{"id":1849,"date":"2022-08-08T20:55:38","date_gmt":"2022-08-08T20:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/?p=1849"},"modified":"2022-08-08T20:55:38","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T20:55:38","slug":"celebrating-and-honoring-the-life-of-singer-and-actress-olivia-newton-john","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2022\/08\/celebrating-and-honoring-the-life-of-singer-and-actress-olivia-newton-john.html","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating and Honoring the Life of Singer and Actress Olivia Newton-John"},"content":{"rendered":"

Olivia Newton-John, the Australian singer whose voice and natural beauty made her one of the biggest pop stars of the ’70s and captivated generations of viewers in the hit movie “Grease,” died on Monday, according to a statement from her husband. She was 73.<\/p>\n

Her husband, John Easterling, wrote in a statement on Newton-John’s Instagram account, saying, “Dame Olivia Newton-John passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends. We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time. Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years, sharing her journey with breast cancer.” In September 2018, the singer shared that she was treating cancer at her spine’s base. This was her third cancer diagnosis after two bouts with breast cancer in the 90s and 2017.<\/p>\n

Born in Cambridge, England, in 1948, Newton-John moved with her family to Melbourne, Australia, when she was five. After winning a talent contest on a TV show, “Sing, Sing, Sing,” as a\u00a0teen, she formed an all-girl group and began appearing on weekly pop music programs in Australia.<\/p>\n

Newton-John recorded her first single in England in 1966 and scored a few international hits. Still, she remained largely unknown to US audiences until 1973, when “Let Be There” became a top-10 hit on the adult contemporary and the country charts.\u202fA series of No. 1 easy-listening hits followed, including “I Honestly Love You,” “Have You Never Been Mellow,” and “Please, Mr. Please.”<\/p>\n

\"Olivia<\/a>
Eva Rinaldi\/Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then came “Grease,” which was 1978’s top-grossing movie and became an enduring cultural phenomenon. Although she had little acting experience (and turned 29 during filming), Newton-John gave an unforgettable performance as Sandy, a sweet-natured Australian transfer student who romances John Travolta’s alpha greaser Danny at a Southern California high school in the 1950s.<\/p>\n

Newton-John sang on three of the movie’s biggest hits: the duets “You’re The One That I Want” and “Summer Nights” with Travolta, and her swoony solo ballad, “Hopelessly Devoted To You.” The film allowed Newton-John to change her squeaky-clean image.<\/p>\n

The cover of her next album, “Totally Hot,” featured the singer in black leather, while its songs had an edgier, more contemporary pop sound. In 1981, she took her new, sexier persona a step further with “Physical,” a dance number with such suggestive lyrics as, “There’s nothing left to talk about unless it’s horizontally.” Banned by several radio stations, it became her biggest hit, spending ten weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100.<\/p>\n

In 1983 she teamed with Travolta again for “Two of a Kind,” a romantic comedy-fantasy, but it failed to recapture their “Grease” spark. Over a lengthy career, Newton-John won four Grammy Awards and sold over 100 million albums. Unfortunately, Newton-John canceled several shows due to her cancer diagnosis. In 2005, she also dealt with the mysterious disappearance of her boyfriend, Patrick McDermott.<\/p>\n

Among her highlights were guest appearances on “Glee,” a long-running “Summer Nights” residency at the Flamingo Las Vegas, and a dance club hit, “You Have to Believe,” recorded with daughter Chloe. In 2017, Newton-John told CNN,\u202f”I love to sing; it’s all I know how to do. That’s all I’ve ever done since I was 15, so it’s my life. I feel very grateful that I can still do it and people still come to see me.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Olivia Newton-John, the Australian singer whose voice and natural beauty made her one of the biggest pop stars of the ’70s and captivated generations of viewers in the hit movie “Grease,” died on Monday, according to a statement from her husband. She was 73. Her husband, John Easterling, wrote in a statement on Newton-John’s Instagram…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":1855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[127,173,121,122],"tags":[616],"class_list":["post-1849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actor","category-artist","category-celebrity","category-entertainment","tag-olivia-newton-john"],"yoast_head":"\nCelebrating and Honoring the Life of Singer and Actress Olivia Newton-John<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to her husband, Olivia Newton-John, the singer and actress best known for her role as Sandy in "Grease," passed away on Monday.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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