Delta Goodrem had her life changed when she released her debut album Innocent Eyes at 18 years old. And the Aussie is still on the run 20 years later! Her iconic multi-platinum pop album was just the start; going on to write her debut book, star in romcoms, and deal with health issues throughout the years, all whilst the crowds sang back the lyrics to ‘Lost Without You’. She’s giddying up to join Shania Twain on her summer tour, giving us the oldies and her new single, ‘Hearts On The Run,’ and serving incredible vocals. Delta takes a moment to talk about what’s happened in her life in the spotlight and what’s happening now in her busy life on the road.

A: We’re approaching the anniversary of Innocent Eyes. It’s super nostalgic for you to see the journey and progression from being so young and releasing an album to where you are now.

D: It’s been a beautiful journey to go back and rediscover that album by seeing the lyrics in this moment of my life now and, being so grateful for that album’s magic, it was a natural lightning-in-a-bottle moment. I’m proud to have written it and to be able to capture a feeling at that moment in time with my piano and the feelings. Seeing that it meant something to anybody in the world is truly a beautiful thing that I have always treasured, and I always pride myself on saying that I never live in one moment; I love and cherish the moments I’ve been in. To come back on a 20th anniversary and do the tour and get to play the album for the first time top to bottom because my life’s trajectory was a bit twisted and turned by being diagnosed that same Time with Hodgkin’s [lymphoma] as that album had just burst on the scene around the world was bizarre. It was so special to play it at the Opera House in Sydney from start to finish. Being able to go into songs in my own Time in a deeper pad in the album and going, wow, I resonate with this now, or arriving at the same spot. I love that about the anniversary; it took us down memory lane as a celebration. It’s a beautiful thing.

A: When you listen back to the lyrics, how is it? Do they have a different meaning now?

D: Completely. You see them in a different light because they are time machines where you can return to a moment. When a crowd sings ‘Lost Without You’ back worldwide, whether on tour or wherever we are, it carries a different visual for my brain when I start singing. With Innocent Eyes, we began to play those on tour because I played the album top to bottom. I’ve played some songs more than others over Time; they’ve still been a big part of my set. I’ll go through phases where I don’t enjoy one of the songs. Then, there are some songs which are in your DNA. You’re always going to play ‘Born To Try’, or there are songs you’ll have to find new meaning, or sometimes I’ll find a new chord, or a version of a song of one of those songs that we play a lot more and go ‘oh I love this’. ‘In My Own Time’ was a good reference because I thought that was true. I always have my own timing; you’ve got to believe in the timing of your life, that it’s all in good Time. And I loved that concept ‘in my own time’. And I resonated with the more profound idea of that song.

A: You were pretty young when you first put out the album. How did you cope with the pressures of being thrown into the public eye?

D: My intention came from my love of music and people and my curiosity and wonder for the human experience; I didn’t have another intention I was fazed by. I didn’t have a drive to be famous. I love music, performing, and writing. And I think you have to love the arts and the craft. I looked at that [fame] part of it as it is what it is. It is just a part of it. And I have respect for it. And I always tried to go: I am responsible for being in the public eye. I’ve not always got it right, but I took it on and didn’t try to fight it.

I grew up with paparazzi outside my house at 15 years old, and it takes a long time to get comfortable when you walk into a room and the entire room looks at you. You can hear those conversations and step into a very different psychology. I can notice a rhythm with certain people and their responses. I’m so lucky because, in Australia, I’m a big part of the furniture where I’ve grown up with everybody. It felt like the people there had held my music in their hearts. It has been overwhelming and wonderful. I’ve loved this next chapter. It feels like I’m going into the best chapter of my life and really enjoying it. But it took me years to not be shy- I mean, not shy, but sometimes I accept that if I don’t want to feel like that, I just stay in.

A: I can only imagine having set boundaries firmly and people crossing things. I love going down the road to the petrol station and not worrying about who’s looking at me.

D: That’s the coolest part about being in it for so long and in this industry my whole life. I feel strong in my own space, again, with the interactions. I don’t notice it as much anymore. I may be too unaware! It’s never been a drive. You accept that this comes with music, and if someone comes up and wants to talk about the music in their hearts or you’ve been a part of a chapter of their life, what a beautiful thing!

A: But when you hear that with fans, it must be overwhelmingly warm for people to have their connections with your music.

D: It’s a beautiful connection, a deep connection. When you’re onstage and see people singing along, you want them to see their lives. It’s not about me; it’s about them. When you hear those songs, you think of singing them in your life; that’s my role – being a mirror for your soundtrack to your life. That’s how I look at music; they are meant to be somebody’s puzzle pieces to their journey.

A: You’ve released new music with your single ‘Hearts On The Run’; what’s been different in writing, where are you now with your music, and what do you want to convey in it?

D: I think we have just been on the go. The world opened back up, so we’ve been on tour. We started with the Backstreet Boys tour and then headed over to my first Europe tour in forever. We had two tours last year, with the Innocent Eyes anniversary tour. So I was on the road and then went again. Performing live is my favourite thing. Hearts On The Run had that high-energy feeling when the world opened up; everything got so fast because we had to learn to get efficient again. Everybody became like Swiss Army knives, having so many parts to do it all! My music started to have that high energy, so we thought, let’s keep going!

With Hearts On The Run, I was writing from a place where I can’t stop now. You have to keep up that energy. And at that moment, you think about how can we keep going?! It’s like you’re in a marathon, and my knees and legs are getting tired. This song reminded me of what you’re made of once you find love like my heart is on the run. I wrote that lyric from a place with everyone with me, like my band, and we’re on the run together. So that was where that song came from.

A: Do you have that worry that if you stop and take a moment, you won’t know how to return to that pace again?

D: No, I’d be happy to put my feet up and have a Piña Colada on the beach! I am perfectly comfortable with that concept!

If you want something done, ask a busy person. The busier I get, the more I get done, and I love the number of projects, whatever project we’re on. I love diving into the project, but it is essential to spend time in nature if you’re driven and like the Go! Go! Go! It will do you the greater good, even just for a couple of days, to get quiet and space around your mind and to be able to hear your thoughts and take notes. When you have lots going on and are always working and processing information, it is exhausting to be truth-hunting constantly. [To help relax] It’s jazz music; I love to put on jazz music. That would not have been my answer if you’d asked me that as a teenager. But now, I love playing jazz music, drinking red wine, and keeping a peaceful environment while busy. That’s important.

A: And I love that you have your go-to guilty pleasures. Mine recently has been Married at First Sight Australia

D: Trash TV is part of my switch-off! Love is Blind. I’m obsessed with The Circle on Netflix at the moment. You name it. I love all.

A: About the book that you wrote, Bridge Over Troubled Dreams. How was it putting some of the challenges from your life to paper?

D: Say you and I are writing a song, you dive in, and you go, okay, what are you feeling today? What am I feeling? What happened during the week? And when I was writing [Bridge Over Troubled Dreams], I was doing that. So, wouldn’t it make sense to share the stories? This song was written when I went viral after attending a Beyonce concert. I had all these different pockets of stories I had experienced and looked at it like an album booklet.

A: Was it triggering at points writing the book?

D: I’d already written the songs about [my experiences]. There’s beauty in writing the songs because the music can marry a story or a moment in time with a sound. It’s a beautiful healing power. When I hear the song ‘Paralysed’ or ‘Keep Climbing’, I love hearing the first chords. And it takes me to that feeling of what that song is saying [that feeling] when you’re in between the place of where you were and where you want to go. And I love that the chords match that sentiment. So, it’s marrying that kind of sound with a story.

A: That’s so true. And you’ve already been vulnerable, putting out the music.

D: It’s whether you want to write from a place that you’ve processed it or whether you want to write a place of being in it at that moment. Some songs come about in different ways. I wrote the song ‘All of My Friends’ on the piano and felt it at that moment. Or then sometimes you’ve processed a big challenge you’ve got through, like going through a paralysis in 2018 where my tongue had got a salivary gland, got infected, and then basically I had a nerve that got bruised before being removed. I went to speech therapy and had to learn how to speak again. I couldn’t easily write about that process straightaway; I tried to write numerous songs, and I knew that was only once we wrote ‘Paralysed’. It was about saying that with little time, with little strength, and with a bit of light, you never know. You know, stop and rewind. It goes into all these just affirmations of surrendering.

A: My mom was a speech therapist, so she often referred to what you just said about surrendering: the more you fight something, the worse the fight gets. Sometimes, it just takes time to have those moments when you suddenly have that light bulb moment where you’re ready.

D: Absolutely. Everybody heals differently and processes differently. And their response might be different from yours. You never know what someone’s going through. It’s always about leading with kindness and giving space to somebody who is processing and going through their own step-by-step. There are so many aspects of when you might have ten years thought about something and didn’t even know that that was something, that you step back, you go wow, that’s like a lightning bolt moment of okay, all right, I’ve been able to turn this. It’s a powerful message. There are many ways to trigger it, and it’s essential to say, hey, take time when you need it and talk about it.

A: You’ve got many things coming up regarding music and tour dates; what are you looking forward to?

D: Having your girlfriend time with your girls. Even though you’re all busy and have your worlds, you have to actively be like you know what, we’re all going to put this on the calendar and have a girl’s dinner. This is important.

A: That’s no mean feat planning that!

D: Or just like touring, making it a priority if we’re going to go somewhere. I went to the museum [with] my best mate. I hadn’t seen him for ages, and we all went to the museum on the weekend. We just walked into the museum and had a look around. All those little things that you think I don’t have time for bring joy in significant ways to the holistic picture.

A: What moments bring you joy and make your heart feel full?

D: Simple things like enjoying a beautiful coffee. My partner has taught me that those things are worth stopping for. But it is also important to play along the way during the day to work on group projects with good people, and then you can enjoy each day as it comes anyway.

A: I agree. Having a healthy environment is critical.

D: Absolutely. I’m grateful that I get to do a lot. Music brings me much joy, and not playing and being surrounded by it is joyful. But have you ever seen the movie About Time? [Yeah], I think that that is just the most beautiful, where it just says, “And then you go every single day and then be playful”. On my last record as well. I had a lyric in [Bridge Over Troubled Dreams], a song called ‘Play’, and the chorus said something like “I hope I loved as much as I could have without rushing to the end”. Anyway, I hope that I played. No, you don’t work the piano. You play the piano. You don’t try to get to the end of the song. You dance during the song.