Biography

“Do you remember when you were seven And the only thing that you wanted to do Was show your mum that you could play the piano?”

It’s just the beginning.
It’s something that Delta Goodrem says all the time.

It’s just the beginning. But what a beginning – Born To Try, the first single from Delta’s debut album, took the Australian charts by storm, going to number one just after Delta’s 18th birthday. It stayed in the Top 5 for more than three months, going triple platinum for sales of more than 210,000 copies.

Born To Try also entered the UK charts at number three, spending 11 weeks in the Top 40. And it went to number one in New Zealand.

“I love how Born To Try connected with people,” Delta says. “I’ve had all sorts of people come up to me, from four-year-olds to an 80-year-old woman who told me, ‘I play this at home all the time.’”

Then came the second single, Lost Without You. A number one debut in Australia and three months in the Australian Top 10.

In just six months, Delta has sold more than 650,000 singles and albums in Australia – incredible for a country where gold status is 35,000.

No Australian woman – not even Kylie – has made such an impact with her debut release.

Innocent Eyes, Delta’s stunning debut album, also entered the Australian charts at number one, knocking off Norah Jones. Not even a new Madonna album could displace Delta, who spent a whopping six weeks on top of the album charts. Then, after two weeks away from number one, Innocent Eyes returned to top spot.

The title-track is the third single in Australia. After just two weeks, it became the most played song on radio – an Australian radio record.

All this plus a Logie award (the Australian equivalent of the Emmys) for Most Popular New Talent. It’s been quite a year!

But Delta’s right – it’s just the beginning. This young star has her Innocent Eyes set on more.

Much more.
With a voice that soars, this is a young pop discovery, brimming with youthful zest, energy and innocence.
And it’s a pop album full of surprises. As Delta sings in Running Away: “Running away from predictable, Miss Reliable, so methodical/Be individual, an original”.
This is no manufactured pop star straight off the pop production line.

Delta’s worked with a stellar cast, including the True North production and songwriting team (Gary Barlow, Eliot Kennedy and Tim Woodcock), Ric Wake (the producer who has worked with Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey), Matthew Gerrard (Mandy Moore, BB Mak), David Nicholas (INXS, Elton John, George), Vince Pizzinga (Midnight Oil, Danielle Spencer), The Rembrandts and Australia’s Mark Holden.

But this is Delta’s story. She’s forging her own path, creating her own history. Much of Innocent Eyes sounds like pages ripped from her diary. She wrote or co-wrote nearly all the tracks. The album’s striking opening line is, “Doing everything that I believe in”.

“I wanted to make an album that reflected me at this time in my life,” Delta explains. “Every song takes me to a place where I can remember what happened.”

And it’s an album that heralds the arrival of a major new talent. A career artist, who’s doing things her way. Grounded, focused and ambitious. “In my own time,” Delta sings on one of Innocent Eyes’ many standout tracks, “it’ll be mine.”

“Do you remember when you were 15 And the kids at school called you a fool Because you took the chance to dream?”

Delta Goodrem is no pop newcomer. She started in the entertainment business at the age of seven, acting in TV commercials and Australian television shows such as Hey Dad, A Country Practice and Police Rescue. Delta loved sports, particularly basketball and skiing, but music was her passion. And while other girls her age would probably spend their pay on Barbie Dolls, Delta saved her acting money to make a demo CD.

At the age of 12, Delta recorded her demo CD, with five songs she’d written. She also included her version of the Australian national anthem because she dreamed of one day singing at a game for her football team – the Sydney Swans. “Anyone’s allowed to dream, I say,” Delta says.

Delta sent the CD to the Swans and they sent it on to one of the club’s biggest supporters – the legendary Australian manager Glenn Wheatley, the man who guided the Little River Band to mega success. Seeing a red and white envelope in his letterbox, Glenn ripped open the package to find Delta’s songs.

Over the next two years, Glenn helped Delta develop her songwriting, and she signed to Sony at the age of 15.

Inspired by everything from Silverchair to Incubus to Jeff Buckley and “the Diva Girls” – Mariah and Celine; at first, Delta struggled to find her own direction. Then she discovered her mantra: Just have fun and sing from the heart.

“No point in talking what you should have been And regretting the things that went on Life’s full of mistakes, destinies and fate Remove the clouds, look at the bigger picture”.

The title-track of Delta’s debut album is her story. “I really wanted a song with a bit of a classical feel because I’ve been doing classical piano for 10 years,” she explains. “And the song is about looking at the world with innocent eyes, that enthusiasm, which I never want to lose.”

In 2002, Delta landed a role on the Australian television institution Neighbours, a show that started on air just a few months after Delta was born. Playing the shy singing schoolgirl Nina Tucker, Delta got to debut Born To Try on the show. Though she’s always getting in trouble for singing on the set, Delta says, “Neighbours has been fantastic.”

Now, the girl who plays piano barefoot wants to take her music to the world.

“I love performing. I do this so I can get up and sing for people. It’s a big world and there’s so much to work for.

“I do have a lot of goals. I want to take my music to people and tell my story, and one day be singing at the Grammys and the Brits and the ARIAs. Just world domination, I’m not asking for much.” She laughs, before adding: “It’s just the beginning.”

Delta smiles, those Innocent Eyes sparkling.

New biography can be found at www.oocities.org/planetdelta2005