 
