MEMORABLE MONDAYS: Olivia Newton-John

 Did you know Olivia Newton-John was British? She also held Australian citizenship from 1981 forward! She also happened to star in the ever so popular Grease, and sold over 100 million records worldwide. She is common in the racks for a reason! Less common is someone who was given honors to the artistic world by both Australia and England. Let's dive in deeper.

Olivia Newton-John was born September 26th, 1948 in Cambridge, England. Her maternal grandfather was German Jewish Nobel Prize winning physicist Max Born. Her line is quite rich, and includes links to Martin Luther, Rudolf von Jhering, and comedian Ben Elton. She was the youngest of three children. Her brother, Hugh, was a doctor. Her sister Rona became an actress who married Brian Goldsmith, and later married to Jeff Conaway. She had two half siblings, Toby and Sarah, from her father's second marriage. When Olivia was 5 years old, they emigrated to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Her father became a professor for German and was master of Ormond College at the University of Melbourne. 

At 14 years old, Olivia formed a short-lived girl group calld Sol Four, which would perform at coffee shops owned by her brother in law. She originally considered becoming a veterinarian, but she chose to focus on performing after doubting her ability to pass the science exams. Her talents were recognized around 1964, where she portrayed Lady Mary Lasenby in her University High School's production of The Admirable Crichton. She became a local on Australian TV including Time for Terry, The Happy Show, and The Go!! Show, where she met Pat Carroll and John Farrar. They would later help her music career. 

In 1965, she won the talent contest on television program Sing, Sing, Sing. She was originally reluctant to accept her prize, a trip to Britain, but went there with her mother's encouragement to broaden her horizons. While there, she met then boyfriend Ian Turpie. In 1966, she recorded her first single, Till You Say You'll Be Mine, for Decca records. Her view changed when Pat Carroll moved to the UK, and they began to sing as a duo. They did a number of backup vocals for other groups, but Carroll's visa expired and she had to return to Australia. Olivia decided to say and pursue solo work. She was then recruited for the group Toomorrow. They made it into a science fiction musical with an accompanying soundtrack album. Nothing charted, so the group disbanded. 

Olivia's first album, If Not for You, released in 1971. The album received warm reviews but it failed to chart beyond the singles. At this point, Olivia was a country artist. She was often on the show It's Cliff Richard around this time. Her second album, Olivia, was released 1972. After failure of the single to chart, it was originally not issued in the US for release. It includes covers of George Harrison. This cover art was later used on the US release of Let Me Be There. This was her third album that released in 1973. Overseas, it had new songs, but in the US, it combined songs from her first two albums. It marked a shift in Olivia's career toward more country pop influences and would define most of her next records through the 70s. 

In 1974, Olivia represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest with "Long Live Love". She finished fourth, losing to Sweden's Waterloo by ABBA. All the songs that were presented as possibilities for Euorvision later ended up on her next release, Long Live Love as titled overseas. In the US, it was If You Love Me, Let Me Know. The US edition has the 6 Eurovision songs plus songs from Olivia and Music Makes My Day. It was her first album to top the pop album charts. "I Honestly Love You" became a signature for her. In the US, her success in country music was controversial. Purists took an issue with a foreigner singing country-flavored pop and being classed with the native Nashville artists. A shortlived Association of Country Musicians was made in expression of this. However, she was eventually supported by the country community, with Stella Parton recording "Ode to Olivia" in response. 

Encouraged by Helen Reddy, Olivia moved away from the UK to the US. Her next album, Have You Never Been Mellow, she topped country and pop charts. For 45 years, she held the Guinness World Record for the shortest gap (154 days) by a female between new number 1 albums on the Billboard US 200 chart until Taylor Swift in 2020 did 140 days with Folklore/Evermore. In 1975 she also released Clearly Love. It slowed the steam of her pop career, but did well in Japan. It was the beginning of her decline in the US until her starring role in Grease. In 1977, she released Making a Good Thing Better. It was the first of her albums to not reach the country top 10, and broke her record of 6 consecutive gold records. During this time, she was in a dispute with RCA records as she felt they were not properly promoting her material. They eventualy reconciled. Her greatest hits, released also in 1977, became her first platinum release. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1979 New Year Honours. She woud later in 2020 receive the Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to charity, cancer research, and entertainment. 

Her career soared after she starred as Sandy in the film adaptation of the musical Grease. Originally, she requested a screen test due to her negative experience with Toomorrow and feeling too old to play a high schooler. It became the biggest box office hit of 1978 and the soundtrack spent 12 non-consecutive weeks at number 1. She released her next studio album Totally Hot in 1978. It became her first number one since Have You Never Been Mellow, and features her in leather, capitalizing off her Grease popularity. She leaned more into pop with this release, and it is one of her most successful album. She cancelled a concert tour of Japan around this time to protest the slaughter of dolphins caught in tuna fishing nets. She rescheduled when the Japanese government assured her the practice was being curbed. 

Her next movie work, Xanadu, was a critical failure, but the soundtrack did quite well. The movie has since become a cult classic, even inspiring a musical. 1981 led to the release of Physical, her farthest stray from her country. She said she was not feeling ballads. It strongly reinforced the image change started by Grease with risque, rock-oriented material. It is her most successful album but her most controversial. Lyrical content included themes of love, relationships, sex, and environmental protection. Critics also praised the album's release. The Physical tour cemented her as one of the most successful female artists of the 1980s. Olivia was also one of the first artists to invest in music videos. Title song Physical was banned from some radio stations for the innuedos and being suggestive. She also led for the trend of fitness fashion to be a style outside the health clubs. 

She attempted to reignite her work with Travolta in movie failure "Two of a Kind". While the movie did poorly, the soundtrack performed well. The same time in 1983, her and Pat Farrar founded Koala Blue. It was originally for Australian imports, but turned into a chain of women's clothing boutiques. It was initially quite successful, but filed bankruptcy and closed in 1992. The name was later licensed for a line of Australian wine. 

Her career began to cool down again with release of Soul Kiss in 1985. The album did not get as much promotion due to Olivia being pregnant at the time. Critics feel it is a weaker link in her chain of good releases. She took a 3 year hiatus with the birth of her daughter Chloe. She came back with 1988 release The Rumour. While it did not chart as well, and she was being viewed as old in comparison to new chart toppers Debbie Gibson and Tiffany, critics praised the release heavily for its maturity. It addressed topics such as AIDs, the environment, and single-parent households. In 1989, Olivia released Warm and Tender, an album of lullabies. 

Olivia was preparing another comeback in 1992 with another greatest hits release and a tour. This was halted when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, sadly it was the same weekend her father had died. She recovered, and became a strong advocate for breast cancer research and other health issues. In 1994, she released Gaia: One Woman's Journey, inspired by her survival of cancer and her treatment. This was the first album she had penned all the songs and co-produced the album.

In 1998, she returned to her country roots with release Back with a Heart. It was a return after two decades of pop, and was recorded in Nashville. This also brought an end to her 16 year hiatus of touring solo. In 2000, she played Bitsy Mae Harding in Sordid Lives, a bisexual former convict country singer. She reprised the role for the TV series. It included 5 songs composed by Olivia for the series. Her next release, 2, in 2002 was a duets album mostly released in Australia. 

In 2004, she released Indigo: Women of Song. She dedicated the release to her mother, who had died the previous year of breast cancer. The song is cover versions of songs previously released by women. Critics felt her sweet sung tone lacked the emotion to pull off the effort. 

She released Stronger than Before in 2005 exclusively sold in the US through Hallmark. This would be her second exclusive Hallmark release, the other being a Christmas album with Vince Gill. The sales of the album benefitted breast cancer research and included guest vocals from singers like Diahann Carrol, Delta Goodrem, and Mindy Smith, all affected by cancer. In 2006, she released Grace and Gratitude, sold exclusively through Walgreens to benefit cancer charities. It is new-age themed and meditative. 

In 2008, she began raising funds to help build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne. She led a 228 km walk along the Great Wall of China alongside other celebrities and cancer survivors. She released a companion CD, A Celebration in Song, with duets with many of the people who helped along this way. This centre would finally open in 2012 and in 2015 became home of cancer research when the Ludwig institute closed. 

Her later releases revolved around Christmas and she slowed down on music. She did a Las Vegas residency and guest starred as herself on sitcoms like Bette and Glee. Her last song, Window in the Wall, was a duet about unity done with her daughter Chloe. 

Olivia Newton-John also became a huge musical inspiration for modern artists such as Juliana Hatfield, Lisa Loeb, Kylie Minogue, Delta Goodrem, Natalie Maines, and Alanis Morissette. In 2017, it was found her cancer had come back. It was originally diagnosed as sciatica. She revealed this was her third bout with the cancer, as it had come back in 2013 as well. She became an advocate for the use of medical cannabis when she became a user to treat her chronic pain from the illness. She died August 2022 at 73 in her home. 

If you have not yet, consider trying out her catalog! She grew, innovated, and paved her own way. An inspiration for many strong women performers today.