Delta Goodrem’s tongue was left paralysed after surgery in 2018, leaving her fearing for the future of her career.
The 35-year-old singer has revealed she underwent surgery at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney two years ago, where she had her salivary gland removed.
And after developing complications following the surgery, ‘The Voice’ star was left unable to speak or sing as a nerve in her tongue became paralysed.
Delta revealed the heartbreaking story on Instagram on Sunday (16.08.20), when she said she had kept the surgery a secret up until now, and only shared the details because she wanted her fans to know why she wasn’t able to release new music.
In a video shared to Instagram which had been recorded in 2018, Delta said: "I don’t want to go out, I’m super embarrassed. I’m super embarrassed, I’m just over it! I’m just trying to stay positive.
"My livelihood is my sound … I’m trying to decide whether this is getting any better or not. It doesn’t feel like it."
The Australian singer is set to release a new track, titled ‘Paralyzed’, about her health battle, and spoke about her surgery in a post discussing the story behind the song.
She wrote in a lengthy post: "As a songwriter, I write songs from my own experiences. I tell stories about the path I have been on, wondering if anyone else has been on a similar journey. The first step in writing this new record was a personal transformation that I didn’t know I needed in my life! Even though, as I am sharing today, it was a challenging one – I learned so much and I’m so grateful to be here healthy, happy and singing away 🙂 ⠀
"I share this with you as an artist sharing where the poetry in this song comes from and as a human who deeply feels and understands that everyone has their own story and their own challenges they are overcoming each day. You never know what someone is going through and this is an extremely hard time for people. So I send this story to you with the message of hope and love. Getting through the tough times is hard, but ‘with a little time and a little hope, with a little light you never know. For a little space, for a lot of love, close your eyes and think of a better time, big dreams; open your mind for you to find a little strength inside. Stop and rewind’. (sic)"