Aussie singer songwriter Dean Lewis reveals Dad’s cancer battle inspired hit song

Aussie singer Dean Lewis has revealed the private family battle that inspired his hit song that’s getting more than one million Spotify streams a day.

Dean Lewis reveals the story behind his hit track ‘How do I say goodbye’. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

As Dean Lewis played back the early morning voicemail left by his mum Ann, the dread surged through him.

“Darling, please come home.”

It was 2019 and the singer songwriter was living in America, his break-up anthem Be Alright on its way to becoming one of the first Australian songs to breach the one billion stream ceiling. Everyone wanted a piece of him.

But none of that mattered as he raced home to Sydney. His biggest champion, the man who taught him guitar and encouraged him to just keep going even as he received dozens of rejections from record labels was seriously ill; his father Grant Loaney had been diagnosed with blood cancer.

“We didn’t know what was going to happen; it was a very aggressive form of cancer,” Lewis says.

Dean Lewis with his father Grant Loaney. Picture: Supplied.

As his father began treatment, he insisted Lewis, whose passport name is Dean Loaney, get back to work. His parents kept him up to date on his progress as the Australian troubadour played dozens of gigs through America and Europe before Covid shut down touring.

It was tough going. The singer, who had no problems sharing the vulnerability of his broken heart in his songs, kept his father’s battle private.

Most days there was great career news – another gig sold out, another million streams – but every day he wondered if tomorrow he would wake up to find another message telling him to come home urgently.

“There were times where I saw photos that Mum and Dad sent back where he looked like he was 110 years old and so skinny,” he says.

“It was tough on the family, tough on dad but I was living the dream, living his dream too. I had a hit in America and that is rare for an Australian.

“Dad was like ‘This is it, we’re doing it, you’ve got to do it now.’”

Lewis is on his way to another global hit with How Do I Say Goodbye. Picture: Supplied.

During a break in his schedule last year, Lewis headed to Nashville to reconnect with Jon Hume, the former frontman of 2000 pop rock band Evermore, who co-wrote Be Alright. They were keen to add to the clutch of tracks Lewis had earmarked for his second album The Hardest Love, which is out this week.

And the chart-topper knew they would write a song about his father; putting his life into music is what he does. Lewis already had the first lyric for the chorus and the title – How Do I Say Goodbye?

He said he broke down “at least 15 times” trying to finish the lyrics over the next couple of days.

“So how do I say goodbye, To someone who’s been with me for my whole damn life? You gave me my name and the colour of your eyes, I see your face when I look at mine,” he wrote.

His father was undergoing stem cell therapy – which would ultimately put his cancer into remission – when Lewis finally shared the song with him last year, his filmmaker brother Sean capturing their dad’s reaction.

The TikTok of that moment has millions of views and provoked floods of tears.

@deanlewis

This song’s for you dad… some of you guys couldn’t see this video so here it is again 🧡

♬ How Do I Say Goodbye - Dean Lewis

“He said it’s a great song. He can’t really listen to it a lot because I think it’s just so overwhelming for him,” Lewis says. And we’re not really a family that says I love you all the time, for whatever reason. I guess the best way that I could say that was in a song.”

His parents surprised him by travelling to Stockholm last month to see Lewis perform the song live for the first time; Loaney had been unable to go to one of his concerts while receiving treatment because of the threat to his immune system.

There they saw the first ripples of the song’s impact on fans; even though it had only been out a matter of days, thousands were joined together singing every word through tears. The same scene has been repeated at every gig since, as fans embrace How Do I Say Goodbye as an anthem for their own grief of losing loved ones.

@deanlewis

The security guard at the end tho 🥹🤧

♬ How Do I Say Goodbye - Dean Lewis

The song is rocketing up the Spotify global viral chart and generating more than one million streams a day. Lewis and his brother post TikTok videos of fans breaking down in the front row as he performs the song live while there have been hundreds of thousands of other clips using the track.

As Lewis prepares to come home for his Hardest Love national tour, his gigs are selling out and the Australian artist who feared he would never have another crack at a global hit is on track for another one billion streamer.

“I know this doesn’t last forever,” he said.

“But no matter what roadblocks are in front of you, no matter if you’re the cool new thing or you’re that guy who had a hit a couple of years ago, if you make something good enough and share it with people in a genuine way, then you can have a moment.”

The Hardest Love is out on November 4. For pre-orders and tour dates, deanlewismusic.com

Originally published as Aussie singer songwriter Dean Lewis reveals Dad’s cancer battle inspired hit song