One of the most successful adult contemporary singers in the 1970s, Olivia Newton-John enjoyed a string of hit singles before her appearance in the movie Grease and her Physical album vaulted her into the upper regions of early '80s pop icons.
Born in Cambridge, England on September 26, 1948, Newton-John's family moved to Australia when she was five. The granddaughter of Max Born, a winner of the Nobel Prize for physics, and daughter of the headmaster of Ormond College, Newton-John took a decidedly unconventional path when she veered away from academics to pursue a career in entertainment. At age 12 she made her tentative showbiz debut, winning a local Haley Mills-lookalike contest, and a few years later she formed Sol Four, an all-female singing group, with some school friends. After the group broke up in 1965, Newton-John entered a television talent contest and won the grand prize, a trip to London. Once in London, the young singer teamed up with another young Australian talent, Pat Carroll, but the duo was short-lived when Carroll's visa expired.
Newton-John had succeeded in making her presence known, however, and recorded her first single, a cover of Jackie DeShannon's "Till You Say You'll Be Mine," in 1969. Shortly afterwards she joined Tomorrow, a band manufactured by Don Kirshner in an attempt to create a British version of the Monkees. The band appeared in a sci-fi film of the same name, intended to launch their career, but, apart from the success of the single "I Could Never Live Without Your Love," it crashed on take-off. Still, the exposure earned Newton-John a spot on Cliff Richard's touring show, and she soon became a regular on his television series, It's Cliff!. In 1971 she recorded Bob Dylan's "If Not For You," which became a Top 10 hit in the U.K. and spent three weeks at the top of the Adult Contemporary charts. In the next few years she released three albums in the U.K., Olivia Newton-John (1971), Olivia (1972), and Music Makes My Day (1974), as well as a slew of successful singles, but her music was not reaching audiences in the States.
In 1973, Newton-John released her U.S. debut, the country flavored Let Me Be There. The title track was a huge hit, going gold in early 1974, and the record peaked in the Top 10 country and pop charts. The Aussie singer also garnered a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance, which raised the ire of Nashville stalwarts. Newton-John moved to Los Angeles in 1974 and released four more successful crossover singles: "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" (#2 country, #5 pop, 1974), "I Honestly Love You" (#6 country, #1 pop, 1974), "Have You Never Been Mellow" (#3 country, #1 pop, 1975), and "Please Mr. Please" (#5 country, #3 pop, 1975). The Country Music Association honored the singer as Female Vocalist of the Year in 1975, prompting several members of the CMA to quit in protest.
But Newton-John was already beginning to move away from her country tendencies and the singles that she released in the ensuing years went a long way in cementing her as a pop superstar. The zenith of her stardom was reached when she starred in the film version of the popular musical Grease with John Travolta in 1978. The soundtrack spawned three huge singles, "Hopelessly Devoted to You," and the duets "Summer Nights" and "You're the One That I Want." Her 1979 release, Totally Hot, displayed the singer's move toward up-tempo disco, and was a moderate success. Newton-John returned to the silver screen in 1980 with the starring role in Xanadu, a misguided roller-disco fantasy picture that must have sounded good on paper. While the film bombed, but the soundtrack more than made up for the dismal box office performance with the hits "Magic," and the ELO duet "Xanadu."
Her 1981 album, Physical, only furthered her popularity. With the hit title track, and the follow-up single, "Make a Move On Me," Newton-John recast herself as a sexy aerobics fanatic, and started a new style trend with her short cropped hair and bandana.
The singer received the Order of the British Empire in 1982, but her big screen reunion with John Travolta in Two of a Kind was less than royal. She spent the remainder of the decade withdrawn from the spotlight, occasionally releasing an album, but focusing mainly on raising her daughter, Chloe, managing her clothing store chain, Blue Koala, and actively supporting several environmental causes. In 1992, Blue Koala went bankrupt and that same year, Newton-John was diagnosed with breast cancer. With surgery and treatment, she beat the disease, probably the most important success of her career.
In 1994, she released Gaia, a self-recorded, self-released venture. She resurfaced again in 1998 to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Grease and release her latest album, Back with a Heart, which marked a return to her country roots.
