Olivia Newton-John, the Anglo-Australian singer and actress loved for playing Sandy in Grease, has died. She was 73.
He has had a long career in the entertainment industry, especially as a songwriter and recording artist. Newton-John has sold around 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time.
He has won four Grammy Awards and landed five Billboard Hot 100 singles and more than 15 top 10 singles in his lifetime. Billboard ranked her number 20 on the list of the 100 most beautiful artists of all time and number seven on the list of the hottest women of all time. In 1979, Queen Elizabeth awarded him the Order of the British Empire.
She is best remembered by millions as the good girl-turned-bad Sandy in the 1978 film Grease, opposite John Travolta. The film took her career to new heights, including changing Sandy’s role from an American girl to a transplanted Australian with a native Newton-John accent. One of her songs in the film, “Hopelessly Devoted to You”, was nominated for the 1979 Academy Award for Best Song. Along with “You’re the One That I Want”, it was written by his music producer John Farrar, especially for the film, with the voice of Newton-John.
The film made her the second woman in history at the time to have two Billboard top 5 singles, simultaneously with “Hopelessly Devoted to You” and “Summer Nights”
Before her role as Sandy catapulted her to new heights of fame, Newton-John had success in the 1970s with songs like “I Honestly Love You”, “Have You Never Been Mellow” and “Please Mr . Please “. After the success of Grease, she was able to elevate her image of herself a bit, like Sandy, and released more edgy singles like “A Little More Love” and “Physical”.
“Physical” became the number one single of the 1980s and climbed the charts for ten consecutive weeks. In 2015, Billboard magazine placed the song in eighth place on its list of the 100 Best Songs of All Time.
Newton-John has battled cancer repeatedly throughout his life and previously postponed his 2017 tour due to her return. She has become a staunch advocate of cancer research, including leading fundraising efforts and the creation of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Center in Melbourne, Australia.
The star was born on September 26, 1948 in Cambridge, England, to Irene and Brin Newton-John. The family moved to Melbourne, Australia when he was only five years old. Newton-John showed an early interest in singing and performing when she won a talent show on the Australian television show Sing, Sing, Sing and she formed the female group Sol 4 lei at the age of 15.
He later collaborated with his friend Pat Carroll on the double act “Pat and Olivia” and toured army bases and clubs all over Europe. Newton-John released her first single in 1966, a new version of “Till You Say You’ll Be Mine”, and in 1971 she recorded a cover of Bob Dylan’s “If Not for You”. He represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Long Live Love” in 1974. He finished fourth in the competition behind the most famous competition winners ever – ABBA – “Waterloo”.
Newton-John made her US album debut with Let Me Be There, which spawned her first top ten single of the same name. The Academy of Country Music chose her as the Most Promising Singer and she won the Grammy Award for Best Country Singer.
His next album was If You Love Me, Let Me Know, which spawned his signature song “I Honest Love You”. It won her two more Grammys, including Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance – Female. His next album in 1975, Have You Never Been Mellow, also hit the charts. Grease took him to new heights and in 1978 his new album Totally Hot entered the top 10. In 1980 he released a duet with Bee Gees member Andy Gibb called “I Can’t Help It”.
In addition to starring in Grease, Newton-John has amassed numerous film credits throughout his career, including roles in Funny Things Happen Down Under, Tomorrow, Xanadu, Two of a Kind, It’s My Party, Sordid Lives, Score: A Hockey Musical and A Few to give evidence. In Xanadu, he danced with Hollywood legend Gene Kelly. Xanadu also spawned a hit soundtrack, including “Magic,” which became one of the biggest pop hits of his career.
Then came the mega hit Physical, which went double platinum. The title track was much bolder than most of Newton-John’s own fare, and in 2017 he told EW, “I recorded it and then all of a sudden I thought, ‘God, maybe I went too far!’” It was a little more vulgar. than I thought I called [my manager] Roger [to Davies] and I said, “We need to release this song!” He said: “It’s too late. He’s already on the radio and climbing the charts. “I was terrified!” also spawned an ABC primetime special called Let’s Get Physical.
Newton-John was also a committed philanthropist, serving as the first Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program and, in 1991, as the National Representative for the Environmental Coalition for Australian Children’s Health. In 2008, he and a group of other cancer survivors took a trip along the Great Wall of China to raise money for cancer research and treatment.
She survived her first bout of breast cancer in the early 1990s, which was also the inspiration for her self-produced and self-produced album Gaia. His experience with Gaia also led Newton-John to become more active as a songwriter afterwards. With Hallmark he released two albums, the Christmas album Tis the Season and Stronger than Before 2005. The proceeds from the sale of the album benefited cancer research.
Throughout his life, Newton-John continued to record and perform, including a 2002 duet album featuring mainly Australian artists and several Christmas albums. He has been actively touring throughout his career, including a residency in Las Vegas in 2014.
Newton-John has also made several TV appearances and played himself in numerous shows, including Murphy Brown, Ned and Stacey and Glee. On Glee, he recreated his “Physical” video with star Jane Lynch, and the look brought him back to the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time since 1998. In addition to guest starring, he also hosted his own Australian series. nature Wild life for many years.
He has been married twice. First to actor Matt Lattanzi, whom he met on the set of Xanadu. They were married between 1984 and 1985 and Newton-John had a daughter, Chloe Rose, who was born in 1986.
In 2008, she married John Easterling, who survives her, as well as her daughter Chloe, her brother and many grandchildren.