The passing of Olivia Newton-John, star of “Grease” and the voice of some of the most successful songs of the ’70s and ’80s.

Actress and singer Olivia Newton-John died Monday at the age of 73. The news was confirmed on her official Facebook page.

“Ms. Olivia Newton-John passed away peacefully on her California ranch this morning, surrounded by her family and friends. We ask everyone to respect the family’s privacy at this difficult time.”

“Olivia has been a symbol of victory and hope for over 30 years, sharing her battle with breast cancer. Her inspiration and pioneering experience in medicinal plants will continue with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Trust, dedicated to medicinal plants and cancer,” the statement adds.

The same publication asks fans to donate to his foundation instead of buying flowers.

In 2018, the artist revealed that she had cancer for the third time, after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992 and a shoulder tumor in 2013. After her first diagnosis, she began working with associations that fight this disease.

Career with music, movies and a lot of movie music

The Cambridge, England-born actress immigrated with her family to Australia when she was a child. Newton-John recorded his first single in 1966, “So You Say You’ll Be My King”, while in the UK, where he came back after winning a talent contest on Australian television. During the 1970s, she became one of the most popular singers of her era, with hits such as “I Honestly Love You”, “Let Me Be There”, “Please Mr. Please”, “Something Better to Do” or Don’t Stop Believin ”, already in the eighties, “physical” or “heart attack”.

Over the course of his music career, he has sold around 100 million records, reaching the gold record no less than 25 times, on 11 singles (two of them reaching platinum) and 14 albums (reaching platinum at two and double platinum at four). Nominated for 12 Grammys, he won four in 1973 for Best Female Country Performance for “Let Me Be There”, in 1974 for Record and Best Female Pop Performance for “I’m Honestly Love You”, and in 1982 for Music Video Award of the Year From Olivia Physical.

In 1974, he entered the UK Eurovision Song Contest with “Long Live Love” and came in fourth, the year Abba was victorious with the song Waterloo.

In 1978, he became a movie star when he starred alongside John Travolta in the movie “Grease – Brilhantina”.

Adapted from the Broadway musical Grease, the film was one of the biggest box office successes of the 1970s, cementing the status of star John Travolta, who starred in “Saturday Night Fever” the previous year, and catapulting him to stardom. Olivia Newton-John as Eternal Sandy.

“Brillantina,” which tells the story of a rebellious black-jacket love and an innocent girl and a high school romance in the 1950s, had a soundtrack that became one of the biggest hits of all time, with over 28 million copies sold and included “You The One.” That I Want”, a duet sung by John Travolta that has been in the charts for over six months, or “Hopeless Dedicated to You”.

The rest of his film career did not have the same luster, but it ended up endowing him with other musical successes, such as “Xanadu” (1980), with themes of “Magic” and “Xanadu”, or the romantic fantasy “Milagre de Amor”. , who combined it with John Travolta, and led to the hit songs “Twist of Fate”, “Livin’ in Desperate Times” and “Take a Chance”, the latter in a duet with the actor.

In 2019, she was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II, Our Lady of Honor, as an Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her participation in the fight against cancer and her contribution to the arts.

Olivia Newton-John was married to John Easterling and had one daughter, Chloe Latanzi.