Remembering Olivia Newton-John
• Olivia Newton-John, the Australia-raised singer and actress who became a country-pop, folk-pop, rock-pop, disco-pop sensation in the 1970s, starred in the 1977 smash hit Grease and underwent a sultry makeover with her mega-selling 1981 hit, Physical, died Monday, August 8 at her ranch in Southern California after a lengthy battle with cancer. She was 73.
Newton-John’s family announced her passing in a statement on Facebook, that reads, in part, “Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer. Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any donations be made in her memory to the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund.”
The Washington Post reports that Newton-John was originally treated for breast cancer in 1992, and in 2017, 25 years later, she announced it had returned and metastasized. (She subsequently revealed that she had been battling the disease in private since 2013.)
Newton-John made her first public impression in the mid-’60s as a teen singing talent on Melbourne TV shows and had a runaway hit in England with her 1971 solo cover of Bob Dylan‘s “If Not for You.” Over the next decade she went on to score five No. 1 hit singles — “I Honestly Love You,” “Have You Never Been Mellow,” “You’re the One That I Want” (a duet with John Travolta from the Grease soundtrack), “Magic” (from her critically derided 1980 roller disco fantasy, Xanadu) and “Physical” — won four Grammy Awards, hosted television specials that drew tens of millions of viewers, and remained Australia’s all-time most successful solo music star.
Newton-John’s longtime friend and Grease co-star, John Travolta, posted these thoughts to Instagram, stating, “My dearest Olivia, you made all of our lives so much better. Your impact was incredible. I love you so much. We will see you down the road and we will all be together again. Yours from the first moment I saw you and forever! Your Danny, your John!”
Newton-John is survived by her husband, “Amazon John” Easterling, daughter, Chloe Lattanzi, sister Sarah Newton-John, brother Toby Newton-John and many nieces and nephews. [Photo from Facebook]
• Please check out the Benztown Audio Tribute To Olivia Newton-John, written and voiced by Bill Royal and produced by Thomas Green.
