Beloved The Voice Australia star Virginia Lillye tragically believed her cancer treatment was going well, just weeks before her death following a two-year battle with advanced ovarian cancer.
On September 22, the award-winning singer who died on Sunday aged 56, shared a post to social media with hopeful news about her recovery, describing her tumour as ‘tiny’ and expressing relief that treatments were progressing successfully.
Alongside a photo of her and her husband Julian smiling in their car, Virginia wrote some hopeful words.
‘First up for today was a meeting with the radiation team. All systems are go!! The tumour is very tiny and sitting in the middle of nowhere in my liver,’ she began.
‘Which is a great thing as no other organs will be affected, making it less of an issue for possible side effects.’
Her optimistic post painted a hopeful picture, making her sudden death all the more shocking and heartbreaking.
Beloved The Voice Australia star Virginia Lillye tragically believed her cancer treatment was going well, just weeks before her death following a two-year battle with advanced ovarian cancer
‘The procedure will take three treatments condensed into just over a week… Should be all over by the middle of October… Or rather to see it gone completely! Am just so happy and pleased that everything is heading in the right direction,’ Virginia wrote.
‘This will bring some relief and breathing joy. I am seriously overwhelmed and beyond grateful at the rapid service provided.’
Tragically, her condition soon took an unexpected turn for the worse and she died on October 19, just under four weeks after she shared the upbeat post.
The award-winning singer’s death was announced by Australian musician Don Spencer on social media.
‘I am terribly saddened to hear that the beautiful Virginia Lillye has lost her battle with cancer,’ Don began.
‘Virginia was not only an amazing talent but one of the loveliest people you could meet. She performed many times to help raise funds for The Australian Children’s Music Foundation.
‘She was an absolute showstopper. My deepest sympathy to Julian and her family. RIP.’
Virginia spent decades touring the world, sharing the stage with Gene Simmons from KISS, Richie Kotzen from Poison and Gilby Clarke from Guns ‘N’ Roses, along with many of Australia’s best-known acts.
On September 22, The award-winning singer who died on Sunday aged 56, shared a post to social media with hopeful news about her recovery, describing her tumour as ‘tiny’ and expressing relief that treatments were progressing successfully
Tragically, her condition soon took an unexpected turn for the worse and she died on October 19, just under four weeks after she shared that upbeat post
However, the Sydneysider was best known to many Aussies for being on season nine of The Voice in 2020, where she made it through to the top 20 showdown rounds as part of Boy George’s team.
Her world was turned upside down in June 2023 when she was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer.
After putting her career on hold, she spoke to the Daily Mail at the time to help raise awareness about the disease.
‘It’s a silent cancer that doesn’t make its appearance known until it’s stage three,’ she said.
‘Ovarian cancer doesn’t get as much attention as other cancers. It’s a sneaky cancer with the symptoms coming on late in the diagnosis.
‘It usually gets to stage three before you know what’s happening. There needs to be more awareness. More funds need to be raised to help instigate finding ways to discovering earlier diagnosis.’
She was holidaying in Israel with her husband Julian when she started to experience severe stomach pains and bloating.
The couple rushed to the hospital as soon as they landed back in Sydney and received the devastating news three days later.
Following the diagnosis, she underwent several rounds of chemotherapy.
‘They had to reopen my gutted torso to remove and treat the infection and then sew and staple me back up… leaving me with no belly button anymore,’ she recalled.
There is no early detection test for ovarian cancer, with around 70 per cent of cases diagnosed in the advanced stages when it has spread to other parts of the body.
