On August 8, 2022, after a decades-long battle with breast cancer, Olivia Newton-John died at home surrounded by her loved ones. The 73-year-old Grease star and pop-music icon during her long journey battling breast cancer was the epitome of strength and kindness, no matter what she was going through personally she was always focused on the world around her and what she could contribute to make it a better place. In the last months of her life, she remained at her Southern California ranch home spending time with her family, which included her husband John Easterling, 70, and her daughter Chloe Lattanzi, 36.

THE HEART OF ALL HEARTS…

Right up until the end she remained true to who she was as a person. TV Host Leeza Gibbons, a friend of Newton-John for over 30 years talked about how regardless of her battle with breast cancer, she seldom wanted to talk about herself, saying: “Olivia would quickly deflect any discussion of herself or her illness. She always engaged others in conversation about them and rarely talked about herself. She may have been slightly slower, but that radiant smile and generous heart were on full display.” Gibbons said that it’s her enduring positivity throughout it all, is what she will remember most about her friend now that she is no longer with the rest of the world.

STRENGTH THROUGH ADVERSITY…

In 2017, Newton-John revealed to the world that she was facing a recurrence of breast cancer that had spread to her lower back and bones. Her husband, Easterling said of her sharing her battle with the world, “Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years, sharing her journey with breast cancer.” Despite what she was going through, Newton-John believed in living in the moment and being present in the now and enjoying that time because it’s all any of us have. And she lived every minute of it with great envy from her adoring fans and loving family which is why her loss has been felt all over from America to her native Australia and England.

WE HONESTLY LOVE YOU, OLIVIA…

Newton-John immigrated with her parents to Australia from Cambridge, England when she was 6 years old. She first found success almost five decades ago as a pop-country singer, crossing genres with such hits as “Let Me Be There” and “I Honestly Love You.” Before she released her debut album, If Not For You in 1971, Newton-John sang on local Australian TV. But it wasn’t until 1978 when she appeared in the musical film, Grease, as John Travolta’s love interest, the girl next door who turned leather-clad greaser Sandy, that she achieved pop-culture immortality and world-renowned fandom. Newton-John considered it the single biggest event in her life, even though she had many.

You can watch the 1978 Official Trailer for Grease here:

A GREASER GODDESS THAT ALMOST WASN’T…

She almost didn’t play Sandy in the ‘50s-High School set classic. When Newton-John was being cast in the role, she was 28 years old, and she feared that she was too old to play a high school student. It wasn’t until after a screen test with John Travolta that Newton-John changed her mind about the role of Sandy. She wrote about that screen test in her 2018 book, Don’t stop Believin’ saying: “They couldn’t deny this kind of chemistry. We were right next to each other, up close and personal—Sandy and Danny standing there in the flesh. The best part? We hadn’t even read one line.” There was no way she knew taking on the role of Sandy would catapult her to new heights of fame alongside John Travolta for an experience she later said affected everything in her life thereafter.

GOOD GIRL GONE GREASER…

Newton-John would become a chart-topper with her hits in the ’70s and in the ‘80s that were sexier having Grease behind her, those hits included the number one singles “Physical”, and “Xanadu” and despite being banned in some radio markets for its saucy lyrics, “Physical” would be a smash hit and help shed her good girl image and she would go on to win four Grammys. And even with her superstardom rising Newton-John remained ever the sweetest in nature never forgetting who she was as she rose to the heights of fame. Along with her rise to fame, she would then meet and marry her first husband, actor Matt Lattanzi in 1984 after being introduced on the set of her film, Xanadu.

THE MOST IMPORTANT ROLE OF HER LIFE…

Her daughter Chloe was born 13 months later in 1986, and Newton-John would put her career on the back burner so she could play the most important role of her life, a mother. Even though her agent would call all the time, and sometimes during playgroups with her daughter to ask her what she wanted to do next, Newton-John consistently told him she didn’t want to do anything but raise her daughter because she wanted her to be raised by her and not a bunch of nannies. In 1992, she would further retreat from the spotlight when her initial diagnosis of breast cancer was received, and she would undergo a partial mastectomy and endured nine months of chemotherapy.

ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE AND ELIMINATE THE NEGATIVE…

Even with her breast cancer diagnosis, she remained positive about life looking to such things as yoga and meditation to keep her mind focused on the good and off of the negative all around her as well as looking for them to help her heal from the treatments. This innate optimism that she kept despite the hard journey she was on would come in need full force when she was tested once again with life’s challenges and she went through a divorce from her first husband Lattanzi in 1995, and then again in 2005 when her boyfriend Patrick McDermott mysteriously disappeared on a boating trip. That wasn’t enough of life’s traumatic events in her life, and she would once again face her breast cancer in the first recurrence in 2013, which was exacerbated by her sister Rona’s death from brain cancer the same year as her recurrence. No one was tested more in life, and remained positive through it all, like Olivia Newton-John.

THE STRENGTH OF POSITIVITY…

Her daughter would then struggle with anorexia and substance abuse in her 20s and somehow Newton-John would find the gratitude in it all through such a tasking and traumatic life until that point, she would say of those times that she found beauty in the ugly of it all and was thankful for that and it would continue to be her demeanor right up until the end of her life. She may have believed it to be why she found a bright spot and happiness in the last decade and a half of her life with her second husband Easterling.

OLIVIA’S BRIGHT SPOT IN A TRAUMA CLOUD…

Newton-John started dating the natural-health businessman in 2007 after they bonded over their shared passion for environmentalism. The couple wed a year later in 2008, Newton-John told friends she had finally found love right before turning 60 years old, and because of that she never felt anyone was too old to find love. When asked it about it in 2017, Easterling’s feelings were mutual, saying: “Her capacity to love is so rare. It’s like the world is complete, and we can almost complete each other’s sentences. We really appreciate the little things, because ultimately that’s all there is—little things.” Easterling remained a support system for Newton-John in her five-year struggle with stage 4 breast cancer and remained her rock until her final days.

OLIVIA’S FAMILY ROCKS…

Newton-John often credited her family along with holistic methods of treatment as giving her strength during her long struggle. After discovering her cancer had returned, Newton-John opted for photon radiation therapy with other natural wellness therapies to fight her breast cancer once more. She spoke of the strength of her family and holistic therapies in one final single released in 2021, a duet with her daughter Chloe, called, “Window in the Wall.” She also talked about her husband growing medical cannabis for her in February 2021 while he was also making a cup of tea for her every morning and encouraging her to slow down her pace a bit. But Easterling also knew there was healing in her making music and understood her still making it, especially during her most recent recurrence with breast cancer. He understood song and music were her medium to healing but also wanted her to spend the time she had left being present with nature and her family.

You can watch the Official Music Video for “Window to the Wall” here:

STRENGTH OF BEING UNTIL THE END…

Newton-John had spent the last decade of her life committing herself to the research of plant medicine for cancer treatment through her foundation, the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund. In 2012, she also lent her name to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer & Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia. It is there that cancer patients not only receive treatment but also have access to programs to support body, mind, and spirit wellness. She wanted other cancer patients to have access to the treatments and wellness programs that she felt were helpful and hopeful for her in her long journey and struggle with breast cancer. Newton-John even turned to the treatment centre after taking part in her annual Wellness Walk in Australia resulted in immense pain for which she received radiation treatment for a cancer-induced pelvis fracture.

THE SILVER LINING OF A LOCKDOWN…

Throughout her entire life of cancer battles and traumas, she remained ever the optimist never asking herself why she was plagued with such challenges in life one after the other, and didn’t dwell on the things about her life she had no power to change. She never denied not feeling well but she did her best to look forward and use it to heal someone else if not herself through the strength of her hope and caring. Newton-John used the COVID Lockdown of 2020 to appreciate the quiet moments she was given with her family while it seemed like the world stopped moving for a year. Her daughter Chloe remained at her Southern California ranch with her and Easterling during the lockdown and Newton-John cherished every minute she was given during that time. She was able to reconnect with her daughter in a way she felt was disconnected from the busy world of their careers and life itself.

FOREVER OURS, SANDY…

While the world mourns the loss of Newton-John, her friends and family remind her fans of her resilience through it all. They want her to remain a beckon of love and hope through her lifelong journey. That no matter the amount of heartache and pain she faced in life, it never made Newton-John bitter about her life nor the journey she was on, that through it all she personified grace and goodness as a true angel here on earth.