'I CONNECTED WITH OLIVIA BOTH MUSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY'

AS SHE PREPARES FOR HER UK TOUR, DELTA GOODREM TALKS ABOUT HER LIFELONG BOND WITH OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN, HER HEALTH BATTLES AND BEING IN THE 'NEIGHBOURS CLUB'

- GEMMA MCCARTNEY

She tells us she’s feeling exhausted, having only finished filming new movie Love Is In The Air late the night before. But Delta Goodrem has a buzz about her when we catch up on Zoom.

Hair and make-up perfectly in place, the singer and actress is excited to be starring in the romcom with British actor Joshua Sasse. But she can’t wait to get cracking on her next project either – something closer to our shores.

“I feel so excited, I can’t even describe,” she tells us of her first headline tour this spring. “I’ve had a long history with the UK. We just want to go over there and rock’n’roll and have fun.”

The new tour is a welcome celebration for Delta, 38, who has spent most of her life in the spotlight. She signed her first record contract at 15 and her debut album, Innocent Eyes, was a No1 hit three years later.

One of her role models was Olivia Newton-John, with whom, she says, she had a “lifetime journey”. Delta was in her early teens and in New York with her mum when she met Olivia and the two developed a firm bond. She is still processing Olivia’s death from breast cancer last August, at the age of 73, but smiles as she reflects on her memories of the Grease star.

“All these beautiful moments where we’d be on stage singing,” she recalls. “We’d lock in kindred voices that sometimes I wasn’t sure if it was me or her. We had a deep connection in music and as spirits and I’m so honoured throughout my life she invited me on stage, and throughout my life I invited her anywhere I was.”