Olivia Newton-John was born on September 26, 1948, in Cambridge, England to Brinley Newton-John and Irene Helene. She was the second of three children with an older brother (Hugh) and an older sister (Rona). Her family of five moved to Australia when Newton-John was five years old.

Newton-John started a band when she was 14 with her classmates. They performed at a local restaurant owned by her brother-in-law. She starred in several Australian sitcoms in her 20s, becoming very popular with the media. She won a trip to England after winning a live singing competition. That trip and her mother’s desire for Newton-John to broaden her horizons later inspired a move to England where her career would continue to grow. 

Newton-John released a total of 26 albums including “If not for you”, “Olivia”, “If you love me, let me know”, “Have you never been mellow”, “Total hot” and “Two of a kind”. She was offered the role of “Sally” in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical “Grease”. She was reluctant to take the role as she thought she was much too old to play a high schooler. However, an adaptation to the role that allowed Newton-John to keep her accent became a selling point for her to accept what would soon be her best-known role in cinema.

In 1980, Newton-John released the song “Magic” which charted No. 1 in Pop. The song inspired the movie Xanadu when she met her first husband, Matt Lattanzi. The couple married in 1984 and had a daughter in 1986 named Chloe Rose Lattanzi. Motherhood was very important to Newton-John, she loved being a mother. She and her daughter were very close which led to her releasing “Warm and Tender”. This was an album dedicated to her daughter which also rebranded herself as more wholesome.

After years of fame, Newton-John was planning her next album when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, which put the album on hold. She became an advocate of breast cancer in hopes of bringing light to this disease. 21 years after her first diagnosis, her doctor found cancer in her shoulder. She kept this diagnosis secret from others for some time. Four years later, however, in 2017, she was informed that her breast cancer had returned. She was in the middle of a world tour when her doctor told her of a tumor in her spine.

After Newton-John’s first diagnosis of cancer, Lattanzi was said to be supportive. However, the couple divorced in 1995 and he ran off with their 23-year-old babysitter, leaving Newton-John to battle cancer alone. Newton-John would later meet John Easterling, who she claimed to be the love of her life, and married him in 2008.

After 30 years of battling cancer and three diagnoses, Olivia Newton-John, unfortunately, passed on August 8, 2022. She left behind a legacy of breast cancer awareness. She established the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Research Centre. With a net worth of $60 million, she lived a life of philanthropy, including starting The Olivia Newton-John Foundation in 2020.

Newton-John lived a full life of love and fame. She had many admirers, a talented career, found the love of her life and changed the way the world looked at breast cancer. In the end, Olivia Newton-John’s life ended like the last scene of “Grease”. She got in the car, smiling, and rode off into the sunset.

Photos credited to https://people.com/thmb/0XnKV6arAqNenuzHZA4034g9WmE=/1200x1631/filters:fill(auto,1)/Olivia-Newton-John-Cover-1-2161f0d53e4a473ea54675190f69f20f.jpg 

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