Olivia Newton-John, the Grammy Award-winning singer and actress best known as the goody two-shoes Sandy in “Grease,” has died at age 73 following her battle with breast cancer.
Newton-John’s husband, John Easterling, confirmed his wife’s death Monday via her verified Facebook page, writing that Newton-John “passed away peacefully at her ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends.”
“Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer,” Easterling wrote. “Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer.”
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A pop singer-turned-icon following her starring role in the hit movie musical, Newton-John was also a fierce advocate of cancer awareness.
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She announced her third round of battling cancer in 2017, this time at the base of her spine. An initial breast cancer diagnosis came in 1992; doctors again found cancer, in Newton-John’s shoulder, following a car accident in 2013.
When asked in a September 2018 interview with Australia’s Channel Seven whether she was scared following the third diagnosis, she said, “I’d be lying if I said I never go there. There are moments; I’m human. If I allowed myself to go there, I could easily create that big fear. But my husband’s always there, and he’s there to support me.
“I believe I will win over it. That’s my goal.”
Newton-John was born Sept. 26, 1948, in Cambridge, England, and moved with her family to Australia at age 5. She grew up singing and won a talent show at 16 that sent her to England, after which she dropped out of high school to pursue performing full-time.
Her first major success as a pop star came with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “If Not For You” in 1971, which hit No. 25 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and catapulted Newton-John to international stardom.
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Possessing a honeyed voice ideally suited to innocuous midtempo songs, Newton-John commandeered both pop and country radio in the mid-’70s with hits “Let Me Be There,” “If You Love Me (Let Me Know),” “Have You Never Been Mellow” and the whispery ballad that would become one of her trademarks, “I Honestly Love You.”
Her star-making turn with John Travolta in “Grease” was heightened by the film’s massively successful soundtrack, which was the second-best-selling album of 1978 and has been certified more than 8 times platinum.
“Hopelessly Devoted to You” – which received an Oscar nomination for best original song in 1979 – as well as her duets with Travolta, “You’re the One That I Want” and “Summer Nights,” have become multigenerational favorites and, at the time, provided Newton-John with an entry into pop stardom.
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Her 1980s output included two hits from the much-maligned film “Xanadu” – the title track with Electric Light Orchestra and “Magic” – before Newton-John struck MTV infamy in 1981 with “Physical.”
The frothy pop tune – a winking nod to sex – signified a shift in Newton-John’s previously wholesome persona, while the video featuring the singer in a tight leotard raised eyebrows in its day.
During a 2017 concert in Atlanta, Newton-John joked that compared to current radio selections, “Physical” is “more like a lullaby!”
But the bouncy tune – which Billboard ranked No. 1 on its Top 100 Songs of the 1980s list – also prompted a parade of additional hits for Newton-John throughout the decade, including “Twist of Fate,” “Make a Move on Me” and, in 1986, “The Best of Me” with super-producer David Foster.
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Newton-John…
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