Singer and actress, Dame Olivia Newton-John, and the United Kingdom’s 1974 Eurovision entrant, has died at the age of 73.
She represented the United Kingdom at the Brighton 1974 contest with her entry Long Live Love, which finished a respectable 4th place, only beaten by Mouth & McNeal, Gigliola Cinquetti & ABBA. Famously, after the result came in, (then) radio commentator, Terry Wogan, proclaimed “that’ll be the last we see of Olivia Newton-John”…
Eurovision 1974 winners, and life-long friends of Newton-John, released a statement about her passing.
The heart aches to know Olivia’s brave fight against an, in her case, invincible enemy. That she never gave up or complained about her situation, but instead told us her story so that we would understand and want to help others affected. I am grateful to have known a person like you Olivia and you will always be in my heart.
ABBA
Four years later, Newton-John rose to great prominence upon the release of the theatrical adaptation of the musical Grease, where she was cast as the female lead, Sandy. The film was the biggest box-office hit of the year, and it gave Newton-John three huge singles, in the worldwide chart, including Your the One that I Want, Summer Nights and Hopelessly Devoted to You. The first two of which, reached No.1 in the UK, which was a far cry from Long Live Love‘s No.11!
Grease was the catalyst for her ever growing career, as she suddenly broke into the mould of pop-icon! Her single Physical in 1981 became a worldwide hit, certifying her as a star!
Sadly in 1992, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, but this didn’t deter her, as she went onto become a leading force behind cancer research. She started a charity which raised millions of pounds for the cause.
In 2020, these efforts in the fight against cancer, were recognised by the state, and she was given a damehood by the Queen.
Sadly, however, the fight with cancer never ended, and despite it being diagnosed with it 30-years ago, she passed away on 8 August 2022.
