Olivia Finds New Romance
By BARBARA WERES, of the Tattler Staff
Country singer Olivia Newton-John has a new man in her life. He is Lee Kramer, a 24-year-old ex-importer of shoes who has become the Australian-born entertainer’s agent as well as her boyfriend. Where Miss Newton-John goes, Kramer follows. He sold his importing business to his brother so he could be with the entertainer all the time.
Kramer succeeds Bruce Welch a guitarist with whom Miss Newton-John was heavily involved for several years; “Life is good at the moment,” said the lovely blonde singer, who is three years older than her boyfriend. “There is Lee, my two dogs and my beach house at Malibu. Who could ask for anything more?”
Miss Newton-John’s success has been phenomenal, especially considering that she specializes in native American music though she herself is not American-born. Foreigners rarely succeed in the country-western field, and none have succeeded as spectacularly as she.
SHE HAS HAD A number of gold and platinum records, three Grammy awards, and was voted top female vocalist by the Country Music Association in 1974, Not surprisingly, she has had Hollywood offers although as a teenager she rejected acting lessons. She also once walked out on a voice coach who tried to change her singing style. Miss Newton-John claims that singing the way she feels “is more important than singing for profit. If the two happen to coincide, fine. If not, then she would just have soon been an unknown. I’ve always sung for fun, and not out of any big ambition,” she said.
“Insisting on doing things my own way was not necessarily a question of being strong-willed. It was knowing what is right for me. Luckily, I have been allowed to develop at my own pace and along the lines that are the most comfortable for me.”
Miss Newton-John, although artistically an independent person, is a compulsive hard worker. Since becoming a star, and long before that, she has worked a gruelling schedule.
BESIDES CONCERT dates in the U.S., she also flies frequently to London, where she records at the F..M.I. Studios. Lee Kramer always accompanies her. “It seems as if I never have enough time for relatives and friends, and that’s not good,” she said, with a shake of her head. “Getting used to all the traveling is very hard, and it certainly does not help my personal life.”
“I’m always in the position of having to tear myself away from people because of work. And when I work, that’s about all I do - work.” Compulsion to work reportedly was what broke up her romance with Bruce Welch. Some celebrity observers believe that the fact that she became an international star while he remained more obscure had something to do with the breakup, too. “All the work does tend to get me down a little bit,” she said.
THEN, GRASPING the hand of her ever-present boyfriend, she added: “But now when I’m exhausted, at least I’m not exhausted on my own.”