NewtonJohn Olivia

British-Australian singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur, and social activist who was a four-time Grammy Award winner. With global sales of more than 100 million records, Newton-John is one of the best-selling music artists from the second half of the 20th century to the present. Her films include the hit Grease which was re-released in 1998 for its 20-year anniversary. When she was five, her family moved to Australia. She began as a singer at coffee houses in the mid-60s, but won a prize trip to London and signed with a British recording label in 1971 under which she produced her first hit, "If Not For You." In 1973, she interpreted the cover of Véronique Sansons song "Amoureuse". A year later, she represented the UK at the 1974 Eurovision song contest with "Long Live Love". She finished 4th (Abba winning). Her album Physical, released in 1981, showed a spirited development of her little-girl sound plus bravado. In business, she became the co-owner of a Los Angeles boutique. In 1991 she was forced to declare bankruptcy after her clothing line failed. She was married in December 1984 to 11-year-younger Matt Lattanzi. They had one child on 17 November 1986, Chloe, and lived on a ranch in Malibu. In 1994 he built a separate house next door for himself. They separated on 24 April 1995 with reasons that included an age difference of 11 years and the fact that they were very different types of people. She guarded her privacy fiercely while her husband was more sociable. In July 1992 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and successfully treated with a modified radical mastectomy. Her preference was for a vegetarian diet. At 50, 60, 70, she was youthful looking with skin as clear and an appearance as wholesome as when she played in "Grease" but less obsessive and more relaxed. Her album Gaia was released in Australia in 1995 and in the U.S. in 1996. By 1998 she was travelling with her steady, TV cameraman Patrick McDermott, 42. At home in Malibu, they nest in with an Irish setter, one of three dogs, three cats and a couple cockatiels and 400 rose bushes. Her boyfriend Patrick McDermott went missing on 30 June 2005. Reported to have been having financial problems, he seemed to have fallen or jumped overboard from his charter boat though authorities have not ruled out that he may have faked his death after some people reported seeing him in Mexican resort areas. Newton-John was an activist for environmental and animal rights causes. On 8 August 2022, Newton-John died from breast cancer at her home in California, aged 73. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less