From a shock teenage cancer diagnosis to having to relearn how to speak at 30, Australian singer Delta Goodrem discussed the health battles that transformed her career on the latest episode of the Mail’s Life of Bryony podcast.
Delta, 40, is one of Australia’s most decorated female singer-songwriters. The former partner of Westlife singer Brian McFadden signed her first recording contract at only 15 years old and her 2003 debut album ‘Innocent Eyes’ topped charts for 29 weeks.
Before embarking on her first world tour at 18, Delta was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, an aggressive type of blood cancer.
During her time battling the disease, the singer founded the Delta Goodrem Foundation, which has raised over $120 million for blood cancer research.
Speaking to Mail columnist Bryony Gordon, Delta recounted the two greatest health challenges of her life: the early cancer diagnosis and the ‘game-changing’ moment she lost her voice after having an operation on her throat.
‘It was incredible’, Delta began.
Before embarking on her first world tour at 18, Delta Goodrem was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, an aggressive type of blood cancer. Listen here
Bryony Gordon: ‘You were born a fighter Delta Goodrem!’ Listen here
‘My album was taking off – I was coming over to the UK to do Top of the Pops and then I found a lump in my neck.
‘I was getting tired all the time and I felt my immune system was kind of breaking down. I thought that maybe I wasn’t looking after myself enough – I was doing 14-hour signings.
‘I was due to fly to the US, but I had a strange feeling. I had some biopsies done – and I was then diagnosed, at the same time that the world had just taken my music in.
‘It changed the trajectory of my life completely. The whole country was sitting outside my front door watching me and my family go through this thing the best we could.
‘I knew everything was going to be very different. How do you all of a sudden go from planes, trains, and automobiles to this being your life?’
Though the diagnosis ‘hurt’ physically and emotionally, Delta doesn’t view that period negatively because of the ‘triumph’ of her foundation’s work.
‘I don’t see the cancer as dark, I see it as a triumph’, she said.
Delta recounted the two greatest health challenges of her life: the early cancer diagnosis and the ‘game-changing’ moment she lost her voice after having an operation on her throat
Years after recovering from one major career setback, Delta suffered another in 2018, having to undergo an operation that forced her to relearn how to speak
‘Ever since my diagnosis, we have raised a lot of money. I have been ride or die with those people that saved me for many years now.
‘I cannot look at that as dark. I look at it like – life made sure I could be of service to people.’
Years after recovering from one major career setback, Delta suffered another in 2018, having to undergo an operation that forced her to relearn how to speak.
A buildup of calcium in her salivary gland formed a small stone which later became lodged in her throat.
‘That was a very surrendering moment’, she explained.
‘Everything was kind of washed off the bone. I was so glad that was private – because I needed some time. I lived out of the city in my family home – and my beautiful partner was with me.
‘It was game-changing actually – having a moment to get away from all the noise.’
Delta Goodrem’s memoir, Bridge Over Troubled Dreams, is out now.
To listen to the full episode, where Delta reflects on her career and turning forty, search for The Life of Bryony Now – wherever you get your podcasts.
