Farewell to THE GIRL WITH THE GOLDEN HEART
She’ll be remembered by fans for lighting up the stage and screen, but it’s the private Olivia Newtonjohn – the wife, the mother, the friend – that her loved ones are mourning. The devoted family woman is survived by her husband of 14 years John Easterling, who announced the news of her death on social media, revealing the beloved entertainer “passed away peacefully” at her ranch in southern California on August 8 “surrounded by family and friends”. The 70-year-old naturalhealth businessman went on to describe how Olivia “has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years, sharing her journey with breast cancer”. The singer’s only child, daughter Chloe Lattanzi, 36, also paid tribute to her “angel on earth”, calling her treasured mum, “My safe place. My heart space.”
‘You are an angel on earth’
Australia and indeed the world mourned last week, when Olivia Newton-john – arguably our most beloved global star – passed away after 30 years of living with breast cancer.
Diagnosed in 1992, Olivia died at the age of 73 at her spectacular range in Southern California, with husband John Easterling and daughter Chloe Lattanzi by her side.
After 20 years in remission, the cancer struck again – returning in 2013 and discovered after she hurt her shoulder in a car crash. Following a brief respite, in 2017 it had metastasised in her lower back, for a time robbing the Hopelessly Devoted singer of the ability to walk.
At first, the actress and songstress admitted she thought it was sciatica and would “grit my teeth, take a few aspirin and go on”. “I was surprised [the cancer had returned],” she said. “In my mind, it was over. I had finished with it.”
Despite the diagnosis being stage four, brave Olivia declared the show must go on. “I thought to myself – I’ve done it before. I got through this before, and I can do it again.”
THRIVING TO THE LAST
Over the next five years of her life, Olivia dedicated herself to “thriving, not surviving”. She returned to the stage to help raise money for California wildfire victims near the Santa Barbara home she shared with husband John, and in 2019 she performed an iconic You’re The One That I Want duet with her Grease co-star John Travolta to celebrate the hit musical’s enduring legacy.
‘In my mind I’d finished with [cancer]’
Most importantly, she doubled down on efforts to spend precious time with her only child, 36-year-old Chloe, shared with ex-husband Matt Lattanzi. The mother-daughter duo – who famously had a rollercoaster relationship into Chloe’s 20s – became close when it mattered most.
After her mother’s passing, Chloe shared a treasure trove of touching images of herself and her mum through the years, from babyhood to recent happy times.
HER BEGINNINGS
Olivia’s journey to stardom began in Cambridge, England, where she was born to Welsh dad Bryn Newton-john, an MI5
‘Behind that iconic smile was a fighter’
officer, and his wife Irene. She was the youngest of three siblings, after her brother Hugh, who died in 2019, and sister Rona – who died of brain cancer in 2013 and was once married to Olivia’s Grease co-star Jeff Conaway.
Olivia was just six years old when her family moved across the world to Melbourne in 1954, where she attended Christ Church Grammar School and University High.
SING, SING, SING!
It was during her high school years that Olivia experienced her first brush with fame, founding all-girl group Sol Four, before winning Johnny O’keefe’s Sing, Sing, Sing talent contest and using her prize to travel to Britain.
Her rapid rise to fame continued as she released her first solo album If Not For You
in 1971, followed closely by representing the UK performing
Long Live Love at Eurovision song contest 1974, where she finished fourth behind Abba.
Her Grammy-winning album that followed included her first international smash, I Honestly Love You.
By 1977, inspired by fellow Aussie singer Helen Reddy’s success in America, Olivia made a bold move Stateside.
It was at a dinner party at Helen’s where Olivia met
Grease producer Allan Carr, who offered her the lead role as sweet, blue-eyed cheerleader Sandy Olsson.
Olivia, who at the time was 29, baulked, saying she was too old to play a high school student – but one screen test opposite John Travolta playing Danny Zuko, and Allan’s mind was made up.
And his instincts proved correct – with the help of Olivia and John’s sizzling chemistry, Grease topped the box office in 1978, and its soundtrack album spent three months at number one.
Her ubiquitous hits from the musical, including You’re The One That I Want, Summer Nights and Hopelessly Devoted To You are the reason Grease is still one of the bestselling albums of all time. The sexy transformation from good student to black-leather wearing Sandy also sparked something of a personal transformation for Olivia.
LET’S GET PHYSICAL
Once known for her emotional ballads and country twang, the 1980s saw Olivia spice up her reputation with the release of double-platinum album Physical, led by the hit single of the same name.
Its saucy lyrics prompted more conservative states in America to ban the track from airplay, and in 2010 Billboard declared it the most popular single about sex – ever.
She also grew her acting chops, going from Grease to fantasy flick Xanadu, where she met her future husband Matt Lattanzi, who she would marry in 1984, welcome Chloe with in 1986, and divorce in 1995. At the time of her death, it’s believed she and Matt were close friends.
But as her fame and fortune grew, Olivia’s personal life was a rollercoaster. Her muchloved Aussie import clothing brand Koala Blue, which she’d launched with her songwriting and duet partner Pat Carroll, went bankrupt and closed in 1992 – the same year she was diagnosed with cancer for the first time.
The illness, which was discovered in the same week her father died of liver cancer, forced her to cancel the ambitious tour for her The Essential Collection: 1971-1992 greatest hits album.
After defeating breast cancer the first time, Olivia worked tirelessly to establish the Olivia Newton-john Wellness & Research Centre in Heidelberg, on the outskirts of Melbourne, where life-saving treatments and cutting-edge study of the killer disease has helped many and continues today.
She was inspired to create Gaia Retreat & Spa – an alternative healing centre and health retreat in Byron Bay – after scattering her mum Irene’s ashes in the area in 2003.
In 2005, tragedy would strike Olivia again. Patrick Mcdermott, a Korean-american lighting technician she had been dating for nine years, disappeared from a fishing boat on San Pedro Harbor while she was visiting Gaia. His body was never found, and several investigations since theorised that he might have faked his own death for financial reasons.
A NEW ROMANCE
By 2008, she married American businessman John – though their marriage wasn’t without heartache. Their family friend and handyman Chris Pariseleti died by suicide at their marital home in Jupiter, Florida in August 2013 – just two months after Olivia had buried her beloved sister Rona at 70.
Through all of this, she never forgot her formative years in Australia. She paid tribute to her island home through duets with fellow famous Antipodean faces including Tina Arena, Johnny O’keefe, Keith Urban, Darren Hayes, and a posthumous recording using the voice of the late Peter Allen, who was a personal friend.
Most famously, she established a duet concert with fellow legend John Farnham, including a historic performance of Dare To Dream at the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympics, which was watched by a global audience of 3.5 billion.
In paying tribute to his dear Olivia, John summed it up for all her loved ones and fans, saying, “Behind that iconic smile was a tenacious fighter, a beautiful voice and a loyal friend. She will be greatly missed.”