Tony At 10: OLIVIA NEWTON JOHN: BLOG # 2141: FRI JUN 15, 2018

THE MESSAGE:

"STILL A STAR AND LOOKING GOOD 34 YEARS LATER!"

1980

2014

THE BLURB:

Olivia Newton-John was born on September 26, 1948 in Cambridge, England to Welshman "Bryn" Newton-John and his wife, Irene Helene (née Born). Her Jewish maternal grandfather, Nobel Prize-winning physicist, Max Born, fled with his family to England from Germany before World War II to escape the Nazi regime.

Olivia became an English-Australian singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur, and activist.

She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed several number-one Billboard Hot 100 singles:

"I Honestly Love You" (1974) – 3 weeks

"Have You Never Been Mellow" (1975) – 1 week

"Please Mr. Please" (1975) – 3 weeks

"Something Better to Do" (1975) – 3 weeks

"Let It Shine"/"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (1976) – 2 weeks

"Come on Over" (1976) – 1 week

"Don't Stop Believin'" (1976) – 1 week

She also provided a wonderful, but uncredited, vocal on John Denver's "Fly Away" that certainly helped this song become one of my favourites.

Olivia Newton-John’s tumultuous life has been a long story of heartbreak, mystery and brushes with death as she faces yet another battle with the dreaded cancer disease. The singer announced earlier this year she was battling breast cancer for the second time. She revealed, "I am no longer in pain and happy to say I am working again". Despite being diagnosed once more, after beating the illness 25 years ago, Newton-John is determined to continue to pursue music and connect with her fans on stage.

“When I get to sing the songs I love, it’s like a gift,” said Newton-John. “Being on the road with my band has been healing for me. Of course, it was scary. But the words that came to my mind were, ‘This too shall pass!’ I just had to believe that I was going to be OK. I talked to my body,” Newton-John explained, “I affirmed that I was healthy and strong. Depression suppresses your immune system; therefore, I tried to get my mind off my troubles by focusing on the things that I am passionate about.”

Back in 2012, 20 years after she first fought and won a battle with breast cancer, the entertainer launched the Olivia Newton-John Wellness and Research Centre. in Melbourne, Australia.

The centre provides patients with world-leading treatment and care. The care is complemented by wellness programs to support patients in body, mind and spirit. They have over 200 clinical trials in progress, providing access to new, breakthrough therapies.

Olivia admits to using medical cannabis to cope with the severe pain she experienced when walking. She says, "People have this vision from the ‘60s of people just sitting around, you know, getting stoned, and I think it’s not about that. This plant is a healing plant. I think we need to change the vision of what it is because it helped me greatly in coping with pain."

CHLOE ROSE LATTANZI

Chloe is an American singer and actress who was born in Los Angeles to Olivia Newton-John and actor Matt Lattanzi. Lattanzi, was married to Olivia for more than a decade. Chloe Rose allegedly lives near her father in Oregon, where she owns a marijuana farm. She has led a painful existence in her own right. Recently she declared, "I just got up off the floor I've been sobbing for an hour, feeling the collective energy of strangers all over the world weighing in on my family's problems. Since I was born, this has been my life. This life is also what I believe what made me sick." Confirming longtime speculation about her mental health, she added, "The anorexia, the depression, I've spent my life trying to please strangers. If I continue to do so I will die."

Olivia has not openly responded to her daughter's distressed post, but tabloids have reported that she is "devastated."

JOHN TRAVOLTA

Olivia Newton John and John Travolta "GREASE"

The two reunited at a G'Day USA Black Tie Gala in Los Angeles, California on Saturday, January 27, and now fans are loving the new photos of John and Olivia smiling side-by-side onstage.

Olivia declares, "He's been wonderful. He calls and checks up on me. He came to one of my shows — right before this happened, actually, right before my (recent) diagnosis. I saw him and I was hobbling around the dinner table because I was having trouble sitting down. And he was concerned."

John respects Olivia just as much. "She's always been an incredible human being and an inspiration to millions," he has said. "I know her so well. If we all put our intentions for her to get through this, she will feel it and it will support her. We love her and she loves us."

RELATIONSHIPS

Newton-John and McDermott were an on-and-off couple for about nine years. McDermott is of Korean descent. He was adopted from Korea by an American couple. Former wife, actress Yvette Nipar, and McDermott were married on March 1, 1992 when Nipar was four months pregnant. They divorced 15 months later on June 30, 1993. They have a son, Chance McDermott.

McDermott disappeared from a fishing expedition to Mexico. After years of searching for the missing man, a group of private investigators were alleged to have located McDermott in 2010, alive and living in Mexico. Though the Coast Guard believed he drowned, many believed he staged his death to get out of his financial obligations and to cash in on a $100,000 life insurance policy for his son Chance.

SECOND HUSBAND

In 2008 the Australian actress married her second husband, John Easterling. The pair fell in love and married in a private ceremony.

Olivia Newton John, 68 years and still gorgeous, gushes about her businessman husband of eight years John Easterling, 64. "He’s incredibly smart and compassionate. He says yes to everything, he says yes to life!" She acknowledges his helping her through some extremely tough times over the past few years. "I dated a little bit, but I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with him and then bam!"

THE QUESTION:

On a scale of 1 to 10, where would you place the music of the 60's and 70's?

THE LEMON:
Awarded to Lebron James for pushing, elbowing, travelling and double dribbles without consequence.