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Delta Lea Goodrem (born 9 November 1984)^{[citation needed]} is an Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress. Signed to Sony at the age of 15, Goodrem rose to prominence in 2002, starring in the Australian soap opera Neighbours as Nina Tucker. Goodrem has achieved eight number-one singles and three number-one albums in her home country.^[1] As of the late 2000s or early 2010s, she holds the Australian record for the highest-selling album of the last decade and the most number-one singles from a debut album. Her repertoire falls under the pop and adult contemporary styles, and heavily features the piano, which she usually plays barefoot while performing live.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Delta Lea Goodrem was born on 9 November 1984 on the outskirts of Sydney to parents Denis and Lea Goodrem. Her parents named her Delta after the Joe Cocker song, "Delta Lady". Goodrem, who showed a strong interest in music and performing from a very young age, attended The Hills Grammar School, though due to its curriculum placing strong emphasis on sport (Goodrem taking part in netball, running and swimming), music was primarily kept separate.^[7] At the age of seven she appeared in an American commercial for the Galoob toy company, starring alongside fellow Australian Bec Cartwright^[8] and began playing piano at the same age while taking up singing, dancing and acting lessons. She appeared in numerous commercials for companies such as Optus and Nesquik, and had several minor roles in episodes of successful Australian television shows including Hey Dad...!, A Country Practice and Police Rescue.^[9]

At the age of thirteen Goodrem recorded a five song demo CD, financed through her television work.^[10] It was sent to the Sydney Swans Football Club (of which Goodrem is a supporter) and they passed it onto Glenn Wheatley,^[11] the manager behind successful Australian artists, Little River Band and John Farnham. Interested in Goodrem's potential as a recording artist, Wheatley signed Goodrem an artist development deal with independent label, Empire Records.^[12] Between June 1999 to September 2000 she worked with producers Paul Higgins and Trevor Carter on thirteen tracks for an album called Delta, which saw "an ambitious 15-year-old keen to emulate the pop sound of the Spice Girls, Britney Spears and Mandy Moore."^[13] The album has yet to surface, Goodrem preventing its release years later via civil action in 2004.^[14]

At the age of 15 Goodrem signed a record deal with Sony^[1] and began work on an album of pop-dance songs including the unsuccessful debut single "I Don't Care", which peaked at number sixty-four on the ARIA singles chart in November 2001.^[15] The album and proposed second single "A Year Ago Today" were pushed aside as a result, allowing Goodrem and Sony to re-evaluate her future musical direction. In 2002 Goodrem took up the role as shy school girl and aspiring singer Nina Tucker in the popular soap Neighbours,^[1] which helped re-launch Goodrem's music career. The piano-based ballad "Born to Try" co-written by Audius Mtawarira premiered on the show and became her first ARIA number one and UK Top 3.^[16] Goodrem's role on the show scored her a Logie for "Most Popular New Talent" at the 2003 Logie Awards^[17] and two other nominations at the 2004 Logie Awards (including a Gold Logie nomination).

In January 2003 "Lost Without You" again topped the ARIA singles chart^[18] and reached number four in the UK, increasing Goodrem's popularity. Her largely self-penned debut album Innocent Eyes was released in March and debuted at number-one on the ARIA album charts, breaking Australian records previously held by John Farnham's Whispering Jack (1986) by staying at number-one for 25 consecutive weeks, while tying with Neil Diamond's Hot August Night (1972) as the second longest charting number-one album with a total of 29 weeks at top spot.^[15] It was the highest selling album in Australia of 2010^[19] and sold over a million copies in Australia alone, 4.5 million worldwide.^[20] The album also charted highly in the UK, peaking at No. 2.^[15]

"Not Me, Not I", released following the announcement Goodrem had been diagnosed with cancer, became her fourth consecutive ARIA number-one single, overtaking the previous effort of three number-one's from Kylie Minogue's debut Kylie album.^[21]

Goodrem ceased work on Neighbours and her music to begin treatment and in early August, announced she would not renew her contract with Glenn Wheatley, mother Lea Goodrem replacing him as her manager.^[22] Later that month, Goodrem won seven ARIA Awards, including "Best Female Artist", surpassing Natalie Imbruglia's previous record of six awards in 1999.^[23] Too unwell to perform at the ceremony, singer Darren Hayes performed a rendition of "Lost Without You" as a tribute, bringing an overwhelmed Goodrem to tears. Her first full-length DVD Delta became the highest selling music DVD by an Australian artist in Australia ever, with a certification of 12x platinum,^[15] while Australian-only release "Predictable" became her fifth consecutive number one ARIA single in December. Goodrem made a recording that she didn't want to be released publicly and had to battle with her old record company to prevent them from releasing it.^[24]