Olivia Newton-John
Shortly after Olivia's birth (in Cambridge, England, in 1948), her
family moved from England to Australia, and settled in Melbourne.
When she was a teenager, Olivia dropped out of high school and won a
talent contest which sent her back to England. She joined the group
Toomorrow, and appeared in a science fiction movie of the same name.
In 1971, Olivia released her first album, If Not For You.
She went on to release several more British albums including, Olivia
and Banks Of The Ohio. She had her first US hit single
If Not For You, and followed this with the gold album Let
Me Be There.
Although Olivia never considered herself a country singer she was
voted Female Vocalist of The Year by both the American and British
Country Music Association in 1974, and won a Grammy for Best Country
Vocal (Female) for Let Me Be There.
In 1975 she won a
Country Music Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors
and Publishers (ASCAP).
Despite a highly-successful music career, she will probably be
best remembered for the 1978 musical film Grease, with John
Travolta.
Grease was an international hit and it spawned three huge
hit singles - Hopelessly Devoted To You, Summer
Nights and You're The One That I Want - which
spent a massive nine weeks at number one.
In 1979 she changed her musical style from pop to rock, with the
successful album Totally Hot. In 1980, Olivia returned to
the big screen with Xanadu (a commercial flop), and in 1983
she teamed up with John Travolta again in Two Of A Kind.
More hits followed with the soundtrack: Twist Of Fate and Livin'
In Desperate Times.
Olivia was awarded an OBE in 1979 for her contribution to
entertainment. Olivia opened up her own shop called Koala Blue on
Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles in 1986 with her business partner Pat
Farrar.
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