Coldplay rocker Chris Martin paid special tribute to Australian legend John Farnham when he made a rare public appearance at the British band’s Melbourne concert.

Cancer survivor Farnham enjoyed a night out at the sold-out Music of the Spheres concert at Marvel Stadium with wife Jill and sons Robert and James on Sunday.

It was the same night Martin fell through a stage trapdoor, with footage of the incident going viral on social media. 

Martin alerted the enthusiastic crowd to the Aussie singer’s presence by calling out “Mr John Farnham is in the building”.

He then belted out a few lines from Farnham’s iconic 1986 hit, You’re The Voice, with the crowd singing back the catchy chorus.

Farnham’s sons posted about their special night on social media.

“We were guests of @coldplay last night at Marvel Arena,” wrote Rob.

“They were amazing. Was a pretty special night.”

James also shared video and gushed about the memorable moment.

“A show that you have to see in your life time! Was amazing! So cool seeing/hearings the tribute to dad.!!”

Farnham has been venturing into the public eye more since his life-changing cancer diagnosis in August 2022.

Most recently, he lent his voice to narrate the audiobook edition of his highly anticipated memoir, The Voice Inside, which was released on October 30.

Written alongside award-winning filmmaker Poppy Stockell, who made his first biopic John Farnham: Finding the Voice last year, Farnham said the audiobook experience was “a roller-coaster ride”.

Australia has followed Farnham’s harrowing journey over the past few years, after undergoing gruelling surgery for mouth cancer in August 2022, followed by reconstructive surgery.

Months later he was rushed back to hospital with a chest infection.

He’s shared a few family photos marking milestones, including his 75th birthday in July and looking well at son Robert’s wedding in February but has led a very private life over the past two years.

Fans had not seen any video clips, television interviews nor heard his iconic voice until the book release.

“I don’t enjoy talking about myself, I really don’t,” Farnham said.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m an ego-maniac, but dredging up the past and checking through what has and hasn’t been is just something I’ve really never enjoyed.

“I will try to share as much as I can, but that’s not easy because I’ve never really been that open. I guess there are reasons for that, reasons for my reluctance.”

His wife, Jill, will also narrate two chapters.

Trapdoor tumble

Also on Sunday, thousands of fans gasped as Chris Martin stepped backwards into a trapdoor, half disappearing below the stage.

Martin told fans “that’s not planned” before going on to thank a member of production staff for catching him as he fell, adding: “Holy sh-t, that was nearly a YouTube moment.”

That staff member was almost certainly a member of the band’s touring crew, who had opened the trapdoor to pack away a keyboard at the end of the catwalk, said Roderick van Gelder from the company Stage Safety, having reviewed the footage.

“Very specific jobs like that are only done by people who are part of the tour … scene changes, changing of instruments would always be done by the touring crew,” he told AAP.

“You would never leave a trap door open unnecessarily, so he was there waiting to get onto the stage, do his job and then go back under and close it.”

In mid-October, singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo also fell through a trapdoor during a concert at another Melbourne venue, the Rod Laver Arena.

As the crowd gasped, she appeared a little flustered and made light of the incident, telling the crowd: “Oh my God, that was fun! I’m OK!”

“Sometimes there’s just a hole in the stage. That’s all right. OK, where was I?”

Australian stage crews had an excellent safety record and incidents such as these were rare, said van Gelder.

“If anything goes wrong, the impact is a lot bigger than a lot of other industries. If Martin or Rodrigo had injured themselves, you would have had to cancel the rest of the concerts,” he said.

The Yellow singer continued with the show following the incident and appeared unharmed.

-with AAP