Childhood & Early Life
Delta Lea Goodrem was born on November 9, 1984, in Sydney. Her parents, Denis and Lea named her Delta after the song ‘Delta Lady’. She has a younger brother, Trent, who is now a football player.
Until the age of 11, she attended Hills Grammar School in Sydney. She started singing, dancing and acting lessons at age seven, and did an advertisement for Galoob Toy Company. This was followed by many other commercials.
She also did several roles in successful Australian television shows including ‘Hey Dad..!’, ‘Police Rescue’, and ‘A Country Practice’.
Continue Reading Below
Career
When Delta Goodrem was 13, she recorded a five-song CD, which she financed with her pay from television work. The CD was sent to Glenn Wheatley, a talent manager. Wheatley signed her to a deal with Empire Records, and she worked on 13 tracks for the album ‘Delta’ in 1999. The album was never released due to legal issues.
In 2002, she portrayed Nina Tucker in the TV show ‘Neighbours’, which helped to boost her music career. Her piano-based ballad ‘Born to Try’ premiered on the show, and reached No. 1 on ARIA Singles.
In March 2003, her debut album, ‘Innocent Eyes’, was released, and all its singles—‘Born to Try’, ‘Lost Without You’, ‘Innocent Eyes’, ‘Not Me, Not I’ and ‘Predictable’—peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart.
Her second album ‘Mistaken Identity’ was released on November 8, 2004. The album's lead ‘Out of the Blue’ debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart and No. 9 in the UK. ‘Almost Here’, a duet with Irish singer Brian McFadden reached No. 3 in UK and No. 1 on ARIA. Next, ‘A Little Too Late’ was released in Australia, and peaked at No.13.
In March 2005, she starred in her debut film ‘Hating Alison Ashley’, based on the children's novel by Robin Klein. In April, she moved to New York to launch her career in the US but it did not work out well. In July, she did a concert tour of Australia, and over 80,000 tickets were sold, making it one of Australia's highest-selling local tours.
In March 2006, she sang her new song, ‘Together We Are One’, at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony. It peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Singles Chart. In June, she signed to Modest! Entertainment for her worldwide promotion, and some of her songs reached No. 1 on the Japanese download chart.
Her third studio album, ‘Delta’, was released in October 2007. It debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, making it her third No. 1 album. In the same year, the singles ‘In This Life’ and ‘Believe Again’ were also released. Another single, ‘You Will Only Break My Heart’ was released in March 2008.
In 2008, she focused on promoting her albums in Japan and the U.S. ‘In This Life’ and ‘Delta’ were very successful in Japan and the U.S. She did another tour of Australia in 2009. A concert DVD of the tour was released in September, and it peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA DVD Chart.
In November 2011, she was confirmed to be a part of the judging panel of the Australian version of the reality TV series ‘The Voice,’ which aired in 2012. She returned for season two in 2013, and then again in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Continue Reading Below
In March 2012, her new single, ‘Sitting on Top of the World’ from her upcoming album was released; it peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The second single, ‘Dancing with a Broken Heart’ was released in August, and the third single, ‘Wish You Were Here’, was released in October.
Her fourth studio album, ‘Child of the Universe’ was released in October 2012, which debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA Charts. In June 2013, she released her new single ‘Heart Hypnotic’. In the same year, she became a part of the Australian version of ‘The Voice Kids.’
In March 2015, her single ‘Only Human’ was released. That year, she returned as Nina Tucker in the TV series ‘Neighbours' in three episodes. In July, ‘Wings’ was released as the lead single from her fifth studio album. It peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Charts.
From October 2015 to February 2016, she performed at a musical theater, portraying Grizabella in the Australian version of ‘Cats’. The song ‘Dear Life’ was released on May 6, 2016 as the second single from the album ‘Wings of the Wild’ which itself was released in July.
Major Works
Delta Goodrem’s debut album ‘Innocent Eyes’ is one of Australia's highest-selling albums, spending 29 weeks at No. 1, and selling over 1.2 million copies in Australia, and 4.5 million globally.
Her second album ‘Mistaken Identity’ entered the ARIA charts at No.1, and eventually gained multi-platinum status. It sold over 350,000 copies in Australia. Her third album, ‘Delta’, debuted at No. 1 and also gained multi-platinum status.
Her fourth album ‘Child of the Universe’ had two platinum singles—‘Wish You Were Here’ and ‘Sitting On Top of the World’. Her fifth album, ‘Wings of the Wild’ became her fourth No. 1 album on the ARIA Chart, and the singles ‘Wings’ and ‘Dear Life’ went platinum.
Personal Life
In July 2003, Delta Goodrem was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at the age of 18. Her cancer eventually went into remission.
In 2004, she had a relationship with Australian tennis player Mark Philippoussis, who supported her when she was battling with cancer. Soon after their breakup, she dated singer Brian McFadden. After their relationship ended in April 2011, she dated Nick Jonas, and broke up with him in February 2012.
In 2005, she helped to launch a UK website, ‘Teen Info on Cancer’. The same year, she became an ambassador for Research Australia's ‘Thank You Day’, which honors the health and medical researchers.
She has endorsed many products like perfume and underwear, and has done ads for brands like Pepsi, Sunsilk, Sanitarium, So Good, and Nesquik.
She has been honored with a wax figure at Madame Tussauds in Sydney.
In 2011, she served as an ambassador for the Kinghorn Cancer Centre in Sydney.
Due to speeding offences twice, she was fined and suspended from driving in July 2017.
