She tells us she’s feeling exhausted, having only finished filming her new movie Love Is In The Air late the night before. But Delta Goodrem has a real buzz about her when we catch up on Zoom.
Hair and make-up perfectly in place, the singer and actress is excited to be starring in the romcom with British actor Joshua Sasse. But she can’t wait to get cracking on her next project either – something closer to our shores.
“I feel so excited, I can’t even describe,” she tells us of her first headline tour this spring. “I’ve had a long history with the UK. We just want to go over there and rock’n’roll and have fun.”
The new tour is a welcome celebration for Delta, 38, who has spent most of her life in the spotlight. She signed her first record contract at 15 and her debut album, Innocent Eyes, was a No1 hit three years later.
One of her role models was Olivia Newton-John, with whom, she says, she had a “lifetime journey”. Delta was in her early teens and in New York with her mum when she met Olivia and the two developed a firm bond. She is still processing Olivia’s death from breast cancer last August, at the age of 73, but smiles as she reflects on her memories of the Grease star.
“All these beautiful moments where we’d be on stage singing,” she recalls. “We’d lock in kindred voices that sometimes I wasn’t sure if it was me or her. We had a deep connection in music and as spirits and I’m so honoured throughout my life she invited me on stage, and throughout my life I invited her anywhere I was.”
Delta even played her heroine in the mini-series Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted To You. She says the experience was “a dream come true”and that she didn’t feel any pressure.
“There was part of me that thought, ‘I care about this more than anybody could possibly understand.’ My love and care for what it was and the script was so deep. I would check in with her and say, ‘What do you think of this?’ It’s pressure to make sure it came up great, but it was more about passion and love for her journey.”
Talk soon turns to Delta’s own journey – one that hasn’t always run smoothly. As a teenager, she had her own experience with cancer when she was diagnosed with hodgkin lymphoma aged 18 – something Olivia was a rock for Delta throughout. Thankfully, after a course of chemo and radiotherapy, Delta made a full recovery. But in 2018 she had more health turmoil when an operation to remove a salivary gland led to speech problems.
Now recovered, Delta says she is more appreciative of her voice.
“I had to take stock of what’s important,” she tells us. “I had to strip everything back to just going, ‘OK, I thought I had other plans for this year.’ I’ve had a lot of stops and starts but I accept that’s been a part of my story. It has also led me to think about how else I can help others.”
And so, in 2020, she launched The Delta Goodrem Foundation, which provides “hope, support and kindness” to those facing illness, hardship and inequality.
“I started my foundation and work with my speech therapist, talking about how we can help the community who go through speech challenges.
“We’re still supporting cellular therapy through my foundation, and these are all blessings, but there’s also having new understandings on how you make a difference when you’re sent a challenge. Writing a song is the best way to do it.”
Delta did just that, charting her experiences both in her music – 2020 song Paralyzed is about her speech paralysis – and in 2021 book Bridge Over Troubled Dreams.
“My first big health battle when I was a kid was very public but I went through this [latest] battle quite quietly,” she says. “It was something I needed to walk through privately, because when it’s your livelihood, you want to make sure you’re going to get out the other side. Then I could share it from a stronger place and that’s when I realised how many people have experienced something like that.”
Remaining positive, Delta, who is dating guitarist Matthew Copley, is focused on the future – and has new music in the pipeline.
“Once I’d done The Voice [as a coach] for 10 years, I felt like, ‘OK, I’m ready for some new adventures,’” she says. “I love creating the shows, albums and I enjoy the variety of my career. I want to travel, get on the road and see people and sing with them. I get to do it with my partner and people that I love.”
She’s also excited for the revival of Australian soap Neighbours, which is set to make a return on Amazon. She played the show’s Nina Tucker in 2002 and returned last year for what we all thought was the final episode. She’s one of a long line of Aussie stars who have been on the series, including Kylie Minogue and Margot Robbie. Asked if there’s a “Neighbours club”, she chuckles. “A club would be really cool. We are connected, for sure.”
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