Ms. Olivia Newton-John was born in Cambridge, England on September 26, 1948 to her father, Brin and her mother, Irene. Olivia's maternal grandfather is Nobel Physicist Max Born. She and her family moved to Australia when Olivia was five years of age, where Olivia's father took a position with Ormond College in Melbourne as headmaster. At the tender age of 15, Olivia won a local talent contest, and the prize was none other than a trip to London, England. She soon began singing in pubs and clubs with fellow Australian friend, Pat Carroll.
In 1969, Don Kirshner, who was behind the wildly successful '60s group, The Monkees, put together a group called Toomorrow, and a movie with the same name, starring Olivia and three male group members, which flopped horribly at the box office. Following the abysmal results of the movie, Olivia joined Cliff Richard's touring show, appearing as both an opening act and as part of his British television show, It's Cliff! Her appearances helped Olivia's career move forward, and in 1971, she released Bob Dylan's If Not For You, which became a relatively big hit, charting at No. 7 in the U.K. and No. 25 in the U.S. Olivia was now on the musical map, so to speak.
In 1973, Olivia released her first full-length album, Let Me Be There, which garnered her a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance - Female. This album was followed up with If You Love Me, Let Me Know in 1974. The song, I Honestly Love You earned Olivia her second Grammy, much to the chagrin of many of the Country Music Association's members. Ironically, Olivia's music tended to shy away from the country vein in her next five albums, Have You Never Been Mellow (1975), Clearly Love (1975), Come On Over (1976), Don't Stop Believin' (1976), and Making a Good Thing Better (1977), though there were certainly some country inflections in songs like Let It Shine, He's My Rock, and It's So Easy.
It was in 1978 that Olivia's "transformation" from "white bread" to sultry vamp took place in the form of Sandy Olsen in the movie musical, Grease, with John Travolta. The film catapulted Olivia's career, and because of Olivia's famous, sexy, leather-clad Sandy 2 scene at the end of the movie, Olivia was able to enter a new phase of her career. In 1978, she released Totally Hot, which was a combination of sultry disco tunes and soft, endearing ballads. The first single from the album, A Little More Love, peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. pop charts and went gold.
Olivia's next venture onto the silver screen was in 1980's Xanadu, a commercial flop. However, the album was anything but. Magic spent four weeks at the top of the U.S. pop charts. Her pairing with Electric Light Orchestra gave Olivia a top ten hit with the title track. Her duet with Cliff Richard on Suddenly reached No. 20.
It was 1981 that Olivia reached the pinnacle of her success with the extremely successful and highly controversial Physical, or at least its title track, whose video critics scoffed at. Despite its controversy, Olivia landed her biggest hit with the song, earning her 10 solid weeks at No. 1!!! Not only that, but it was the first album to ever have a complete video for each song, including three other videos: Magic, A Little More Love, and Hopelessly Devoted to You. In addition, Olivia's great hairstyle set a new trend for women, and set the path for the huge fitness craze that was soon to follow.
In 1983, John Travolta paired up with Olivia for another film, this time a light-hearted comedy entitled, Two of a Kind. The movie did not fair well at the box office, but it earned Olivia a top-five hit with Twist of Fate.
In 1985, Olivia married Matt Lattanzi, whom she had met on the set of Xanadu. A year later, Olivia gave birth to her daughter, Chloe Rose. Olivia's next album was the very sexed-up Soul Kiss, and gave Olivia her last Top 40 hit, reaching No. 20.
She followed it up with The Rumour in 1988, Warm and Tender in 1989, Gaia in 1994 (an intensely personal album for Olivia, and one she penned herself), Back With a Heart in 1998, and (2) in 2002.
The past decade has been a trying time for Olivia. Her business with her friend, Pat Carroll, Koala Blue went bankrupt. In 1994, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and her father passed away. The next year, she and Matt divorced. Her mother, Irene, recently passed away in 2003. However, Olivia has bounced back and is looking and sounding better than ever before, as can be attested to by her extensive touring in the past few years. I am positive there are many more wonderful things to come from Olivia in the near future, and I am looking forward to every moment of it. |
