The singer and actress Olivia Newton-John, who became world famous with the musical adaptation “Grease” in the 70s, has died at the age of 73. This was reported by numerous US media, citing the husband and his post on the social media channels of the British-Australian songwriter and breast cancer activist.
According to her family, the singer shared her breast cancer story and became a symbol of hope and triumph in the fight against the disease in her statement on Facebook.
In 1992, Newton-John was diagnosed with cancer and had to have a breast amputated. In 2013, the cancer returned and later spread to the shoulder and back. “I am convinced that I will win the fight. That is my goal,” she said in 2018. In the current message, the family does not go into an exact cause of death.
In 1978, British-born Newton-John played the curly-blonde Sandy in the high school musical “Grease” and became a world star alongside John Travolta. She later stood in front of the camera on roller skates for the fantasy musical “Xanadu” and landed a number one hit in her adopted homeland, the USA, with the album “Physical”.
Daughter of a German physics Nobel Prize winner
Years before she sang songs like “You’re The One That I Want” in “Grease” with a ponytail, pettycoat and Travolta in a duet, Newton-John was on the road musically. Born in Cambridge, England, the granddaughter of the German Nobel Prize winner in physics, Max Born, and the daughter of a college president who emigrated to Australia, founded a girls’ band as a schoolgirl. A talent competition brought the 15-year-old back to Great Britain. In 1966 she recorded her first record there.
She made a name for herself with cuddly songs, especially in the USA. 1974’s “Let Me Be There” was her first US hit. Songs like “On The Banks Of Ohio”, “If You Love Me Let Me Know”, “I Honestly Love You” and “Have You Never Been Mellow” later contributed to her fame.
The daughter from the marriage to dancer Matt Lattanzi was just six years old when Newton-John was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. She canceled tours and temporarily moved to Australia from her adopted home of California. The marriage broke up in 1995. In 2008 she married John Easterling. Among other things, she advocated the medicinal use of cannabis.
The 73-year-old died peacefully and surrounded by friends and family at her ranch in southern California.