50 Fun Facts About Olivia Newton-John

In which English city was Olivia Newton-John born in 1948?

Her father was headmaster of the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys at the time. The family emigrated to Melbourne when she was five.

Her maternal grandfather, Max Born, won a Nobel Prize in which field?

Born was a pioneer of quantum mechanics. Through the same line she was also a descendant of Martin Luther and a third cousin of comedian Ben Elton.

During World War II her father worked on the Enigma project at which site?

As an MI5 officer he also took Rudolf Hess into custody after Hess's flight to Scotland.

To which Australian city did her family emigrate in 1954?

Her father became master of Ormond College at the University of Melbourne; her cancer centre would later open in the same city.

What career did she originally want before choosing performance?

She doubted she could pass the science exams. Her later animal-rights activism included cancelling a Japan tour over dolphin deaths.

Which 1965 TV talent contest, hosted by Johnny O'Keefe, did she win?

The prize was a trip to Britain, which she put off for nearly a year until her mother insisted.

Which future producer of her hits did she meet on The Go!! Show in Australia?

Farrar later married her duet partner Pat Carroll and wrote 'Have You Never Been Mellow' and 'Hopelessly Devoted to You'.

In 1970 she starred in a science-fiction musical named after her short-lived group. What was it called?

American producer Don Kirshner assembled the group; the film and album both flopped and the band split.

Her first international hit, 'If Not for You' (1971), was written by whom?

It topped the US adult contemporary chart. Her follow-up 'Banks of the Ohio' was a top-10 hit in the UK and Australia.

Which 1973 single gave her a first US top-10 hit and a Grammy for Best Country Female?

It reached the top 10 on the pop, country and adult contemporary charts at once.

Which country did she represent at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest?

She finished fourth with 'Long Live Love', a song she later admitted disliking. ABBA won with 'Waterloo'.

Which group beat her at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton?

The British public chose her song from six options; all six ended up on her Long Live Love album.

Which ballad became her first US number one and won the Grammy for Record of the Year?

Written by Jeff Barry and Peter Allen, it also won her Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. She re-recorded it in 1998 with Babyface.

Her 1974 Country Music Association award for Female Vocalist of the Year beat which nominees?

She was the first British winner. Nashville purists formed the short-lived Association of Country Entertainers in protest.

Which sister of a country superstar recorded 'Ode to Olivia' in her support during the Nashville row?

Dolly's sister took her side. Newton-John then recorded her 1976 album Don't Stop Believin' in Nashville, and the community came round.

Which expatriate Australian singer encouraged her to move from the UK to the US?

It was at a dinner party at Reddy's home that she met Grease producer Allan Carr.

Which singer broke her 45-year Guinness record for the shortest gap between number-one albums?

Her 154-day gap between If You Love Me, Let Me Know and Have You Never Been Mellow stood until folklore and evermore arrived 140 days apart in 2020.

On which John Denver single did she provide a prominent but uncredited vocal?

She performed it with him on his 1975 ABC Christmas special. Her own 'Let It Shine' briefly knocked it off the AC number one spot.

What character did she play in the 1978 film Grease?

She was 28 playing a high school senior and insisted on a screen test with John Travolta before accepting.

Why did she insist on a screen test before accepting the role of Sandy?

She was also wary after her Toomorrow flop. The test was with co-lead John Travolta.

How many non-consecutive weeks did the Grease soundtrack spend at number one on the Billboard 200?

It produced three top-5 singles for her and remains one of the best-selling soundtracks ever.

Which Grease duet with John Travolta topped the Billboard Hot 100?

It went platinum and is one of the best-selling singles of all time. 'Summer Nights' peaked at No. 5.

Which Grease song did she perform at the 1979 Academy Awards, where it was nominated?

She was also nominated for a Golden Globe and won a People's Choice Award for the film.

She became the second woman to have two singles in the Billboard top 5 at once. Who was the first?

Ronstadt did it in 1977; Newton-John matched it a year later with 'Hopelessly Devoted to You' and 'Summer Nights'.

Her 1978 album Totally Hot showed her on the cover dressed in what?

It traded on Sandy's transformation at the end of Grease and signalled a tougher sound with 'A Little More Love'.

She cancelled a 1978 tour of Japan in protest at the slaughter of which animals?

She later wrote 'The Promise (the Dolphin Song)' for her Physical album.

Her 1978 lawsuit against MCA Records changed how record contracts were written. How?

She sued for $10 million claiming poor promotion; MCA countersued and she was held to the five-year term.

In the 1980 musical fantasy Xanadu she starred alongside Michael Beck and which dance legend?

The film flopped but the soundtrack went double platinum and later inspired a Tony-nominated Broadway show.

Which band joined her on the title song from Xanadu?

Her solo 'Magic' from the same film spent four weeks at number one, her biggest pop hit to that point.

Which duet partner joined her on the Xanadu track 'Suddenly'?

She had been a regular on his weekly show in the early 1970s, and the pair recorded together again on 'Let It Be Me' decades later.

How many weeks did 'Physical' spend at number one on the Billboard Hot 100?

It tied Debby Boone's 'You Light Up My Life' for the longest run at the time and was the decade's biggest Hot 100 single.

Radio stations in which US state banned 'Physical' over its suggestive lyrics?

Billboard later ranked it the most popular single ever about sex. The exercise-themed video turned it into an aerobics anthem instead.

What fashion accessory did the 'Physical' video popularise outside the gym?

The full Physical video album won her a fourth Grammy and aired as a top-10 ABC special, Let's Get Physical.

Her 1983 reunion film with John Travolta, a box-office flop, was called what?

The platinum soundtrack rescued it, with 'Twist of Fate' reaching No. 5.

What was Koala Blue, the business she co-founded in 1983 with her old duet partner Pat Carroll?

It began selling Australian imports, went bankrupt in 1992, and the name was later licensed for a line of wines.

Who wrote and produced 'The Rumour', the title track of her 1988 comeback album?

The album, her first after daughter Chloe's birth, stalled against teen stars Debbie Gibson and Tiffany.

Her second husband John Easterling, known as 'Amazon John', made his name selling what?

They married in an Incan ceremony in Peru in 2008. Her first husband, actor Matt Lattanzi, was someone she met on the set of Xanadu.

Her 1992 breast cancer diagnosis came the same weekend as what other event?

She had to cancel the tour planned around her Back to Basics hits collection.

Which 1994 album was the first on which she wrote every song herself?

It chronicled her cancer ordeal and encouraged her to keep writing.

She won a 1999 Daytime Emmy for 'Love Is a Gift' after it featured on which soap opera?

The song came from her Nashville album Back with a Heart.

With which singer did she perform 'Dare to Dream' at the 2000 Sydney Olympics opening ceremony?

The pair had toured together in 1998 on The Main Event, whose live album went 4x platinum in Australia.

In which TV series did she recreate her 'Physical' video with Jane Lynch?

The performance was released as a single and reached No. 89 on the Hot 100 in 2010.

Her Las Vegas residency at the Flamingo, which ran to 175 shows, was named after which song?

It ran from 2014 to December 2016 after being delayed by the death of her sister Rona.

Her 2015 dance number one 'You Have to Believe', recorded with daughter Chloe, reworked which of her hits?

It was the first mother-daughter single to top Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart, marking Xanadu's 35th anniversary.

Her final studio recording, released after her death, was a duet of 'Jolene' with whom?

Her 1982 concert version of the song showed off a three-octave range.

Which Spanx founder paid $162,000 for her skintight Grease trousers at a 2019 auction?

The anonymous buyer of the matching leather jacket gave it back to her, saying it should not sit in a billionaire's closet.

In which year did she finally become an Australian citizen?

She had remained a British subject throughout her Melbourne childhood and first applied in 1981.

How many Grammy Awards did she win in her career?

Along with a Daytime Emmy, nine Billboard Music Awards, six American Music Awards and a Hollywood Walk of Fame star.

Where did she die on 8 August 2022, aged 73?

Landmarks in Melbourne and Sydney were lit up in tribute, and AMC cinemas re-screened Grease for charity.

Which honour did she receive in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to charity, cancer research and entertainment?

The damehood followed an OBE in 1979 and Australia's highest honour, the Companion of the Order of Australia, in 2019.