Delta Goodrem

Delta Goodrem dominated Australian music following the release of her second single 'Born To Try' in November 2002. 'Born To Try' and the next three singles reached the No.1 spot, an unprecedented achievement, and Delta's album 'Born To Try' spent more than 20 weeks at No.1 on the national ARIA albums chart.

Born on the 9th November 1984, at age eight she started piano, and singing lessons two years later. At the same time she was also acting, appearing in TV shows ('Hey Dad' and 'Police Rescue') and commercials (she was the Quik girl). At 13 she used her acting money to record a six song demo, which, along with a photo and bio, she sent to anyone who might be interested - including the Sydney Australian Rules Football team, the Swans. She'd included a rendition of the national anthem, hoping to be invited to sing before a game.

Delta's luck was in. In January 1999 The Swans forwarded the CD on to one of their high flyer supporters, John Farnham manager Glenn Wheatley. The Swans envelope drew Glenn's attention. He happened to be meeting with the organizers of Kool Skools, a national project supporting the recording of music by high school students. Without listening to it, Wheatley passed Delta's CD on to Studio 52 to see what they thought.

Studio 52's producer Trevor Carter thought that Delta had real potential. He contacted Glenn, keen to work with the 14-year-old. Wheatley arranged for Goodrem to come to Melbourne from Sydney to meet with Carter. It was agreed that she would record a demo written and produced for her by Trevor Carter. The demo was recorded. Three months passed without any further developments. Carter and Delta had formed a good working relationship in the meantime and with the support of Delta's parents it was agreed that the singer and Carter would record a whole album.

On the strength of that album, Delta was signed to Sony Records who decided to start her recording career from scratch by matching her up with the producers and songwriters working with the Britney Spears clones of the day. In November 2001, Sony released Delta's debut single, 'I Don't Care' written by Steve Kipner and David Frank (the team which wrote Christine Aguilera's 'Genie In A Bottle.')

'I Don't Care' had been recorded the previous year by a young American singer, Angela Via. 'I Don't Care' received reasonable reviews, but only achieved very modest sales. And that might have been it. Several Australian record companies (including Sony) had got their fingers burnt jumping on the Britney bandwagon far too late. But it was Delta Goodrem herself who came up with the way towards her own direction and future. She decided to place herself at the piano. Enthusiastic about the direction Delta wanted to take with her music Sony put her into the studio to record her first official album with producers and writers around the world. She was already working on the record when in early 2002 Delta was offered a role in the long-running soap opera 'Neighbours'. (Delta had previously auditioned and nearly landed a role in 'Home And Away')

In Neighbours Delta played the role of Nina Tucker, a painfully shy new girl at Erinsborough High with an amazing singing voice but too afraid to sing in front of anyone. When the show asked for "Nina" to sing an original song Delta submitted the just-written 'Born To Try'. 'Born to Try' as released on CD single in November 2002, days after Delta's 18th birthday, and exactly one month after her character played the song on piano in 'Neighbours'. 'Born To Try' debut at No.1 nationally, the beginning of an amazing 12 months of success - and then heartbreak.

In July 2003 Delta Goodrem was hospitalized in Sydney after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, a treatable form of lymphatic cancer. Three months later, still undergoing treatment, she announced her intention not to renew her management contract with Glenn Wheatley. That decision culminated in an air of bitter tension at the October ARIA awards, tarnishing Delta's achievement - winning seven of a record ten nominations. It was Delta's first public appearance since her hospitalization.

The first pre-fame single aside, the next five Delta Goodrem singles reached No.1 - a first for Australian music - and 'Innocent Eyes' went on to sell 14 times platinum. The second album, 'Mistaken Identity' arrived in November 2004, preceded by yet another No.1 single. 'Out Of The Blue'.

As well as chart news Delta now started making news with her personal life, several high profile relationships well documented in newspapers and magazines. Delta's mother Leah had also assumed the head role in Delta's new management team. There were stories of dissention between mother and daughter and eventually Leah was relived of her position. Delta's career stopped being the fairytale it had been to date. The entry of Westlife singer Brian McFadden into Delta's life added to the complications. Now she was also making news in the ravenous English press, accused of breaking up McFadden's marriage.

Delta found herself to be numbed. She went on a round of writing sessions with all the big names in Europe and the US, amassing about 150 songs. But the results were disappointing. She didn't want to talk about anything personal in her songs, until Brian McFadden encourged her to dig deep and bring forth all those emotions she was surpressing. The lead single from Delta's very personal self-titled thiurd album was 'In My Life'.

The single and the album restored Delta Goodrem to the No.1 spot in Australia. Internationally her career was still not gaining any traction. For the US release of 'Delta' she switched record labels.

- Ed.Nimmervoll