Remembering Olivia Newton-John - Highlands Sun

NEW YORK - Olivia Newton-John, the Grammy-winning superstar who reigned on pop, country, adult contemporary and dance charts with such hits as Physical and You're the One That I Want and won countless hearts as everyone's favorite Sandy in the blockbuster film version of Grease, has died. She was 73.

Newton-John, a long-time resident of Australia whose sales topped 100 million albums, died Monday, Aug. 8, at her southern California ranch, John Easterling, her husband, wrote on Instagram and Facebook.

Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer, he wrote. We ask that everyone please respect the family's privacy during this very difficult time.

From 1973-83, Newton-John was among the world's most popular entertainers. She had 14 top 10 singles just in the U.S., won four Grammys, starred with John Travolta in Grease and with Gene Kelly in Xanadu. The fast-stepping Travolta-Newton-John duet, You're the One That I Want, was one of the era's biggest songs and has sold more than 15 million copies.

My dearest Olivia, you made all of our lives so much better, Travolta wrote in an online post. Your impact was incredible. I love you so much. We will see you down the road and we will all be together again. Yours from the moment I saw you and forever! Your Danny, your John!

Physical, the bouncy, R-rated smash released in 1981, was No. 1 for 10 weeks and was named Billboard's song of the year despite being banned by some radio stations. An aerobics-friendly promotional clip, filmed in the early years of MTV, won a Grammy for best video.

Both musically and image-wise, she reinvented herself during those years. The blonde, ever-smiling Newton-John initially favored mild pop-country songs such as Please Mr. Please and Have You Never Been Mellow and soft-breathing ballads like I Honestly Love You, which in 1975 won Grammys for best female pop vocal and record of the year. But she picked up the tempo in Grease, especially after Sandy ditched her white sweaters and blouses for waist-high, black leather pants. Physical even made Newton-John blush as she told her would-be lover There's nothing left to talk about/Unless it's horizontally and finally called out Let's get animal! Animal!

I recorded it and then suddenly thought, 'Goodness, maybe I've gone too far! she told Entertainment Weekly in 2017, recalling how the song had been suggested by manager Roger Davies. I called Roger and said, 'We've got to pull this song! He said, 'It's too late. It's already gone to radio and it's running up the charts.' I was horrified!

Fans flooded social media to mourn her death. Farewell with love to the legend who will forever be my first crush, wrote actor Daniel Dae Kim. Added Tracie Thoms: Olivia Newton-John is an icon. We will miss her dearly. Gabrielle Union said she and her sister watched Xanadu more times than I could count.

Australia's acting Prime Minister Richard Marles described her death as feeling like the end of an era for a generation who grew up watching Grease and said, It feels like the world is a little emptier without Olivia Newton-John as a part of it.

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

Photo captions: John Travolta, left, and Olivia Newton-John arrive at the The Penfolds Icon Gala Dinner in Los Angeles on Jan. 14, 2006. Travolta, who starred with Newton-John in Grease, presented Newton-John with the Lifetime Achievement award. Newton-John, a long time resident of Australia whose sales topped 100 million albums, died Monday, Aug. 8, at her southern California ranch. She was 73.
Olivia Newton-John appears during an interview in Los Angeles in December 1990. Newton-John, a long time resident of Australia whose sales topped 100 million albums, died Monday, Aug. 8, at her southern California ranch, John Easterling, her husband, wrote on Instagram and Facebook. She was 73.

By Hillel Italie, AP National Writer