I am very sad to hear that Olivia Newton-John, who I consider to be one of our greatest pop singers, has passed away at the age of seventy-three. The British-born, Australian-raised performer was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992 and had been bravely been battling against this disease ever since yet sadly succumbed on August 8th.
Performing professionally as a singer since she was a teenager, Newton-John had first joined an all-girl singing group, Sol-Four with some of her fellow classmates which lead to becoming a regular on "The Happy Show", an Australian children's program, where she was billed as "Lovely 'Livvy". It was during her appearance on another television show, "The Go Show" where Olivia met two people who would become very important to her career; Pat Carroll, who would become her singing partner and John Farrar who later became the writer/producer of much of her music.
Newton-John and Carroll went to England and became the singing act, "Pat and Olivia" in 1967 and toured the country. Yet when Carroll's work visa expired, she had to return to Australia and Newton-John reluctantly decided to stay in Britain to continue her music career. It eventually paid off when she met American producer, Don Kirshner in 1970 who hired her to join his band, Toomorrow he created and to star in a sci-fi musical movie featuring the group, much like he had done co-creating the television series, "The Monkees". This film nor the singing group was much of a success yet it did lead to Newton-John being signed to as a solo artist.
Newton-John's debut album, "If Not For You" was released in 1971, a collection of cover songs by contemporary artists of the day. The title track (which was originally written and recorded by Bob Dylan) became Newton-John's first breakthrough single, reaching the top-forty on the US pop and number one on the adult-contemporary chart. This was just the beginning of an extraordinary career with many hits songs on the country, AC and pop charts with "Let Me Be There", "If You Love Me, Let Me Know", "Please Mr. Please", "Have You Ever Been Mellow?", "Something Better to Do", "Sam" and "I Honestly Love You" which became her first number one song in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974.
Then her career soared even further after she was cast in the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical, "Grease" in 1978. This musical became the biggest box-office hit of the year and the soundtrack spent twelve non-consecutive weeks at number one and featured three top-five singles; "Hopelessly Devoted to You", "Summer Nights" and "You're the One That I Want", a duet with co-star, John Travolta. She made another movie, "Xanadu", a musical-fantasy in 1980 that was the last feature film appearance by dance legend, Gene Kelly. Despite this movie becoming a major flop, the soundtrack for "Xanadu" was a huge smash with the title track (with Electric Light Orchestra), "Magic" and "Suddenly" with Cliff Richard, the popular British pop star who became a friend and mentor of Newton-John's early in her career.
The following year, Newton-John released the album and single that would become the biggest seller in her career as a solo artist. "Physical" would spend ten weeks at the top of the US pop chart and with "Make a Move On Me" reaching the top-five, the album, "Physical" went on to sell over two million copies. The sexually suggestive song was enhanced by a playful music video that was set in a gym with a funny twist ending. Other hit songs followed with "Heart Attack", "Twist of Fate" (from the soundtrack of "Two of a Kind", a disastrous 1983 movie that reteamed Newton-John and Travolta) and "Soul Kiss" before her popularity on the pop charts cooled down by 1989.
But Newton-John did not slow down, continuing to work over the years with recordings, television appearances, movie roles (including playing a lesbian ex-con country singer in "Sordid Lives" in 2000), tours and a Las Vegas residency. The last single Newton-John released was in January 2021 with "Window in the Wall", a duet with her daughter, Chloe Lattanzi.
Olivia Newton-John may not have ever been a critic's darling as she wrote very little of own material. But no one could deny her amazing gifts as a vocalist and interpreter of songs. Newton-John was an universally adored hitmaker whose voice was warm, nimble and versatile, explaining why she had achieved such outstanding success back and forth between pop, country and easy listening. Always radiating positive energy and a good spirit, Olivia Newton-John was a special and unique presence in popular music with her loss will be deeply missed forever.
Newton-John's debut album, "If Not For You" was released in 1971, a collection of cover songs by contemporary artists of the day. The title track (which was originally written and recorded by Bob Dylan) became Newton-John's first breakthrough single, reaching the top-forty on the US pop and number one on the adult-contemporary chart. This was just the beginning of an extraordinary career with many hits songs on the country, AC and pop charts with "Let Me Be There", "If You Love Me, Let Me Know", "Please Mr. Please", "Have You Ever Been Mellow?", "Something Better to Do", "Sam" and "I Honestly Love You" which became her first number one song in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974.
Then her career soared even further after she was cast in the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical, "Grease" in 1978. This musical became the biggest box-office hit of the year and the soundtrack spent twelve non-consecutive weeks at number one and featured three top-five singles; "Hopelessly Devoted to You", "Summer Nights" and "You're the One That I Want", a duet with co-star, John Travolta. She made another movie, "Xanadu", a musical-fantasy in 1980 that was the last feature film appearance by dance legend, Gene Kelly. Despite this movie becoming a major flop, the soundtrack for "Xanadu" was a huge smash with the title track (with Electric Light Orchestra), "Magic" and "Suddenly" with Cliff Richard, the popular British pop star who became a friend and mentor of Newton-John's early in her career.
The following year, Newton-John released the album and single that would become the biggest seller in her career as a solo artist. "Physical" would spend ten weeks at the top of the US pop chart and with "Make a Move On Me" reaching the top-five, the album, "Physical" went on to sell over two million copies. The sexually suggestive song was enhanced by a playful music video that was set in a gym with a funny twist ending. Other hit songs followed with "Heart Attack", "Twist of Fate" (from the soundtrack of "Two of a Kind", a disastrous 1983 movie that reteamed Newton-John and Travolta) and "Soul Kiss" before her popularity on the pop charts cooled down by 1989.
But Newton-John did not slow down, continuing to work over the years with recordings, television appearances, movie roles (including playing a lesbian ex-con country singer in "Sordid Lives" in 2000), tours and a Las Vegas residency. The last single Newton-John released was in January 2021 with "Window in the Wall", a duet with her daughter, Chloe Lattanzi.
Olivia Newton-John may not have ever been a critic's darling as she wrote very little of own material. But no one could deny her amazing gifts as a vocalist and interpreter of songs. Newton-John was an universally adored hitmaker whose voice was warm, nimble and versatile, explaining why she had achieved such outstanding success back and forth between pop, country and easy listening. Always radiating positive energy and a good spirit, Olivia Newton-John was a special and unique presence in popular music with her loss will be deeply missed forever.
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