Australian rock legend Jimmy Barnes has a secret eighth child – the great-grandfather’s third previously-unknown daughter to emerge in recent years.
Barnes has four children aged 35 to 42 with wife Jane, as well as 51-year-old Today Extra host David Campbell, who was born when the Cold Chisel frontman was a teenager.
Daughters Amanda Bennett and Megan Torzyn, both from Barnes’ hometown of Adelaide and now aged in their early 50s, met their father for the first time in 2010.
Barnes has now revealed he also has another daughter – real estate sales associate Katy Lee Carroll, who lives on the NSW north coast.
The 68-year-old, who celebrated his 43rd wedding anniversary with Jane in May, has known about Ms Carroll for five years.
Barnes released a statement on Instagram on Monday afternoon, just a few hours after Daily Mail contacted his management about his secret offspring.
‘Christmas is all about family and we would like to introduce my daughter Katy Lee, who has been in our lives for the past five years,’ he wrote.
‘Katy is a wonderful woman and since discovering that I was her biological father, our family and extended family have loved getting to know her.
Australian rock legend Jimmy Barnes has a secret eighth child – his third previously unknown daughter to emerge in recent years. Barnes is pictured with daughter Katy Lee Carroll
‘It’s been heartwarming to see good relationships growing with her sisters and brothers.
‘We have always respected her very strong desire to keep her family life private and will continue to support her.
‘I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy Happy Christmas. I look forward to bringing you all more music in the new Year.’
Ms Carroll’s Instagram account features photographs of her with Barnes, Jane, their daughter Mahalia, son Jackie and Campbell, along with the TV presenter’s three children.
A photograph of Ms Carroll sitting next to Mahalia and also featuring their famous father with his 65-year-old wife was posted to Barnes’s official Instagram account in September last year.
Ms Carroll, who is tagged in the post, replied: ‘We love you.’
Another picture on Ms Carroll’s account showing her with her father and Mahalia is captioned ‘heart is full… birthday weekend away full of food and love’, with a thank you message to Barnes and his wife.
Barnes released a statement on Instagram on Monday afternoon, just a few hours after Daily Mail contacted his management about his secret offspring. Father and daughter are pictured
Katy Lee Carroll (far left) appears in a picture on Jimmy Barnes’s official Instagram account sitting next to Mahalia Barnes and across a table from Jimmy and Jane Barnes
When contacted early on Monday afternoon, Ms Carroll asked for time to consider providing information about her relationship with Barnes.
‘I think it’s probably best that you contact Jimmy’s PR team or Jimmy,’ she told Daily Mail Australia. ‘I just can’t say anything right now.
‘I’ve been kind of waiting for this.’
The publicist Ms Carroll recommended did not return calls.
Ms Carroll later issued a statement confirming she discovered Barnes was her biological father five years ago.
‘Since that moment, I’ve been embraced by the Barnes family with love, warmth and incredible understanding,’ she said.
‘Over these years we’ve slowly, carefully gotten to know one another and this journey has been one of patience, respect and tenderness.
‘It’s been a deeply meaningful process and I am truly grateful for the bonds we are building together.’
Ms Carroll asked for privacy for herself and her children.
‘I want to be open about something very personal,’ she said.
‘This journey of discovering my family has brought up a lot of complex emotions and I ask for your understanding as I navigate this alongside the joy of reconnecting with my father and his family.
Katy Lee Carroll is pictured with Jimmy Barnes and his son David Campbell along with his three children, Leo and twins Betty and Billy
‘My hope is that my privacy will be respected during this time, as I continue to work through these challenges.
Ms Carroll described being welcomed into the Barnes family as ‘an extraordinary gift’.
‘While the details of my relationship with Jimmy and the Barnes family are private, I feel compelled to share my gratitude for the love and care they have shown me,’ she said.
‘It has been an extraordinary gift to be welcomed into such a talented and kind family and I am thankful every day for their support.
‘This discovery, though exciting, has been approached with great thoughtfulness, not only for me, but also for my children and all of our extended families.
‘As we continue to nurture these relationships, I remain committed to protecting our privacy, allowing each of us to grow and heal in our own time.
‘Thank you for your understanding, compassion, and respect during this deeply personal chapter of my life. Your support means more than words can express.’
Barnes confirmed he was Ms Bennett and Ms Torzyn’s father through DNA tests and welcomed them into the clan.
This picture of Katy Lee Carroll, Jimmy Barnes and his daughter Mahalia Barnes is captioned ‘Heart is full… birthday weekend away full of food and love’, with thanks to Jimmy and Jane Barnes
‘My kids are all so great that when I found out there were a couple more I felt they would be good people and they’re lovely girls,’ he told New Idea in September 2010.
‘My only regret is not knowing them when they were younger but life is what it is all things happen for a reason.
‘At the time it was probably better for them that they didn’t know me because I was pretty wild.’
Jane, whose other children with Barnes are Eliza-Jane (EJ), 40, and Elly-May, 35, told the same magazine it was ‘really lovely’ to discover her husband had two other daughters.
‘There is a correct procedure and after that the rest was easy,’ she said.
‘Jimmy is the love of my life and if he has children who are like him and like my children, for me that’s really lovely.’
Barnes explained to comedian, artist and writer Anh Do, who painted the singer for his ABC program Anh’s Brush With Fame, how one of his long-lost daughters tracked him down.
‘I remember Jimmy Barnes telling me that after a show a woman handed him a letter,’ Do told Who magazine in 2018.
Katy Lee Carrol is pictured between her father Jimmy Barnes and her half-brother Jackie Barnes. Katy and Jackie are wearing cold chisel band passes
‘He read it that night and it said that she thinks she may be his daughter from 30 years ago. And there’s a photo.
‘And Barnsey looks at the photo and thinks to himself, “Yep, I had better take a paternity test”. And it turns out it’s his daughter.’
Ms Carroll, Ms Bennett, Ms Torzyn and Campbell have different mothers.
Ms Bennett and Campbell were schoolmates in the same year at Adelaide’s Northfield High but did not know they were half-siblings at the time.
Mahalia, 42, Eliza-Jane, 40, Jackie, 38, Elly-May, 35, formed the 1990s children’s pop group The Tin Lids, and are successful musicians who have shared a stage with their father.
Campbell, who is also a platinum-selling singer, was raised by his maternal grandmother Joan, believing her to be his mother.
He learnt Kim Campbell, the woman he thought was his older sister, was his real mother and that Barnes was his father when he was in primary school.
‘I found out when I was 10,’ Campbell has said. ‘It was very overwhelming.
Ms Carroll later issued a statement confirming she discovered Barnes was her biological father five years. She is pictured right with half-sister Elly-May Barnes
‘I was having anxiety and I didn’t know who to talk to but this was the easier part of it because working out my sister was my mother [was hard].’
Earlier this year Barnes told The Apple & The Tree podcast: ‘I used to go see David when he was young but he didn’t know who I was. It must have been so weird for him.’
All Barnes’s children with Jane have their own kids and he is a great-grandfather of at least one.
Barnes and Campbell were named as joint Fathers of the Year in August by advocacy organisation The Fathering Project.
Campbell, who has a son Leo and twins Betty and Billy with wife Lisa, gushed over sharing the honour with Barnes.
‘To be able to share this award with my father is extremely special on many levels,’ he said.
‘He is the template for how I navigate my life as a parent. While it feels premature to receive this award – as my twins are in primary school and my son is only in year 8 – it means so much to me all the same.’
Barnes said fatherhood had brought immense joy to his life but admitted he has ‘made mistakes’ in his own heartfelt statement.
‘From the moment you look into your baby’s eyes until the day they are about to walk through the door to venture out on a life on their own, joy flows freely,’ he said.
‘I have watched David on his journey, grow from a small child into an awkward young man, along the way we both made mistakes but nothing we couldn’t sort out with patience and love.’
Cold Chisel, who formed in Adelaide in 1973 and have sold more than 7 million albums, performed a 50th anniversary tour this year.
In addition to the band’s six number-one albums in Australia, 15 of Glasgow-born Barnes’s solo records have topped the charts.
His books include award-winning memoirs Working Class Boy and Working Class Man, which have sold more than 500,000 copies.
Barnes’s latest written collection of personal stories is Highways and Byways.
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