Bec SandridgeJohn Farnham's manager Glenn Wheatley has called the aggressive online response to Bec Sandridge’s Like A Version cover of You’re The Voice "a deplorable act", and confirmed Farnham actually loved the interpretation of the classic.
Speaking exclusively to The Music from Queensland where Farnham is set to perform tomorrow night as part of the Red Hot Summer Tour, Wheatley says, "John loved what she did. We’ve had several different versions done by various people over the years. This was quite unique. He loved it… When someone tries to do their own interpretation of it, and it was as good as she did, he applauded it. It was a lovely sentiment… an incredible interpretation of the song."
Sandridge’s cover of Farnham’s iconic song was met with vicious personal attacks last week from commenters on social media, such as "someone should stab her in the throat” and “I thought she was a man wearing a wig”.
Wheatley adds, "We’re amazed that she’s struck that sort of reaction. [It’s] from the minority, but it’s still hurtful and people are hiding behind keyboards and I just find that to be disgraceful.
"Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I don’t deny that, but this sort of hurtful stuff from anonymous people can really shatter people and I feel for this lady because she’s obviously a real fan."
To the keyboard warriors commenting on the cover he says: "Don’t be cowards. It’s very easy to sit behind [a computer] and be anonymous and think that you’re being smart and hurtful and be able to get away with it. I think that it’s a deplorable act. And we’ve seen too many celebrities buckle under that sort of pressure. We’ve seen celebrities take their lives because of it, it can get too much."
To Sandridge, he says, "Put it behind you as quickly as you can and move on and we look forward to meeting you down the track one of these days."
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