Delta Goodrem has revealed she woke up in a cold sweat from a terrifying nightmare shortly before being diagnosed with cancer. The Australian singer, who shot to fame as a teenager with her debut album Innocent Eyes, told Davina McCall on the Begin Again podcast about the premonition that left her frozen with fear.
Goodrem said: 'I went to bed, and I woke up at 3:31… I basically had a nightmare and sort of like a very dark figure came to me on a grave with a note. At 3:31, I woke up drenched. I was head to toe, like I'd been in the ocean, and I was frozen with fear, completely frozen.' She told her mother and product manager, who booked her into hospital. The following Sunday, she was on the front page of a national newspaper for the first time, celebrating her third number one single.
Tests confirmed she had Hodgkin lymphoma in July 2003. Goodrem admitted the news felt like a 'death sentence' but doctors began treatment immediately. She also recalled going through biopsies alone and seeing the fear on the doctor's face. Later that night, her mother and brother told her 'they think you have cancer'.
The radiation treatment affected her throat, forcing her to rebuild her singing voice. She was unable to tour her second album in 2004 but continued making music and later spent eight years as a coach on The Voice Australia. Goodrem credited fan support and a call from Elton John on her first day of chemotherapy.
Reflecting on the experience, she said: 'I wouldn't say that I came back to myself until many years later. … It's like a bomb goes off in the house. A lot of shrapnel gets hit, families are impacted, people's lives change.' She added that the silence and clarity after the diagnosis helped her rediscover her authentic self, saying 'I can't actually imagine being where I am without that moment.'
