How Delta Goodrem kept her health battle secret and whether she will return to The Voice
Delta Goodrem opens up on how she kept her health battle secret, her new song and she sheds light on whether she’ll be on The Voice in 2021.
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Delta Goodrem has revealed how she managed to keep losing her voice a secret.
After surgery to remove her salivary gland in October 2018 Goodrem’s tongue became paralysed, forcing her to learn to talk and sing again through speech therapy.
The therapy became particularly intense when Goodrem had to start filming The Voice in February 2019, but was still struggling to regain her speech.
“I didn’t know if I’d make it before it was time to film,” Goodrem told News Corp. “I knew I had that goal coming up, I needed it to get better. I was working very hard behind the scenes with my speech therapist. The wonderful team at The Voice knew what was going on, they were very cognisant that if I got a little bit tired and maybe didn’t make as much sense we’d repeat it.
“The voice is a really intricate thing, so while someone else might not be able to hear it, as a singer I know every single little nuance and sound that goes on with my voice. You can imagine some of the thoughts in my head, but I’m really proud of the hard work I did with my speech therapist, and it continued after The Voice finished that year, to be where I am now on the other side of it and staying positive.”
Goodrem was in speech therapy in Sydney for a year – and managed to keep the process secret, until documenting the story on recent single Paralyzed.
“I stayed at home in between going to the hospital and going to speech therapy. When you have to retreat you can retreat. I have a really tight knit group of friends and family who have always been protective of me. It was a really personal time for me, the people around me knew the gravity of it.”
The singer has managed to find a positive from the frightening situation – after sharing her experience through a social media video last month she was flooded with feedback.
“I hoped that it would give people strength, you truly never know what someone is going through. This was something really private for me, but it’s what inspired the birth of the new album, the transformation and the reset I’d gone through and I wanted the fans to understand why there’d been a break between me making new music.
“But I got all these people telling me what they’d been through, talking about their own communication challenges.”
This week, with her speech therapist Therese Dodds, Goodrem released a You Tube video featuring people with shared speech and communication issues.
“We created a forum to discuss it,” Goodrem said. “I know I would have loved to have seen a video like that when I was going through my own journey because I couldn’t find anything like that.”
Goodrem has just celebrated 20 years with Sony Music, the label she signed to as a 15 year old.
Her new single, Solid Gold, is a Fleetwood Mac-influenced tale about knowing your self-worth.
“It’s about when you need to take your power back and not letting people get complacent with you,” Goodrem says. “I can’t wait to be in an arena next year, forcing people to sing along with me on the chorus.”
With work on her new album continuing, and preparing for her arena tour scheduled to start in April next year (“I’m working on the tour every day, keeping a positive mind that we’ll all be able to be together again”), Goodrem had no comment on whether she’d follow The Voice to Channel 7 in 2021.
“After every season of The Voice I always take a moment to take in the year that’s been. I’m so proud of The Voice and my nine years with it, it’s a brilliant show, so I’m just taking it step by step. I’m focused on my music right now, it’s too soon to discuss what’s going on.”
Solid Gold is out now.
cameron.adams@news.com.au
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