Olivia Newton-John dead: ‘Grease’ star dies at 73 – National

Grease actor, Grammy-winning singer and pop-culture icon Olivia Newton-John died on Monday morning, in keeping with an announcement posted to her official Fb account. She was 73 years previous.

The assertion mentioned Newton-John “handed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California” on Monday morning, “surrounded by household and pals.”

“We ask that everybody please respect the household’s privateness throughout this very tough time,” learn the assertion.

The singer and actor was first recognized with breast most cancers in 1992 and underwent chemotherapy and a partial mastectomy. In 2013, most cancers was present in her shoulder.

In September 2018, Newton-John revealed that her most cancers had returned the earlier 12 months and had unfold to her decrease again.

The assertion asserting her loss of life highlighted her advocacy work for most cancers analysis, and requested followers to make donations to the Olivia Newton-John Basis Fund, devoted to researching plant medication and most cancers, in lieu of flowers.

The most effective-selling artists of the Seventies and Eighties, Newton-John had a string of No. 1 singles, together with “You’re the One That I Need,” the catchy duet she sang with John Travolta within the 1978 musical sensation Grease.

Her starring function in that movie catapulted the Australian native into superstardom, as did her look with Gene Kelly in 1980’s Xanadu, together with her efficiency of the title observe additionally topping the charts.

Her 1981 smash hit “Bodily” additional cemented her superstardom, spending 10 weeks on the high of the Billboard Scorching 100, whereas its risque lyrics and fitness-themed music video reinvented her picture for the remainder of the Eighties.

“I recorded it after which out of the blue thought, `Goodness, perhaps I’ve gone too far!”’ she instructed Leisure Weekly in 2017, recalling how the tune had been prompt by supervisor Roger Davies. “I referred to as Roger and mentioned, `We’ve received to tug this tune!’ He mentioned, `It’s too late. It’s already gone to radio and it’s operating up the charts.’ I used to be horrified!”

From 1973 to 1983, Newton-John had 14 high 10 singles simply within the U.S., and gained 4 Grammys. She offered over 100 million information over the course of her profession.

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 5, however she returned to England in her teenagers and lived together with her mom after her dad and mom broke up.

She had early goals of changing into a veterinarian however was profitable singing contests in highschool and earlier than age 20 had toured military bases and golf equipment and recorded her first single, “Until You Say You’ll Be Mine.” In 1971, she lined Bob Dylan’s “If Not for You” and started a detailed partnership with a good friend from Australia, John Farrar, who produced the tune and later wrote “You’re the One That I Need,” “Magic” and several other different hits for her.

She had beloved nation music, particularly the information of “Tennessee” Ernie Ford, since childhood, however her early success didn’t impress critics or some fellow musicians. A Village Voice evaluation likened her to a geisha who “makes her voice smaller than it truly is simply to please males.” When Newton-John beat out Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn for the Nation Music Affiliation’s high artist of 1973, Tammy Wynette helped based the Affiliation of Nation Entertainers, a membership designed to exclude Newton-John and different crossover performers.

However Newton-John had a present enterprise admirer who together with her turned one in all films’ most unforgettable groups. Travolta had starred within the stage model of “Grease” and for the deliberate movie thought Newton-John can be the “final” Sandy, the good woman who will get robust within the last act and will get her man.

“I frightened that at 29 I used to be too previous to play a highschool woman,” Newton-John, who insisted on taking a display screen take a look at earlier than accepting the half, instructed The Telegraph in 2017.

“Every thing about making the movie was enjoyable, but when I needed to decide a favourite second, it was the transformation from what I name Sandy 1 to Sandy 2. I received to play a unique character and put on completely different garments, and once I placed on that tight black outfit to sing `You’re the One That I Need,’ I received a really completely different response from the fellows on the set.”

Up till that decisive second, Newton-John had favoured gentle pop-country songs similar to “Please Mr. Please” and “Have You By no means Been Mellow” and soft-breathing ballads like “I Actually Love You,” which in 1975 gained Grammys for finest feminine pop vocal and document of the 12 months.

She had a number of hits after “Bodily,” however her profession declined and Newton-John turned extra more likely to make information due to her personal life. In 1992, as she was getting ready a live performance tour, her father died and she or he was recognized with breast most cancers.

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 lacking throughout a 2005 fishing journey in California and his destiny remained unknown years later. Quite a few studies alleged that he was dwelling in Mexico, with a brand new girlfriend.

“He was misplaced at sea, and no person actually is aware of what occurred,” Newton-John instructed Australia’s “60 Minutes” in 2016. “It’s human to surprise. However you realize, these are the issues in life it’s a must to settle for and let go. As a result of everytime you undergo tough occasions, there’s at all times these considerations.”

Newton-John’s latest albums included “Stronger Than Earlier than”; a vacation collaboration with Travolta, “This Christmas,” and the autobiographical “Gaia: One Girl’s Journey,” impressed by her battle with most cancers and by the lack of her father.

Newton-John married John Easterling, founding father of the Amazon Herb Firm, in 2008. She was concerned in quite a few charitable causes, serving as goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Setting Programme and as nationwide spokeswoman for the Youngsters’s Well being Environmental Coalition. She additionally based the Olivia Newton-John Most cancers and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

She is survived by her husband; daughter Chloe Lattanzi; sister Sarah Newton-John; brother Toby Newton-John; and several other nieces and nephews.

Travolta was among the many co-stars, collaborators and different celebrities who paid tribute to Newton-John on Monday after her loss of life was introduced.

“My dearest Olivia, you made all of our lives so significantly better,” Travolta wrote in a web based submit. “Your impression was unimaginable. I like you a lot. We’ll see you down the street and we are going to all be collectively once more. Yours from the second I noticed you and eternally! Your Danny, your John!”

—With information from the Related Press