Australian music icon Tina Arena has spent decades performing on stages around the world, but in 2023, she found herself in a very different setting: a hospital bed, facing a life-threatening illness that changed how she sees health, life and music itself.
Now, that experience has shaped her involvement in a powerful new project with Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, where she joins fellow singer Ngaiire on a moving reinterpretation of Sia’s hit song ‘Unstoppable’. Watch the video above.
The collaboration brings together musicians who have all received blood, plasma, stem cells or platelet donations. For Tina, the cause is deeply personal.
“It could mean the difference between life and death,” she says as we chat over a video call, her Jack Russell Mia sitting on her lap.
In 2023, Tina ended up in the hospital with severe kidney issues that quickly escalated into septicemia. This dangerous infection can become fatal if not treated immediately.
“It became pretty dangerous,” Tina explains. “I was in so much pain and wasn’t really aware of the extent of my health issues at the time. My kidney could have burst, I got septicemia, which basically curdles your blood. If that’s not treated immediately, something really dangerous can happen. That’s irreversible.”
Tina’s illness required urgent medical intervention. After undergoing an operation to treat kidney stones, her condition worsened dramatically.
“I was lucky that I got to the hospital in time before my kidney could have burst,” she says.
“My doctor had said to me my kidney had become like a sponge.”
It was only once she began to recover that the full gravity of what had happened truly sank in.
“I realised how unbelievably important giving blood is and what blood means,” she says. “It’s really nothing for us to be able to donate, but what’s really impactful about it is the fact that the person on the receiving end, it could mean the difference between life and death for them.”
It was after the first surgical procedure that she developed septicemia, and her health deteriorated rapidly.
“As soon as I came out of that first operation, I got septicemia. So then I plummeted again and then ended up in ICU for six days, isolated, I didn’t know what day it was. But I was unbelievably fortunate. I was so fortunate. Absolutely.”
The ordeal forced the singer to confront her healthcare.
“You’re not invincible,” she says, and since recovering, she has become more mindful of her well-being.
“It was my wake-up call. I don’t take things on anymore that I don’t feel intuitively comfortable with I won’t get on the treadmill anymore to get on the treadmill because you’ve only got one body and you need to take really good care of it.”
Approaching 60, she says her perspective has shifted.
“I’m also 59 this year, so I need to be really wary, and I need to question what I do.”
Despite her recovery, the experience has left a lasting mark.
“I’m fully recovered, but I do have to have annual checkups. I go in twice a year. Because once you’ve had kidney stones, they do have a tendency to come back.”
It’s this personal journey that made the Lifeblood collaboration so meaningful.
Recorded at Melbourne’s Festival Hall, the performance brought together musicians who have all experienced serious health challenges requiring blood or plasma donations.
Tina’s collaborator, the singer, songwriter and visual artist, Ngaiire, had a rare cancer as a child, Ganglioneuroblastoma. Her cancer treatment included blood transfusions, chemotherapyha dn radiotherapy. She spent a large portion of her childhood in hospitals and shares that music was her medium for processing the experience. Now, she is forever grateful to the people who donated their blood, as it made her life, music, and career possible.
“It’s an incredible thing to think about what we can do for each other – you’re giving someone a second chance at life. I’m a living example of that generosity and the benefits are tenfold,” Ngaiire said in a statement.
The cellist, Adam, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and underwent chemotherapy, but sadly, the cancer returned. However, he finally found a stem cell donor and has recovered. Now, 13 years after medical issues, he’s able to return to work, travel and enjoy his life.
The drummer, Jonathan, was only born thanks to plasma donations. His brother had neonatal haemochromatosis and didn’t live long after birth. He had the same condition, and thanks to Intravenous Immunoglobulin therapy, which is created using donated plasma, he was born healthy.
“Because of the incredible generosity of strangers who donated their plasma, I was born healthy. Every milestone I’ve reached, every birthday I’ve celebrated, exists because someone, somewhere chose to donate. People I’ll never have the chance to meet or thank literally saved my life before I was born.”
The guitarist Lara was in a skiing accident in 2023, which resulted in multiple potentially fatal injuries, including broken bones (her sternum, ribs, vertebrae and more) and a brain bleed. In the course of her recovery, she received numerous life-saving blood transfusions. She has since re-learned how to walk, graduated from university and is acting in an upcoming feature film.
The pianist, Maxwell, was born with a rare blood disorder, Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome. He received a cord blood transplant and life-saving platelet transfusions. Music was his way to escape his illness as a child.
For Tina, being surrounded by people with similar experiences created an immediate bond.
“It’s really, it’s interesting, you know, because you don’t, you almost don’t have to get into a conversation where you have to speak about all of the details.”
“There’s almost an unspoken understanding that you have with one another.”
Many of the musicians involved had endured difficult health journeys of their own. The collective experience created a powerful atmosphere in the studio.
“I don’t think there’s a connection and I can’t explain why or how, but there just is.”
The team chose to reinterpret Sia’s ‘Unstoppable’, a song about perseverance and resilience, a theme Tina says resonated strongly with everyone involved.
“I guess for all of us, even an adversity like that has not, it’s made us almost unstoppable in a way. It’s made us super resilient.”
Tina also had a clear creative vision for the track.
“My intuitive thought initially was, let’s strip it back. Because I believe in getting to the essence of what it is.”
By simplifying the arrangement, she wanted listeners to focus on the emotional depth of the performance.
“I really wanted to make it focus on the beauty of that song because I think it’s quite beautiful.”
Working alongside Ngaiire proved to be a deeply rewarding experience.
“Ngaiire and I are different singers, and we come from different worlds, but you know we have a connection.”
“I really like Ngaiire a lot, I think she’s a beautiful woman, she’s a very elegant person.”
Their musical chemistry came naturally.
“Our energy is locked in. It was a really beautiful experience.”
And while the collaboration came together for this particular project, Tina says she’s always open to creative partnerships, provided the connection feels right.
“For me, collaboration’s about human spirit and human connection, and sometimes you have them, sometimes you don’t.”
Perhaps the most profound change Tina Arena has experienced since her health scare is how she approaches life itself.
“I just prefer to live whatever time I’ve got left as truthfully as I can.”
She says the thought of what could have happened during her illness stayed with her, particularly when she thought about her family.
“When I was staring, I thought, Jesus, I may not have come out of this. And I would have left a young son.”
In that moment, she says, her determination to recover became clear.
“My boy was my real inspiration to get out of that. I went, yeah, no, I’m not coming yet. It’s not my time.”
Ultimately, Tina Arena hopes the new recording will do more than just move listeners; she hopes it encourages people to donate blood.
Because, as she knows firsthand, a single donation can mean everything.
“Does it really take a lot from us to sit down in a comfy chair, to have some blood drawn out from us that could potentially save somebody else’s life?”
“I don’t think that’s a lot to ask of us.”
For the singer who once fought for her own life in a hospital bed, the answer feels simple.
“What you’re donating could ultimately end up saving someone’s life; it’s incredible.”
You can book a blood donation and learn more about the impact of blood donations on Lifeblood’s website.
