OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN TRIBUTE - Sky News Australia (August 9, 2022)
Olivia Newton-John Tribute - Sky News Australia (August 9, 2022)
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00:00Terribly sad news to begin with this morning, folks.
00:02Olivia Newton-John, at the age of 73,
00:06has passed away this morning after a long battle with cancer.
00:10Her husband, John Easterling, posted the news online
00:13confirming Dame Olivia Newton-John passed away peacefully
00:16at her ranch in Southern California this morning,
00:19surrounded by family and friends.
00:21We ask that everyone please respect the family's privacy
00:24during this very difficult time.
00:26This posted just over an hour ago.
00:29Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope
00:32for over 30 years, sharing her journey with breast cancer.
00:36And tributes, as you would expect, began immediately.
00:39Greece co-star John Travolta said,
00:42"'My dearest Olivia, you made all of our lives
00:45"'so much better.
00:46"'Your impact was incredible.
00:48"'I love you so much.
00:50"'We will see you down the road
00:52"'and we will all be together again.
00:54"'Yours from the first moment I saw you and forever.
00:57"'Your Danny.
00:59"'Your John.'
01:00"'A loss felt...
01:02"'Sandy!'
01:04"'Tell me about it, Stern.'
01:06Australia's golden girl gone too soon.
01:10A superstar of the stage and screen for almost 60 years,
01:13Olivia Newton-John spent her life dazzling and delighting millions.
01:17♪ Without your love I'd be nowhere at all
01:20♪ I'd be lost, didn't look for a cue
01:24Born on September 26, 1948, in Cambridge, England,
01:27Olivia grew up in Melbourne with her father, Brinley, and mother, Irene.
01:32At the age of 14, lovely Livvy became a regular on Australian television,
01:36appearing on The Happy Show.
01:38Her star continued to rise after winning a talent contest
01:41on Johnny O'Keefe's TV show Sing Sing Sing.
01:44Not long after, she moved to the UK
01:47and in 1966 recorded her first single.
01:50In 1971, Olivia released her first solo album,
01:55During this period, Record Mirror magazine
01:57voted her Best British Female Vocalist.
02:00Her signature song, I Honestly Love You, landed three years later,
02:03giving Olivia her first number one single.
02:06♪ I honestly love you
02:10In 1973, Olivia received her first Grammy nomination
02:14for Best Country Female with the hit Let Me Be There.
02:17♪ Let me be there in your morning
02:21♪ Let me be there in your night
02:25The following year, Olivia represented the United Kingdom
02:27in the Eurovision Song Contest.
02:29She placed fourth, the year Abba's Waterloo won the top prize.
02:33Then in 1978, international fame.
02:36Starring alongside John Travolta in Grease,
02:39the role which gave Olivia Newton-John a persona
02:41as the clean-cut girl next door.
02:43♪ Hopelessly devoid of you
02:49The movie became the biggest box office hit of that year
02:52and earned Olivia a Golden Globe nomination
02:54for Best Actress in a Musical.
02:56If you were a young man in the 70s,
02:58and I'm sure many of you were out there,
03:01if you remember that album cover of Olivia
03:03with that blue shirt on,
03:05with those big blue eyes staring right at you,
03:07every boy's, every man's dream was,
03:10oh, I'd love for that girl to be my girlfriend.
03:12Royal honours arrived in 1981
03:14when the Queen bestowed on Olivia
03:16an Officer of the British Empire.
03:18♪ They call it Xanadu
03:22Xanadu, her next movie musical, flopped at the box office.
03:26But it's where she met her future husband, Matt Latanzi.
03:29In 1981...
03:31♪ Let's get physical, physical
03:34Olivia's Physical became her most successful studio album,
03:37despite being banned in some American states.
03:40She gave birth to her daughter, Chloe, in January 1986.
03:44Six years later, Olivia received devastating news.
03:48A lump in her right breast, diagnosed as cancer.
03:52A mastectomy followed,
03:53then nine months of debilitating chemotherapy,
03:57then remission.
03:58Olivia re-entered public life with a positive outlook.
04:02But behind the scenes, personal problems erupted.
04:04She divorced Matt, and in 2005, she opened Gaia,
04:08a health retreat in Byron Bay in New South Wales.
04:12Later that year, more drama followed
04:14with the mysterious disappearance
04:15of her on-and-off-again boyfriend
04:17of nine years, American cameraman Patrick McDermott.
04:21McDermott's fate has never been revealed,
04:23and Olivia was always reluctant to discuss what happened.
04:27In 2008, a host of celebrities,
04:29including Sir Cliff Richard, Jane Seymour,
04:32and Joan Rivers joined Olivia to walk the Great Wall of China
04:35to raise funds for the fight against cancer.
04:38Later that year, Olivia married businessman
04:41and rainforest conservationist, John Easterling.
04:44The Olivia Newton John Cancer Research
04:46and Wellness Centre in Melbourne was established in 2015.
04:50And then, 21 years after beating her first bout
04:53of breast cancer, the disease returned.
04:55She found a lump in her right shoulder.
04:58Olivia kept her illness private,
05:00beginning conventional and natural therapies.
05:03Although the tumour got smaller, it still spread.
05:06And in 2018, doctors found a third cancer in her lower back.
05:10Her cancer journey drove her
05:11to become an advocate for medicinal cannabis.
05:15A life full of love and light.
05:17♪ Somewhere over the rainbow ♪
05:24Samantha Foxen, Sky News.
05:26♪ Way up high ♪