Delta Lea Goodrem (born November 9, 1984) is an Australian singer-songwriter, pianist and occasional actor. Her career launched into popularity in 2002, when she starred as Nina Tucker on the popular television series Neighbours. In her homeland, she has released two multi-platinum selling albums, Innocent Eyes and Mistaken Identity, achieved seven number one singles and in 2005, embarked on her debut "Visualise" tour.

Early life

Goodrem is the oldest child of Denis and Lea Goodrem and sister to her younger brother named Trent. She showed a strong interest in music and performing from a very young age. She attended The Hills Grammar School in the Sydney suburb of Dural, where she took up piano as a hobby and focused on her music. Despite her love for music, sport featured at large during her childhood, Goodrem taking part in numerous activities such as basketball, netball, running and swimming. Music was primarily kept separate from school.

Goodrem appeared in numerous television commercials and shows in Australia. At the age of seven, she appeared in an American commercial for Galoob Toys with her friend Bec Cartwright. She was also signed up to be a Nesquik girl in which she starred on several of the company's commercials. Goodrem has also small appearances in episodes of successful Australian shows Hey Dad...!, A Country Practice and Police Rescue.

At the age of thirteen, Goodrem recorded a demo CD with five songs she had written. She included her version of the Australian national anthem and sent the CD to managers across Australia. It eventually landed in the hands of Glenn Wheatley, the manager who guided the Little River Band and John Farnham to success. In 2001, Goodrem, aged 17, signed to Sony Records Australia and recorded an album with some tracks self-penned, some written for her, and others brought in by her label. Sony launched her career with an unsuccessful pop single in November 2001, called "I Don't Care", which peaked at #64 on the ARIA singles chart. The track was a cover version of a single originally recorded by Angela Via, which had never been released outside America. The music video for "I Don't Care" is included on her first DVD, entitled "Delta" in Australia, and "Innocent Eyes" internationally. Goodrem performed the song in its original form on her 2005 "Visualise Tour".

Acting

Hating Alison Ashley

Hating Alison Ashley was seen by 60,000 people in its first weekend but takings dropped 28 per cent the following week, suggesting that word of mouth had been rather negative. The film was poorly received by most critics, some claiming that Goodrem's performance was too robotic and detached. Many did however praise Saskia Burmeister, who played Erica Yurken, for her role in the movie.

North Shore

In a bid to launch her music into the American market, Goodrem appeared in the last two episodes of the short-lived series North Shore. She played the singer, Taylor Ward, who discovered another talented singer named MJ (played by Nikki DeLoach), a regular character on the show. In Goodrem's last scene, she asks MJ to go on tour with her. Goodrem also performed her song "Lost Without You" on the show, as well as a duet with DeLoach of "To Love Somebody", originally performed by the Bee Gees. She performed a duet with Di'amlo Baba-ganoosh in the opening credits.

Music

Innocent Eyes

In 2002, whilst starring in Neighbours, Goodrem released her official first single, entitled "Born To Try". A drastic change from her debut single, the adult contemporary piano pop track debuted at #3, and climbed to #1. This was fuelled by the song's inclusion in the show, in which her character, Nina Tucker, was also trying to launch a music career.

Goodrem released her second single, "Lost Without You". It debuted at #1, staying there for two weeks. She also released her debut single outside of Australia at this time, releasing "Born To Try" in the UK, where it debuted at #3.

Her debut album Innocent Eyes was released on March 3, 2003, producing a record five #1 singles in Australia. She has writing credits on nearly every song on the album, including tracks written solely by her, making her the only international act or Australian female performer in history to be credited as performer and writer on four ARIA #1 hits.

The third single from the album was the title track; "Innocent Eyes". It debuted at #2, and peaked at #1 after two weeks at #2. In the UK, "Lost Without You," and the album, "Innocent Eyes" were being released, with the single debuting at #4, and the album debuting at #2, where it went on to sell over 750,000 copies.

She also released "Not Me, Not I" in the UK, where it went top 20, as a Christmas single, backed with two Christmas B-sides. "Predictable" was also released as the final single from "Innocent Eyes" in Australia, again hitting the #1 spot. A promo single of a remix of "Throw It Away", co-written by Cathy Dennis and former Take That star Gary Barlow, was released to the UK media early the following year, but was not released commercially.

In the first week of December 2003 Innocent Eyes broke John Farnham's Australian record of 25 consecutive weeks at #1 (Whispering Jack (1986)). In total, Innocent Eyes spent 29 weeks at #1, tied with Neil Diamond's Hot August Night (1972), as the second longest charting number-one album in Australian history. Innocent Eyes has been certified over 14x platinum in Australia alone, with sales in the United Kingdom reaching nearly 1 million, having debuted at #2 in the album chart.

Mistaken Identity

In October 2004, Goodrem released the debut single from her second album, Mistaken Identity. The song, written with UK writer/producer, Guy Chambers (former cohort of Robbie Williams) was called "Out Of The Blue". The single was well received by the public, and debuted to #1, subsequently going platinum. In the UK, "Out Of The Blue" debuted at #9, also charting in Germany and other European countries. Goodrem performed "Out Of The Blue" for the first time at the 2004 ARIA Awards.

Goodrem's second album Mistaken Identity was released on November 7, 2004 and debuted at #1 in Australia, also charting in the UK, Germany and Switzerland. The album saw Goodrem once again working with songwriters such as Cathy Dennis, Gary Barlow and Matthew Gerrard ("Lost Without You") among others including Billy Mann (who has worked with P!nk and Jessica Simpson).

In Australia, "Mistaken Identity" the album's title track, debuted and peaked at #7 in January 2005. The track was not promoted as Goodrem was in the UK at the time, promoting "Almost Here" with Brian McFadden. "Mistaken Identity" went Gold, but did not stay in the chart for as long as her previous singles. In the UK, "Almost Here" debuted at #3, her equal best, although no further singles were released from "Mistaken Identity". "Almost Here" also debuted at #1 in Australia, going Platinum.

On May 29, 2005, she released her fourth single from "Mistaken Identity" - the up-tempo track, "A Little Too Late". It debuted and peaked at #13, whilst Goodrem was touring the country. A fifth single, the ballad "Be Strong" — written for fellow cancer survivor Belinda Emmett — was released on September 26, albeit as a digital-only release. The B-Sides featured live performances of "Be Strong" and "Last Night On Earth" from the tour. At one stage of the download chart all three songs were in the top 3. #1 being 'Last Night On Earth [Live]' #2 being 'Be Strong [Live]' and #3 being 'Be Strong'.

The Visualise tour

Beggining July 8th 2005, Goodrem took part in her first headline tour, the "Visualise" tour, first performed as a "preview show" in Newcastle, and subsequently in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and other major Australian cities. The tour features a mixed set of tracks from both her #1 albums and more. The tour's opening act was an up-and-coming Canadian artist, seventeen-year-old Kyle Riabko. Brian McFadden, also performed with her on certain tour dates, duetting on "Almost Here" and "Flying Without Wings," a track he had recorded with his former band Westlife (it was also released in the USA by American Idol winner Ruben Studdard).

The tour came under criticism when tickets were put on sale for $99 Australian dollars; higher than most international acts touring in Australia at around the same time. By the time the concerts were due to take place, many venues were sold out, after tickets were reduced to $60, with the Adelaide show attracting almost 10,000 fans. After the tour concluded over 80,000 tickets had been bought in total, making the "Visualise" tour one of Australia's highest selling local tours.

Born To Try album

In December 2004, Goodrem announced she was planning to relocate to the United States in an attempt to break into the US market. In early 2005, Goodrem appeared on the North American soap opera North Shore.

In April 2005, Goodrem's international record contract was extended to the USA, with Columbia Records, an imprint of Sony Music, licensing the USA rights to her music. Reports soon began to circulate that Columbia had issued an ultimatum to Goodrem to drop her manager - mother Lea Goodrem. The rumour was denied by Goodrem and her mother, who stated that Lea was to remain as Delta's manager in Australia, and that Delta had always had plans to get a separate manager in the US.

On June 28 2005, a new USA mix of Goodrem's hit "Lost Without You" was released to digital download stores, such as iTunes, receiving early spins on Adult Contemporary radio stations across the United States. It was officially planned for release on CHR (Current Hit Radion)/Pop stations on August 30, but as it turned out - there was no release. She also attended the 2005 American Music Awards, and won the award for Highest Selling Australian Artist at the World Music Awards.

The future of her USA album is currently uncertain; it was originally scheduled to be released in the winter of 2006 (delayed from October 2005 and January 2006), and was going to be a hybrid of her first two albums, entitled Born To Try, after her first UK single. The album was expected to feature several tracks from each of her albums, including "Almost Here," "Mistaken Identity," "Not Me, Not I" and "Out Of The Blue," many being remixed and changed for the US audience. However, in April 2006, Goodrem stated that the planned hybrid album would not be going ahead. If a future contestant on American Idol should sing a song on the Born to Try album, she may change her mind. A recent occurence happened in the most recent season when a contestant named Katharine McPhee sang "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall. If this also happens to Goodrem in the upcoming 2007 season, the Born to Try album might go ahead. In the same interview, Goodrem confirmed that she had put America on hold and instead wished to concentrate on a third album of new songs.

Goodrem also became the face of Pepsi cola in Australia, recording a follow up to a campaign that had starred Britney Spears, P!nk, Enrique Iglesias and Beyoncé Knowles.

Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony 2006

On March 15, 2006, Delta performed the song "Together We Are One" at the Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. This song was written by herself, partner Brian McFadden and long-time collaborator Guy Chambers especially for the ceremony. Delta performed in the centre of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, surrounded by rollerbladers who wore backpacks with fireworks shooting out, in front of a crowd of 80,000 spectators and up to 1.5 billion television viewers worldwide.

The song features on the Official Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony Album. The album also features music by The Church, The Cat Empire, David Page, Ursula Yovich and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra who all performed at the Ceremony.

Due to pressure from her fans, "Together We Are One" was released as an Australian single on April 1, 2006, and debuted at #2 on the ARIA charts. The video for the clip is a montage of Delta's performance at the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony as well as some sporting highlights. It was also used as a group song in the United States for the final five American Idols.

Third album

Goodrem is currently in a London recording studio, producing material for her third Australian studio album. Australian music guru Molly Meldrum appeared on the Channel 7 television show, Sunrise, and made mention that the first single from the album may possibly be released before the end of the year. The songs "Thank You My Hero", "Pray For Us", "Tears", "Anything But You", "The World Slows Down", "Days Go By" "All Out Of Love", "Little Things", "See The Sunrise", "Love Never Dies","It's Magic", "If I Ruled The World", "Raw", "Tomorrow Is Too Far", "I Hate You" and "In Your Eyes" (some of which are co-written by Brian McFadden) are rumoured to appear on Goodrem's third album, but as yet there has been no confirmation.

Goodrem has signed Modest! Entertainment for her world-wide management in the lead up to the release of her third album, due for release in 2007. Delta wanted her second album to be called 'Love and Light', but since her diagnosis with cancer, she focused on talking about her thoughts on her cancer, and 'Mistaken Identity' was taken instead. It is uncertain yet as to whether the name 'Love and Light' be the next title on her album.

Personal life

Cancer

On July 8 2003, Delta Goodrem discovered that she had Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a form of cancer. In the weeks and months after the announcement, sales of her album rose by 40%, remaining at #1 six months after its release. Goodrem's record company Sony was criticised for using her illness to attract favourable media coverage. Goodrem later revealed: "I was sitting there trying to get my head around the fact I could die and I was being told that I could somehow use this to my advantage."

Early on in her treatment, Goodrem recorded a few new songs, and a video clip for her fourth single, "Not Me, Not I". When asked why Delta Goodrem worked so hard to promote the album in spite of her illness, she said, '"Not Me, Not I" is so special to me that I had to film a clip for it, just as I did for the other singles from the album.'

When "Not Me, Not I" reached #1 on the Australian charts, she became the only female artist to have four #1 singles from her debut album, beating the previous effort of three #1's from Kylie Minogue's Kylie album. "Innocent Eyes" was also released in the UK, where it debuted at #2.

On October 4 of that year, while she was still undergoing treatment, it was announced that Goodrem would not renew her contract with manager Glenn Wheatley. Her mother, Lea Goodrem, subsequently replaced Wheatley.

Goodrem capped off a professionally successful year by winning a seven ARIA Music Awards on October 21, 2003. She was too unwell to perform at the ARIAs, although she did attend. Darren Hayes, formerly of Savage Garden, performed her second number one hit, "Lost Without You," as a tribute to her. However, due to Darren Hayes' admission that he mis-sang the lyrics, when Delta was well again, in a MaxSessions program he 'returned the song' to Delta by inviting her to do a proper duet of the song.

After announcing in late December 2003 that she was in remission, Goodrem began to go back into the studio and write and record new songs, for her second album to be released November 2004.

Brian McFadden

On the "Mistaken Identity" album, Delta Goodrem also collaborated with Irish singer Brian McFadden, formerly of boyband Westlife on a duet entitled "Almost Here". In early January 2005, newspaper reports suggested the pair were romantically engaged after being photographed together on a beach resort in South Africa, although both denied this. A week later on January 10 2005, the Sunday Mirror reported that McFadden had admitted the relationship.

The couple underwent weeks of tabloid scrutiny, focusing particularly on the fallout of McFadden's marriage with former Atomic Kitten star Kerry Katona. Press speculation suggested that Delta Goodrem and Brian McFadden had embarked on their affair before McFadden had separated with Katona. This was denied by both Delta Goodrem and Brian McFadden. A great deal of negative press followed the couple's announcement, including reports of the duo being booed off the stage at a Childline concert in Dublin, Ireland. Two months later the couple again performed their duet in Dublin at the Meteor Ireland music awards where they recieved a massive cheer from the crowd in support of the couple. Delta also presented an award at the show with american rap artist Snoop Dogg.

The negative press and tabloid rumour continued in the UK, made worse following increase in public affection for Katona after her victory on TV show I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!
Rumours in April 2005 suggested that Brian McFadden had proposed to Delta Goodrem, although he denied this.

More rumours in April 2006 spread over the news and magazines suggested that Brian McFadden and Delta Goodrem were engaged. Delta Goodrem's mother, Lea, denied these rumours.

The couple's relationship faced further scrutinty in May 2006 when a newspaper claimed that Delta's mother had advised her to end her relationship with Brian McFadden.

Charity work

Delta Goodrem is a member of RADD (Recording Artists, Actors And Athletes Against Drink Driving), a group of celebrities using their position to rally, and raise awareness of the risks of drink driving. She has recorded a message, which has aired on Australian radio, about the risks of drink driving. Delta Goodrem also uses her experience with cancer to raise awareness for other young people affected by the disease, helping to launch a UK web site specifically aimed at young teenagers affected, in mid 2005.

Delta Goodrem is a well-known ambassador for Research Australia's Thank You Day, which celebrates the country's health and medical researchers. She makes regular appearances at local charity events; on November 7 2005, Delta Goodrem received a Thank You Day Celebrity Advocacy Award "in recognition of her efforts in raising funds and awareness for Australian medical research and charities."

Delta Goodrem has established the Delta Goodrem Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Trust Fund, created to help raise funds for Hodgkin's patients. A percentage of all CDs, concert tickets and merchandise sold goes towards the charity.

DVDs

In June 2003, Delta Goodrem appeared on Channel V, an Australian lifestyle/music cable TV channel, performing a mini-concert of seven songs from her album (which had already been certified 6x Platinum at the time).

It was featured on her debut DVD entitled Delta (Innocent Eyes internationally) which was a success in music DVD charts in Australia and the UK, also featuring music videos, behind the scenes footage and more. The DVD broke Australian records, selling in excess of half a million copies.

The "Visualise" tour DVD was released on Sunday, November 13, 2005, debuting at #1 on the ARIA sales chart and becoming the second DVD by Goodrem to reach #1. The "Visualise" DVD features her live concert, recorded on July 24, 2005 at the Sydney Superdome, as well as a tour documentary, concert clips and a photo gallery. A clip for "The Analyst", recorded specifically for use as a backdrop to the concert performance, is also included.

Other information

Delta had two more albums before the release of her debut album "Innocent Eyes", these other 2 albums were before she was signed onto Sony BMG, the song "Say" was released for what is thought to be the first album and "I Don't Care" was to be released for the 2nd album not much is known about the albums other than, the song "A Year Ago Today" which features on the Innocent Eyes album was set to be released as the 2nd single from her 2nd album but was never released, though a music video was made for it.

A few songs mentioned in an article about Delta and her court case over the releasing of her first albums were "Just Blame Me", "Promise", "The Flame And Spirit", "Love" and "Heart Of Gold".

"Without A Trace" is an unreleased song that Delta has recorded, it was written in the days of Innocent Eyes, and was set to be released on the 'Hating Alison Ashley' movie soundtrack but was pulled because it did not fit the movie.

Delta has recorded a duet with Tony Bennett on his song "Steppin' Out With My Baby" and is receiving airplay on only 5 Australian radio stations.

She had recently visited New York City on the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, as she has stated below on her official website's journal:

Hi everyone, Hope you are all well! So I've just been in NY - I see someone has the photos of me on the forum already! Not sure what I would do without you guys, you are always up to date with everything I am doing; in fact my own forum was the first place I saw the photos from NY! I had the opportunity to meet the Actor, Uma Thurman who was very lovely. I was asked to be a part of the Unifem and Tag Heuer project which was a great honour for such an important charity. My photograph was taken for the exhibition by an Australian photographer called Daniela Federici. NY is an exciting city but sad when I was there, as I just happened to be there on September 11 and we must remember those that lost loved ones during this time. I was also writing for my new album and I'm really happy with the progress and can't wait for you all to hear it hopefully soon enough. This week I'm off to Sweden for more writing and I will be back in Japan in October for my album release there. Until next time...look after yourselves and take care. Love and light, Delta xxxx (taken from her Official Website's journal)

There have actually been some Australian victims who perished in the collapses of the twin towers of the World Trade Center after the planes crashed into them.

Delta Goodrem Official Website