Olivia Newton-John Still Captures Many Hearts After Her Death; PLUS, Fun Xanadu Facts
I will never forget when I read the news that the beloved idol of my youth (and still today as an adult), Olivia Newton-John, had passed. I was trolling around on social media as I often do, until I was stopped dead in my tracks when I saw it posted on her Facebook page. It was so fresh it hadn’t even hit the wires yet. I was devastated and heartbroken, and immediately started bawling. I normally don’t get this way when it comes to celebrity deaths, but she has held a special place in my heart for a very long time.
My love for her started very at a young age. Remember those plastic bowling pin sets you were probably lucky enough to get for Christmas? Well, when I was a kid (granted, I was born in ’74), I remember creating my own roller-skating rink with them. I would skate around in my basement pretending I was a muse, much like Newton-John’s role in Xanadu. While most people were Grease lovers, I really gravitated toward Xanadu. Granted, the movie was blasted by critics, and yeah, I’ll admit it is pretty cheesy, but how can you pass up that amazing soundtrack? While on the subject of this cult classic, I think it would be fair to mention that not only did my beloved Olivia die on Aug. 8, 2022, Xanadu happened to be released on Aug. 8, 1980! What are the odds of that?
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Get to know Olivia Newton-John’s history
In case you aren’t totally aware of the acclaimed blonde Aussie singer-songwriter with the sweetest smile, she was born in England in 1948 to an English father and German mother. Since her father worked as an MI5 officer and headmaster of several universities, they moved around quite a bit before landing in Australia. Her music career started after winning a talent contest, which brought her back to England, where she met her duet partner Pat Carroll. The duo worked the club circuit in the late 1960s, and Olivia released her first solo album in 1971 and went on to have a slew of hits in the ’70s that ranked on both the pop and country charts, songs like “I Honestly Love You” and “Let Me Be There.”
Paramount Pictures/ Courtesy: Everett Collection
It was in 1978 when she made her screen debut as the sweet, naive Sandy in Grease along with future longtime friend John Travolta. I mean, who could forget those hot “Summer Nights”? With the movie and soundtrack being a mega-hit, she’d try her hand in the movies again; next, it was Xanadu in 1980; more on this later. In 1981, her massive album Physical hit the airwaves and spawned the No. 1 single of the same name. Over her career, she recorded 26 studio albums, 15 Top 10 singles, including five No. 1 singles on Billboard, and won four Grammys. Last year her estate re-released her most popular album of all time in honor of her birthday and its 45th anniversary.
Scott Barbour/Getty Images
Some of Newton-John’s most important work over the years came on the activism and advocacy fronts. She was a longtime supporter of children’s and animal rights and won many honors while fighting for those causes. Health issues also took on importance to Newton-John, especially after 1992, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She recovered and became an advocate for breast cancer research, with her passion leading to the creation of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia. During this time she was also holding a residency in Las Vegas at the Flamingo Hotel & Casino. Although her cancer had been in remission for many years, in May 2017, Newton-John revealed that it had returned and metastasized in her lower back. She beat the disease three times, but ultimately succumbed to it at her home in the Santa Ynez Valley of California at the age of 73.
5 Fun Facts about Xanadu
Now, back to Xanadu. As mentioned above, critics hated it, but this roller disco fantasy film lives on to be a cult favorite. It was even adapted into a successful Broadway play. If you love this movie as much as I do or are new to it (I own four copies of the soundtrack!) these are some things you may or may not know.
1It has an illustrated comic
Marvel, as in Marvel Comics, released an illustrated story of the film that not only contains the movie in comic form but also many behind-the-scenes features, bios on the stars, features on how the special effects were created, and so much more.
2It had an animation video done by an ex-Disney artist
The animation sequence during the song “Don’t Walk Away” was created by Don Bluth Productions, by Don Bluth himself, as the company wasn’t even a year old yet. You may recognize the same style of art in the movies Secret of NIMH and All Dogs Go to Heaven, plus the Dragons Lair video game, to name a few.
3Best Soundtrack EVER included a famous record producer
The soundtrack, produced by Jeff Lynne of Electronic Light Orchestra, or ELO for short, was his first movie soundtrack. Not only did Lynne and ELO have the hits with the opening track “I’m Alive” and “All Over the World,” but Lynn also wrote the title track to the movie, “Xanadu,” which earned him and Olivia a No. 1 hit. It also spawned the No. 1 hit “Magic.”
>> Jeff Lynne’s ELO Announce 2024 Final Live Tour: ‘Over and Out’
4Farewell to a Hollywood Icon
It was actor Gene Kelly‘s last movie. He choreographed the dance sequence “Whenever You’re Away From Me” between him and Olivia. It was nearly identical to a scene he did with Judy Garland in For Me and My Gal (1942).
5The costumes were made by a famous fashion designer
Famed costume designer Bobbie Mannix did over 260 costumes for this film that had to range the gamut of 1940s-era swing look to a modern 1980s punk look to the flowing breezy muse dresses. She also did The Warriors in 1978, which happened to also star Michael Beck. The muse dresses at one point were also part of a clothing line that anyone could get.
Bonus Fact!
Olivia had never been on a pair of roller skates prior to Xanadu. Both Olivia and Michael Beck learned how to roller skate for the film with a team of choreographers and instructors.
Love and light, Olivia; the world sure lost a shining star on Aug. 8, 2022. We love you, we honestly do.
Oh What A Year: 1980
January 2020
Take a look back at our retrospect of the year 1980 where we celebrate the hottest in movies, music and TV.
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