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Dame Olivia Newton-John, Dead At 73

Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John
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(CelebrityAccess) — Grammy-winning singer, actor, and entrepreneur, Dame Olivia Newton-John has died. She was 73.

Newton-John’s passing was announced by her husband, John Easterling, who said she died at her home in Southern California on Monday morning.

A cause of death was not provided but Newton-John was public about her breast cancer, having first been diagnosed in 1997 and then again in 2013. In 2017, the cancer recurred, metastasized to other parts of her body, and progressed to stage IV.

Born in the UK and raised in Australia, Newton-John formed her first girl group Sol Four, when she was just 14, performing in a local coffee shop owned by her brother-in-law.

Her talent also landed her regular appearances on Australian television where she met future singing partner Pat Carroll, and future music producer, John Farrar.

After relocating to the UK, Newton-John released her first single, “Till You Say You’ll Be Mine” on Decca Records and formed “Pat and Olivia” a duo with Carroll that successfully toured clubs in the UK and Europe.

In 1970, she was recruited by noted American music exec Don Kirshner as part of the pop group Toomorrow, which attempted to replicate the success of The Monkees with a science fiction-themed musical film, but the project failed to gain traction and the group dissolved.

The following year, she released her debut solo album, which included the hits “If Not for You” which reached #1 in the U.S. on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Chart and “Banks of the Ohio” which peaked at #1 in Australia.

Over the next several decades, she released a series of successful albums, reaching the peak of her chart success in 1981 with the release of “Physical” which went gold or platinum in multiple countries and netted Newton-John multiple Grammy nods, including for Video of the Year, which she won.


Newton-John was an early adopter of the music video format, releasing a video for every single from her 1978 album, “Totally Hot.” Her early music videos were simple recordings of a live performance but by the time she released “Physical” three years later, her videos included storytelling and plots, making her one of the first artists to explore the creative potential of the medium.

In addition to her music, Newton-John continued to act on television and the big screen. Her career was bolstered in 1978 when she was cast in the lead role of Sandy in the film adaptation of the popular Broadway musical Grease. However, three years later, she garnered a starring role in the musical fantasy “Xanadu” which featured music from Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra.

While the film was roundly panned and flopped at the box office, the soundtrack to Xanadu, which featured music by Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra, Cliff Richard, and The Tubes, proved to be a hit, charting in multiple territories.

“Xanadu” was successfully revived in 2007 as a Broadway production and would close after 512 performances before hitting the road in North America as a touring theatrical production.

Along with her work as an entertainer, Newton-John was also an activist and advocate for numerous humanitarian issues, including health and wellness and the environment. She served as Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations Environment Programme; National Spokesperson for the Colette Chuda Environmental Fund/CHEC, and president of the Isle of Man Basking Shark Society between 1998 and 2005.

She also worked to raise cancer awareness, detailing her own decades-long struggle with cancer through albums such as Gaia: One Woman’s Journey, and Grace and Gratitude, which benefited multiple charities, including the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization.

She also raised funds to help build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia and was featured in UniGlobe Entertainment’s breast cancer docu-drama, 1 a Minute, released in October 2010.

“I knew Olivia Newton-John because I interviewed her for Anne Murray’s final album “Duets, Friends and Legends,” said Larry LeBlanc, senior writer with CelebrityAccess. “She was friends and a collaborator with another friend, songwriter Amy Sky and her husband Marc Jordan, also a songwriter. They have a cottage near ours in Muskoka in Northn Ontario and Olivia would visit. There were several sightings of Olivia at Weber’s a famous roadhouse burger spot on Highway 11 just south of Gravenhurst.  Olivia was a delightful and we had a great interview about her love of Anne Murray’s music and about mutual people we knew.”

Newton-John was married twice, first in 1984 to actor Matt Lattanzi, who she met during the filming of “Xanadu.” The couple divorced amicably in 1995. In 2008, she married businessman John Easterling.


She 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.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any donations be made in her memory to the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund (ONJFoundationFund.org).

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