It’s a sad day for Australians, fans of Grease, and anyone with ears, really. Olivia Newton-John has passed away in her California ranch home at age 73, after continued bouts of breast cancer since a 1992 diagnosis.
Below we’ve remembered her fabulous big screen roles in generation-defining movie musicals, and a couple of other stand-outs over her long and illustrious career. Her luminous singing voice and angelic stage presence resonate above all as her greatest cultural contributions.
Strap on your rollerskates and take a spin through Liv’s life in the public eye: she’s been the one that we want since the mid-seventies, and her talent and energy will be sorely missed.
Eurovision Song Contest (1974)
Born in Cambridge and raised in Melbourne, Australia since the age of six, Newton-John was able to represent the UK in 1974’s Eurovision Song Contest. Unfortunately for her it was the same year that would see ABBA release the greatest Eurovision entry of all time, Waterloo, but her fourth-place performance is still majestically wholesome and so very Olivia. Stripped of any of the contest’s modern day stadium FX and pounding Eurotrash beats, all we get is that gymnastic voice and a blonde-haired force of optimism, swaying in a powder-blue prairie gown like Pinocchio’s fairy.
Grease (1978)
We don’t care that Newton-John was almost 30 when she got cast in the Australian-ized part of goody-two-shoes high-schooler Sandy Olsson in this instant musical hit. Opposite recurring duet partner John Travolta, she gave us pure…well, purity, with virginal white socks, cheerleading moves, and stunningly clear lead vocals.
After fellow country crossover star Linda Ronstadt, she was the second woman to enjoy having two singles in the Billboard top five simultaneously: the flirtatious scene-setting Summer Nights and her unforgettable torch song Hopelessly Devoted To You. Audiences of the late 70s didn’t know she had the finale’s Bad Sandy in her, and it was revelatory to see our Olivia stamp out a ciggie and purr “tell me about it, stud”.
Xanadu (1980)
A creaky, corny cult classic that failed to capture the Grease “Magic” upon its release, Xanadu based its whole ludicrous original storyline on Newton-John’s divine pop presence. She plays the immortal muse and love interest of a struggling painter/disco owner/rollerskating loner, looking and sounding like a dream in every kind of drag in which the film plonks her: an Andrews Sisters 1940s outfit, cowboy fringe, and even as an animated fish. It’s still lovely to see her singing and dancing with genre great Gene Kelly; you can tell he’s absolutely charmed by her.
‘Physical’ music video (1981)
Rod Stewart and Tina Turner turned down this raunchy workout anthem, and who would’ve guessed that meek, flaxen-haired Liv would take it up? Known better for easy listening and country-inflected ballads in the 1970s, Newton-John got her own Bad Sandy metamorphosis by kicking off the 80s in sweaty, suggestive style. It’s dated, it’s goofy, it’s fatphobic, but the Physical video had a transformative impact on its star and the culture around her. It’s been sampled by Dua Lipa and Doja Cat, and was the first ever music video discussed by Beavis and Butthead.
A Few Best Men (2011)
The mother of the bride and wife of a prominent senator, Newton-John’s character in this limp, blokey wedding comedy gets to snort cocaine and swing from a chandelier—another great example of the clean-cut star cast delightfully against type. She’s probably the best thing about the film, in fact, even adding a bubbly cover of Melanie’s Brand New Key to the soundtrack.
Even as the Australian performer’s breast cancer metastasised in 2017, she continued to appear in tributes on Glee and even Sharknado, proving that an unserious sense of humour and a warm, generous stage presence were second nature to Newton-John in the darkest of times. A global audience of fans will remain hopelessly devoted to Olivia Newton-John. Vale.
