British-born singer and actress Olivia Newton-John died at the age of 73, a statement confirmed on Monday.
Olivia Newton-John dies: What’s the cause of death?
Her husband, John Easterling, released a statement confirming that Newton-John died peacefully at her ranch in Southern California, US, on Monday morning.
Remarkably, the actress renowned for her critically-acclaimed role in the classic broadway play, Grease, battled breast cancer for more than 30 years, and while this was not categorically confirmed as her official cause of death, a source close to the family made hints in a statement to TMZ.
“After a 30-year cancer journey, she lost her battle to metastatic breast cancer,” the source confirmed.
Olivia Newton-John is survived by her daughter from a previous marriage, Chloe Rose, and her husband, Easterling.
Olivia Newton-John biography
Olivia Newton-John was a Cambridge native born on 26 September 1948. She was renowned in global entertainment as a singer and actress, with a penchant for activism.
Newton-John was a decorated musician with four Grammy Award wins in the 1970s and a five-time chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100. Suggesting Newton-John had an average work ethic is a gross understatement.
The songstress released eight top-selling albums between 1971 and 1976 and, in that period, survived a legal battle with Universal Music Group (UMG) that pioneered the modern structure of recording contracts.
Before her fame as a musician, however, Newton-John was a natural on-screen talent. Her debut performance as an actress came in 1965 when she played herself in the Joe McCormick-directed musical film, Funny Things Happen Down Under.
Her natural fit in this film category spawned a successful career which included critically-acclaimed performances on:
- Toomorrow (1970);
- Grease (1978);
- Score: A Hockey Musical (2010); and, among others
- The Very Excellent Mr Dundee (2020)
In December 1984, Newton-John married her first husband and actor, Matt Lattanzi. Two years later, the couple welcomed their daughter Chloe Rose. Newton-John and Lattanzi ended their marriage amicably in 1995.
Following a decade of an on-and-off relationship with cameraman Patrick McDermott whose disappearance a year after they officially ended things is still the subject of a bemusing mystery, Newton-John settled into her second marriage with the founder of the Amazon Herb Company, John Easterling.
Throughout her entire career, Newton-John had battled breast cancer. In 2017, the British-born musical legend revealed her breast cancer had returned in a metastatic form on her lower back.
By then, the cancer had spread to her bones and progressed to a terminal stage. Newton-John died five years later, on Monday, 8 August 2022, surrounded by loved ones at her ranch in California.
Reactions to Newton-John’s passing
Former colleagues and long-time fans took to social media to pay tribute to Newton-John following the news of her passing. Her former co-star, John Travolta, penned a heartfelt tribute to the 73-year-old.
“My dearest Olivia, you made all of our lives so much better. Your impact was incredible. I love you so much. We will see you down the road and we will all be together again. Yours from the first moment I saw you and forever!
Your Danny, your John!” he wrote.
Grease‘s Twitter page also paid tribute to the star with a throwback image of her younger days at the forefront of the musical film industry.
Here are more reactions from fans and peers to the death of Newton-John: