Olivia Newton-John — the British-born, Australian-raised singer-songwriter and actress known best for her star turns in 1978 musical film Grease and 1980's Xanadu, and 1981 smash hit "Physical" — has died. The artist's passing was confirmed by John Easterling, who shared that Newton-John died "peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends." A cause of death was not revealed. She was 73.
"We ask that everyone please respect the family's privacy during this very difficult time," a statement attributed to Easterling shared via Newton-John's social media profiles reads. "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."
In 2017, Newton-John was forced to cancel tour dates following a diagnosis with breast cancer, later revealing that it was her third bout with the disease following prior diagnoses in 1992 and 2013. Her fifteenth studio album, 1994's Gaia: One Woman's Journey, features songs about this first experience.
In addition to advocacy for breast cancer research and healthcare issues, Newton-John would later speak about her use of cannabis oil to treat the pain and help her sleep, telling Australia's Sunday Night, "My dream is that it will be available to all the cancer patients or people going through cancer or any kind of disease that causes pain."
Across a recording career of over four decades, Newton-John captured four Grammy Awards, and landed five No. 1 hits and another 10 top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A pair of mid-'70s albums — 1974's If You Love Me, Let Me Know and 1975's Have You Never Been Mellow — both held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 record chart. Per the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Newton-John has sold 27 million certified albums and singles in the US, and an estimated 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists of all time.
Born in Cambridge, UK, in 1948, Newton-John and her family emigrated to Melbourne, Australia when she was six years old. Her early appearances on Australian music television were highlighted by a 1965 win on competition show Sing, Sing, Sing, with her prize being a trip to the UK where she recorded debut single "Till You Say You'll Be Mine" for Decca Records the following year.
Newton-John would release debut album If Not for You in 1971, the title track a cover of the Bob Dylan-penned song previously recorded by George Harrison for 1970's All Things Must Pass. It was followed by 1972's Olivia, which also featured a pair of Harrison reworks in "What Is Life" and "Behind That Locked Door." While Olivia never received a formal release in the US, her career fortunes began to change stateside with the release of country-leaning single "Let Me Be There" in 1973, which would become the title track of her second North American LP (it was released in the UK as her third album, titled Music Makes My Day).
In 1974, Newton-John represented the UK in that year's edition of the Eurovision Song Contest singing "Long Live Love," finishing in fourth place behind Swedish contest winners ABBA and their song "Waterloo." Newton-John's 1974 album, released in North America as If You Love Me, Let Me Know, earned her success on adult contemporary, pop and country charts with its title track and second single "I Honestly Love You."
After Newton-John won the Country Music Association Award for Female Vocalist of the Year — beating out the likes of Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Tanya Tucker and Anne Murray — and a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance that year, genre purists took issue with the amount of recognition the non-American artist had received. In response to the criticism, Stella Parton (Dolly Parton's younger sister) penned 1975 single "Ode to Olivia," featuring lyrical references to Newton-John's catalogue among sentiments like, "They don't treat us this way / When we sing in your country / Who said a country girl / Had to be from Tennessee."
Reflecting on the controversy in Tim Ewbank's 2011 book Olivia: The Biography of Olivia Newton-John, the artist said, "It's all music. Country music has a style and I love it for the simplicity. But I also believe you can't put a passport on music. It doesn't belong to one section of the country. Music is international. The notes, the sounds, belong to anyone who can sing them."
Newton-John would move the US in the late '70s, reaching new career heights upon starring in the film adaptation of Grease in 1978. Her character, named Sandy Dumbrowski in the musical, was rewritten as Australian Sandy Olsson for the film to accommodate her Australian accent. Grease would top the box office that year, and its soundtrack would earn Newton-John a trio of Top 5 singles in "You're the One That I Want," "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Summer Nights."
Reflecting on the blockbuster for its 40th anniversary in 2018, Newton-John told Billboard, "I think the songs are timeless. They're fun and have great energy. The '50s-feel music has always been popular, and it's nostalgic for my generation, and then the young kids are rediscovering it every 10 years or so, it seems. People buying the album was a way for them to remember those feelings of watching the movie and feelings of that time period. I feel very grateful to be a part of this movie that's still loved so much."
In tribute to his Grease co-star, Travolta wrote on social media, "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 would sport a Grease-inspired look on the cover of 10th album, 1978's Totally Hot, and would soon find more soundtrack success with 1980 musical film Xanadu. Newton-John would lend vocals to "Magic" and the title track with Electric Light Orchestra, while the album itself would go on to reach double platinum certification in Canada and the US.
Newton-John would follow her work on Xanadu with 1981's Physical, which remains her most successful studio album. The album's title track — written with Rod Stewart in mind, and initially offered to Tina Turner — was an instant smash for Newton-John upon its release, spending 10 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart ahead of being certified Platinum by the RIAA.
As acclaimed as the single and its accompanying music video would become, "Physical" also invited controversy, with "Physical" either edited or banned outright by radio and television stations for its sexual innuendo. Considered widely to be one of the best songs of the decade, "Physical" has gone to be interpolated by modern stars including Dua Lipa, Doja Cat and Miley Cyrus.
Newton-John would continue writing, recording and releasing music into the 2010s, her most recent album being 2016's Friends for Christmas, a holiday collection recorded with fellow UK-born Australian artist John Farnham. In January 2021, she released single "Window in the Wall" alongside her daughter Chloe Lattanzi.
A Canadian connection: Newton-John also starred in Michael McGowan's 2010 film Score: A Hockey Musical, alongside future Schitt's Creek player and songwriter Noah Reid, Allie MacDonald, Marc Jordan and Nelly Furtado. The film — in which Hawksley Workman, K. Trevor Wilson and George Stroumboulopoulos also appeared — saw Newton-John contribute song "Hugs" to the soundtrack.
Find further tributes to Newton-John from Edgar Wright, Gabrielle Union, Dionnne Warwick, Peter Frampton and more below.
"We ask that everyone please respect the family's privacy during this very difficult time," a statement attributed to Easterling shared via Newton-John's social media profiles reads. "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."
In 2017, Newton-John was forced to cancel tour dates following a diagnosis with breast cancer, later revealing that it was her third bout with the disease following prior diagnoses in 1992 and 2013. Her fifteenth studio album, 1994's Gaia: One Woman's Journey, features songs about this first experience.
In addition to advocacy for breast cancer research and healthcare issues, Newton-John would later speak about her use of cannabis oil to treat the pain and help her sleep, telling Australia's Sunday Night, "My dream is that it will be available to all the cancer patients or people going through cancer or any kind of disease that causes pain."
Across a recording career of over four decades, Newton-John captured four Grammy Awards, and landed five No. 1 hits and another 10 top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A pair of mid-'70s albums — 1974's If You Love Me, Let Me Know and 1975's Have You Never Been Mellow — both held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 record chart. Per the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Newton-John has sold 27 million certified albums and singles in the US, and an estimated 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists of all time.
Born in Cambridge, UK, in 1948, Newton-John and her family emigrated to Melbourne, Australia when she was six years old. Her early appearances on Australian music television were highlighted by a 1965 win on competition show Sing, Sing, Sing, with her prize being a trip to the UK where she recorded debut single "Till You Say You'll Be Mine" for Decca Records the following year.
Newton-John would release debut album If Not for You in 1971, the title track a cover of the Bob Dylan-penned song previously recorded by George Harrison for 1970's All Things Must Pass. It was followed by 1972's Olivia, which also featured a pair of Harrison reworks in "What Is Life" and "Behind That Locked Door." While Olivia never received a formal release in the US, her career fortunes began to change stateside with the release of country-leaning single "Let Me Be There" in 1973, which would become the title track of her second North American LP (it was released in the UK as her third album, titled Music Makes My Day).
In 1974, Newton-John represented the UK in that year's edition of the Eurovision Song Contest singing "Long Live Love," finishing in fourth place behind Swedish contest winners ABBA and their song "Waterloo." Newton-John's 1974 album, released in North America as If You Love Me, Let Me Know, earned her success on adult contemporary, pop and country charts with its title track and second single "I Honestly Love You."
After Newton-John won the Country Music Association Award for Female Vocalist of the Year — beating out the likes of Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Tanya Tucker and Anne Murray — and a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance that year, genre purists took issue with the amount of recognition the non-American artist had received. In response to the criticism, Stella Parton (Dolly Parton's younger sister) penned 1975 single "Ode to Olivia," featuring lyrical references to Newton-John's catalogue among sentiments like, "They don't treat us this way / When we sing in your country / Who said a country girl / Had to be from Tennessee."
Reflecting on the controversy in Tim Ewbank's 2011 book Olivia: The Biography of Olivia Newton-John, the artist said, "It's all music. Country music has a style and I love it for the simplicity. But I also believe you can't put a passport on music. It doesn't belong to one section of the country. Music is international. The notes, the sounds, belong to anyone who can sing them."
Newton-John would move the US in the late '70s, reaching new career heights upon starring in the film adaptation of Grease in 1978. Her character, named Sandy Dumbrowski in the musical, was rewritten as Australian Sandy Olsson for the film to accommodate her Australian accent. Grease would top the box office that year, and its soundtrack would earn Newton-John a trio of Top 5 singles in "You're the One That I Want," "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Summer Nights."
Reflecting on the blockbuster for its 40th anniversary in 2018, Newton-John told Billboard, "I think the songs are timeless. They're fun and have great energy. The '50s-feel music has always been popular, and it's nostalgic for my generation, and then the young kids are rediscovering it every 10 years or so, it seems. People buying the album was a way for them to remember those feelings of watching the movie and feelings of that time period. I feel very grateful to be a part of this movie that's still loved so much."
In tribute to his Grease co-star, Travolta wrote on social media, "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 would sport a Grease-inspired look on the cover of 10th album, 1978's Totally Hot, and would soon find more soundtrack success with 1980 musical film Xanadu. Newton-John would lend vocals to "Magic" and the title track with Electric Light Orchestra, while the album itself would go on to reach double platinum certification in Canada and the US.
Newton-John would follow her work on Xanadu with 1981's Physical, which remains her most successful studio album. The album's title track — written with Rod Stewart in mind, and initially offered to Tina Turner — was an instant smash for Newton-John upon its release, spending 10 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart ahead of being certified Platinum by the RIAA.
As acclaimed as the single and its accompanying music video would become, "Physical" also invited controversy, with "Physical" either edited or banned outright by radio and television stations for its sexual innuendo. Considered widely to be one of the best songs of the decade, "Physical" has gone to be interpolated by modern stars including Dua Lipa, Doja Cat and Miley Cyrus.
Newton-John would continue writing, recording and releasing music into the 2010s, her most recent album being 2016's Friends for Christmas, a holiday collection recorded with fellow UK-born Australian artist John Farnham. In January 2021, she released single "Window in the Wall" alongside her daughter Chloe Lattanzi.
A Canadian connection: Newton-John also starred in Michael McGowan's 2010 film Score: A Hockey Musical, alongside future Schitt's Creek player and songwriter Noah Reid, Allie MacDonald, Marc Jordan and Nelly Furtado. The film — in which Hawksley Workman, K. Trevor Wilson and George Stroumboulopoulos also appeared — saw Newton-John contribute song "Hugs" to the soundtrack.
Find further tributes to Newton-John from Edgar Wright, Gabrielle Union, Dionnne Warwick, Peter Frampton and more below.
