John Travolta has paid tribute to his Grease co-star Olivia Newton-John, saying her 'impact was incredible'. Photo / Getty Images
John Travolta has paid tribute to his Grease co-star Olivia Newton-John, saying her 'impact was incredible'. Photo / Getty Images
Olivia Newton-John has died at 73 at her home in California after a long battle with cancer, her husband says.
The Australian singer and actress, who starred in Grease and had a series of hit songs in the 1970s and 80s, sold more than 100 million albums.
She had battled breast cancer for three decades, having previously beaten the illness twice.
Her husband John Easterling said on Facebook: "Dame Olivia Newton-John (73) 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 Newton-John, pictured in 2018. Photo / Getty Images
"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.
"Olivia is survived by her husband John Easterling; daughter Chloe Lattanzi; sister Sarah Newton-John; brother Toby Newton-John; nieces and nephews Tottie, Fiona and Brett Goldsmith; Emerson, Charlie, Zac, Jeremy, Randall, and Pierz Newton-John; Jude Newton-Stock, Layla Lee; Kira and Tasha Edelstein; and Brin and Valerie Hall."
John Travolta has paid tribute to his Grease co-star Olivia Newton-John, saying her 'impact was incredible'. Photo / Getty Images
Her Grease co-star John Travolta said: "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 moment I saw you and forever! Your Danny, your John!"
From 1973-83, Newton-John was among the world's most popular entertainers.
She had 14 top 10 singles just in the US, won four Grammys, starred with Travolta in Grease and with Gene Kelly in Xanadu. The fast-stepping Travolta-Newton-John duet, You're the One That I Want, was one of the era's biggest songs and has sold more than 15 million copies.
30-year cancer battle
Newton-John has battled breast cancer for more than 30 years. She famously overcame a 1992 cancer diagnosis but the disease returned in 2013 and then again in 2017
A source told TMZ today: "After a 30-year cancer journey, she lost her battle to metastatic breast cancer."
The Australian actor starred in Grease with John Travolta.
We have lost a great, iconic artist in Olivia Newton John, gone too soon from us at age 73. I trust she is now in the great Xanadu beyond. Know that we are forever hopelessly devoted to you, Olivia. Rest in song and mirth.
I interviewed Olivia Newton-John several years ago. She was so humble. The moment she walked into the room and said Hello,My Name Is Olivia and I'm here to talk to Jeff my heart melted. She even wrote a letter to my friend's mom who had breast cancer. RIP Olivia. I love you! ❤ https://t.co/NgNGOjVZT4
The star had hit songs If Not for You in 1971 and Let Me Be There in 1973.
But her big break came in 1978 when she starred as Sandy opposite Travolta in Grease, belting out songs including Summer Nights and Hopelessly Devoted to You.
Her biggest hit was Physical in 1981, which was at number one in the US charts for 10 weeks, breaking records in the 1980s.
It was named Billboard's song of the year despite being banned by some radio stations. An aerobics-friendly promotional clip, filmed in the early years of MTV, won a Grammy for best video.
Newton-John teamed up with Travolta again in the 1983 rom-com Two of a Kind, which failed at the box office. Her leading roles were mainly in TV movies afterwards.
She had a few hits afterPhysical, but her career declined and Newton-John became more likely to make news because of her private life. In 1992, as she was preparing a concert tour, her father died and she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Her marriage to actor Matt Lattanzi, with whom she had a daughter, actor-singer Chloe Lattanzi, broke up in 1995 and a years-long relationship with cameraman Patrick McDermott ended mysteriously.
McDermott went missing during a 2005 fishing trip in California and his fate remained unknown years later. Numerous reports alleged that he was living in Mexico, with a new girlfriend.
"He was lost at sea, and nobody really knows what happened," Newton-John told Australia's 60 Minutes in 2016. "It's human to wonder. But you know, those are the things in life you have to accept and let go. Because whenever you go through difficult times, there's always those concerns."
Later years included Sydney Olympics opening
Newton-John continued to act and sing in her later years. In 2000, she duetted with Aussie star John Farnham at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and regularly sang with him afterwards.
That same year she starred as a gay ex-con country singer in the film Sordid Lives, and in its 2008 cable TV spinoff.
In 2010, she starred as herself on Glee and a remake of Physical with the cast reached number 89 on the American charts. It was her first pop single to reach the chart in 12 years.
She had got her start on Australian TV. At 14, she formed a short-lived all-girl group called Sol Four with three of her classmates, often performing in a coffee shop owned by her brother-in-law.
She later starred on local shows including Time for Terry, The Happy Show, and The Go!! Show.
In 1965 she won a talent contest on the TV show Sing, Sing, Sing, performing the songs Anyone Who had a Heart and Everything's Coming Up Roses. She used the prize, a trip to Great Britain, to "broaden her horizons" and recorded her first single while there - Till You Say You'll Be Mine for Decca Records in 1966.
She has spoken of missing her boyfriend at the time, Ian Turpie, who she starred with in the Australian TV film, Funny Things Happen Down Under, and repeatedly booked trips back to Australia. But her mother would cancel them.
Olivia Newton-John with daughter Chloe Lattanzi and husband John Easterling in 2019. Photo / Getty Images
Newton-John was born in Britain but raised in Australia. She met husband-to-be Matt Lattanzi on the set of Xanadu and they married in 1984, having daughter Chloe Rose in 1986. The couple divorced in 1995.
Newton-John was heavily involved in humanitarian causes.
In 1978 she cancelled a concert tour of Japan to protest against the slaughter of dolphins caught in tuna fishing nets.
She performed at the 1979 Music for Unicef Concert for the UN's International Year of the Child, in which artists sang songs they donated royalties for. She was also a goodwill ambassador to the United Nations Environment Programme.
In 1991, she became the national spokesperson for the Colette Chuda Environmental Fund, following the death of four-year-old Colette Chuda - daughter of her friend Nancy Chuda - from Wilms' tumour.
Colette had featured with Newton-John's daughter on the cover of her Warm and Tender album.
Country music beginnings
Newton-John was the daughter of German literature professor Brin Newton-John and Irene Bron, whose father was Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Bron. The Newton-Johns moved to Australia when Olivia was five but she returned to England in her teens and lived with her mother after her parents broke up.
She had early dreams of becoming a veterinarian but was winning singing contests in high school and before the age of 20 had toured army bases and clubs and recorded her first single.
She had loved country music, especially the records of "Tennessee" Ernie Ford, since childhood, but her early success didn't impress critics or some fellow musicians. A Village Voice review likened her to a geisha who "makes her voice smaller than it really is just to please men."
When Newton-John beat Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn for the Country Music Association's top artist of 1973, Tammy Wynette helped founded the Association of Country Entertainers, a club designed to exclude Newton-John and other crossover performers.
But Newton-John had a showbusiness admirer who, with her, became one of movies' most unforgettable teams.
Travolta had starred in the stage version of Grease and for the planned film thought Newton-John would be the "ultimate" Sandy, the nice girl who gets tough in the final act and gets her man.
Olivia Newton-John, the beloved star of ‘Grease’ and musical icon since the 1970s, has passed away at age 73. Her undeniable legacy lives on through the countless musicians she has inspired throughout the decades and for her strength and activism while fighting breast cancer. pic.twitter.com/xOniQRvg3R
