The Voice Behind One of the Most Inspirational Shows on the Radio Had to Find Her Own Inspiration
Dec. 7 2019, Updated 11:35 a.m. ET
Her voice has been on the radio for over 35 years. Initially known as Delilah Rene, she eventually simply became Delilah. Known for her inspirational and motivational messages for fans who call up to talk about their situations or stories and for always picking the perfect song for her listener's stories, Delilah became a mainstay for over 8 million listeners.
But most listeners don't know Delilah's own story. The radio host has a very non-traditional family and, over the past 8 years, they've been struggling to find their own inspiration in the face of tragedies.
Delilah is a mom to 14 kids.
The 59-year-old is a mom with 14 children. Of her 14 children, 10 of them were adopted. The radio host, who is known for dishing out love advice to her many listeners, has actually been married four times herself. She's currently married to Paul Warner, despite the fact that they live six and half hours apart for work.
According to Delilah, Paul raised five kids before they were married and recognizes that Delilah has been a single parent for quite some time before they met. She says that, despite the fact that he loves her children, he doesn't really consider them as his children and did not want to continue raising more kids than his own.
Paul and Delilah were married shortly after a great tragedy in her life: the death of her son Sammy.
Before Delilah married Paul, she had adopted a young boy named Sammy. Nine months after bringing him home, he passed away from sickle cell anemia, after an almost two week stay in the hospital. Before she adopted him, Sammy had already had the disease, but, for most of his life, it went untreated.
When her son Zack died, she struggled to cope with her anger over the loss of two sons.
In 2017, Delilah's son Zack took his own life. He had been struggling with depression and, despite getting treatment, he decided to commit suicide on the morning of October 2, 2017. Delilah informed her fans on social media what had happened and took a leave of absence from her radio show.
In an interview on The Dr. Oz Show, Delilah expressed how her rage bottled up over the loss of her children. She blamed Zack's doctor and has often said that the medication that Zack was prescribed is why he took his life. But her perspective changed when she met country songwriter, Rory Feek, who lost his wife to cancer in 2016.
“He called me, and he said, ‘Delilah, your boys are much more a part of your future than they are of your past,'” she said. “We share the same faith and I just, I was in this rage, and I said, ‘How can you say that? I don’t get to go to their weddings, I don’t get to see their babies, I don’t get to be a grandma, I don’t get to see them graduate, both of them,’ And he said, ‘Because you know where they are, and you know you’ll be with them in the future.'”
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
