The Formidable Olivia Newton-John

Tributes have flooded in from around the world to honour the amazing life and career of Olivia Newton-John after she passed away due to her long-standing battle with cancer.

Best known for her role as Sandy in Grease, one of the most successful film musicals ever made, an actress and musician, she first achieved success as a country singer before being skyrocketed to worldwide fame with her role as Sandy. Grease was the best-selling box-office hit of 1978 and gave Newton-John three of her most famous singles, including You’re The One That I Want and Summer Nights, performed with co-star John Travolta. Upon her death, Travolta said, “she made all of our lives so much better.”

Grease became a catalyst for change in Netwon-John’s life as she moved on from her innocent, country-pop image to become a global phenomenon. Before this, she released several solo albums including her debut, If Not for You (1971) or Olivia Newton-John as it was known in the UK, Olivia (1972) and Have You Never Been Mellow (1975), among others. Between 1974 and 1977 she won four Grammy awards and had seven US number one hits. However, it wasn’t until 1981 with the release of Physical that she achieved incomparable international acclaim, where title track Physical spent 10 weeks at the top of the Billboard charts and was also crowned ‘Song of the Decade.’

In 1992 Newton-John was first diagnosed with cancer and has since become a leading advocate for cancer research, starting her own charity the Olivia Newton-John Foundation. Beyond her musical career, she spent a lot of her time as an advocator for humanitarian and health issues and was a leading campaigner for animal welfare. In May 2017 it was announced that her breast cancer had returned and she publicly campaigned for the legalisation of medicinal cannabis to help with the effects of treatment. In 20220 she became Dame Olivia, ordained by the Queen, in honour of her music and charity work.

From young country star to pop princess to global ambassador, take a moment to discover the legendary career of Olivia Newton-John with our playlist.