‘I was doing my best, it was intense:’ Delta Goodrem on her most challenging moments

In an emotional new interview, Delta Goodrem has given a candid insight into the pressure she faced releasing her second album, amid her cancer battle.

Delta Goodrem revisits a pivotal album – plus some “bad fashion choices” – 20 years on, and recalls how she threw a non-stop engagement party on tour with her fans.

Stellar: Today marks your eighth appearance on the cover of Stellar.

Delta Goodrem: It’s the perfect number. It’s an octave on the piano scale. It’s like from one chapter to the next. I’m very honoured.

Stellar: You’ll revisit one of those chapters on stage next month with concerts to celebrate your 2004 album Mistaken Identity. Two years ago, you did the same with your debut album Innocent Eyes …

Delta Goodrem: It feels like another lifetime. I found going into these anniversary shows just so special. Beyond healing. Being able to go back in time and listen to the albums from [the] place I am now has been eye-opening.

Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar

Listen to Delta Goodrem on the new episode of Something To Talk About:

Mistaken Identity was released the day before your 20th birthday. So much had already happened in your career, and your personal life, prior to that. All while you were still a teenager.

I don’t remember being a teenager in that time … because I always had my friends from school. I remember having playful, childlike fun [over] the course of my life. I think I always felt a little bit older than what I was. Now I’m reverting back, I think, hopefully. I remember my first arena show; it was 20,000 people.

I [was] shaking like a leaf. I had my hand up high, feeling like I was jumping, like: we’re on the plane, you’ve got to jump now, you have nowhere else to go. That was my first live show. Over time, it gets even more fun. That’s the coolest part about starting young. I feel like I’m hitting my stride and enjoying everything so much more now. But I love going back in time and sharing those lightning-in-a-bottle moments from a different place.

Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar

Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar

In 2003, at the height of the success of Innocent Eyes, you were diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. It became one of the biggest news stories in Australia, and you underwent gruelling treatment including chemotherapy and radiation. Incredibly, you returned to release Mistaken Identity 16 months later.

As a feeler and someone who’d come from writing an album from an innocent place, when we hit the second album, I’d seen life in a very different way. I’d started to discover Tori Amos and Stevie Nicks.

My eyes had opened to Annie Lennox and these new influences I just didn’t have on the first album. So I was exploring that sort of intensity from that place, because while it was a triumphant moment – to stand there being thankful to be a survivor – I had to walk from a different place, as well, of “What do I feel now going into this?

Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar

Delta Goodrem at the ARIA Awards in 2003. Picture: News Corp Australia

How can I be of service now, to be able to do good with other people that are going through it?”

Just yesterday, I was on the plane and this gentleman behind me said he was coming in for a stem cell treatment, and he straight away opened [up]. I get to hear everybody’s stories since that day; every single day someone shares a story about their own journey – what they’ve gone through, or their friend has gone through. So in that respect, that is a triumph that so many people have shared so many beautiful stories with me of their strength, that we can come together and there’s no wall between us in talking about what it is to have the courage to walk through when you’re not feeling as brave as you would like. And I’m thankful that the last few years we’ve worked hard at building my foundation [the Delta Goodrem Foundation, which was founded in June 2020]. That came from that moment. I look at it much like when Olivia [Newton-John] sent me a note saying: one day you’ll understand it is a gift to be able to have this understanding for people.

You temporarily lost your hair as a result of the chemotherapy. What was the experience of that change to your physical appearance upon stepping back into the spotlight to promote a new album?

There’s so much in that chapter. We’d just broken in the UK. Elton John called me on the first day of chemo. Then I was back out in the world as a teenager, trying to navigate [things]. You go from the long-haired, no-shoed piano playing to, all of a sudden, a totally different identity, which is where that title came from. And you’re questioning everything. There was a lot of pressure. I cried a lot during that chapter. I was doing the best I could, but it was intense. It was an intense time. And that might have been an intense album, but there were a lot of amazing moments. I was just a 20-year-old, and a lot of it I’m still trying to remember [laughs].

‘It was an intense time.’ Picture: News Corp Australia

That’s why I’m here, to give you a “Wow, remember that moment?”

Look, I remember some bad fashion choices! I’m going to be honest with you on that.

How could you possibly be in the public eye for 22 years and NOT have bad fashion choices?

I think it was a couple of years ago … when I said to a girlfriend, “I really didn’t like this outfit I was wearing, and I got papped.” Now I’ve given up on any pride [laughs]. Here I am. But I was like, “Oh, I just disliked the outfit,” and [my girlfriend] said, “Oh babe, don’t worry. It can’t be anything as bad as what you were wearing in 2004 and 2005.” And I was like, well, I guess you’re right.

Listen to Delta Goodrem on the new episode of Something To Talk About:

You’ve shared parts of your life on social media, such as becoming engaged to your fiance Matthew Copley, who is the guitarist in your band, in September 2023. But you’re also very private. And it looks as though people give you the space for that at this point in your life.

When we got engaged, it was the day before we went on stage [for opening night of the Innocent Eyes Anniversary Tour] that we shared the photo. I was tussling so bad in that moment. But I was like, “Just share it.” Then during that tour, it felt like we had done an engagement party in every city. I thought that was beautiful that we got to share that in our own way. We’re on stage together. It’s a love language for us being up there, but I love keeping us as a sacred house, too.

That’s important for me. It’s the same with my family – I choose to stand in my authentic self with my love for music and the arts, or doing shows and projects. He chooses music as well, but he doesn’t choose this. My brother doesn’t; my mum and dad don’t. I’ve learnt that over time, and that’s what works for me.

Listen to Delta Goodrem on the new episode of Something To Talk About:

Delta Goodrem’s 20th anniversary concert Mistaken Identity: A Night Of Celebration runs April 14 and 15 at the Sydney Opera House. For details, visit deltagoodrem.com.

See the full cover shoot with Delta Goodrem inside Stellar today – via The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD) and Sunday Mail (SA).

For more from Stellar and the podcast, Something To Talk About, click here.

Originally published as ‘I was doing my best, it was intense:’ Delta Goodrem on her most challenging moments