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Actress and singer Olivia Newton-John, known throughout the world for her role as Sandy in the film GreaseHe died at the age of 73, according to his family.
In a brief statement, her husband, John Easterling, said Newton-John had died at his California ranch on Monday morning.
“Olivia has been a symbol of triumph and hope for more than 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer“, says the statement.
“We ask that everyone respect the privacy of the family during this very difficult time.”
image source, Getty Images
Newton-John is known throughout the world for her role as Sandy in the film “Grease” (1978).
In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Newton-John was one of the most popular artists in the world.
In the United States alone, 14 of his singles were in the list of the 10 most listened to, he won four Grammy awards and the musical Grease along with John Travolta launched her to stardom.
You’re the One that I Wantone of the songs he sang as a duet with Travolta In that film, she became one of the most famous of the time and more than 15 million copies have been sold.
After hearing the news, Travolta wrote an emotional message on Instagram: “My dearest Olivia, you made life for all of us so much better. Your impact was incredible. I love you so much. We will meet you along the way and we will be together again. Yours from the moment I saw you and forever. Your Danny, your John“.
As did his character Grease, Newton-John reinvented itself both musically and image-wise from the movie.
Thus, the ever-smiling blonde known for her country-pop and soft ballads like Please Mr. Please, Have You Never Been Mellow y I Honestly Love You, in 1981 he released the provocative song Physical as part of the self-titled album, his seventh.
“There’s nothing else to talk about / Unless it’s horizontally,” he sang in it, and ended: “Let’s get animals! Animals!”.
image source, Getty Images
Olivia Newton-John reinvented herself musically and visually starting with Grease, in a similar way to her character, Sandy, in the film, who went from wearing wool blouses and sweaters to donning tight black leather pants.
“I recorded it and immediately thought, ‘Oh my God, maybe I’ve gone too far!'” she told the show. Entertainment Weekly in 2017, after recalling how his manager Roger Davies had suggested it to him.
“I called Roger and said, ‘We have to take the song down!’ But he said, ‘It’s too late. They’re already playing it on the radio and it’s going up the charts.’ I was horrified.”
Was the number one on the charts for 10 weeks and Billboard named it song of the yeardespite being banned from several radio stations.
A Physical A few more hits followed, but by the next decade her career was in the doldrums and Newton-John became more newsworthy due to her private life.
After being diagnosed with breast cancer in the early 1990s, she became one of the leading cancer research advocates and her charity, the Olivia Newton-John Foundation, has raised millions of dollars to that end.
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