Olivia Newton-John
Dame Olivia Newton-John sold more than 100 million records, a total that makes her the highest-selling female Australian recording artist of all time. She was born in Cambridge, England, in 1948 and raised in Melbourne. Her career eventually stretched across Britain, Australia and the United States, where five of her singles reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Those numbers hide an odd route to the top. Her family tree held a Nobel laureate and a wartime codebreaking project. Her first big break nearly ended in a flop. So how did a Melbourne schoolgirl become a fixture of the American charts? Why did part of the American music business try to push her out? And what did she choose to do with her fame once the hits slowed?
Her maternal grandfather was Max Born, a German Jewish physicist who won a Nobel Prize. Her mother, Irene Born, grew up in Germany, and the family came to the United Kingdom in 1933 to escape the Nazi regime. Her uncle, Gustav Born, became a pharmacologist.
Her grandmother Hedwig was the daughter of a jurist, Victor Ehrenberg, and his Lutheran wife, Helene Agatha von Jhering. Through Helene Agatha, Newton-John descended from the Protestant theologian Martin Luther. Helene Agatha's father was the jurist Rudolf von Jhering, her great-great-grandfather. Through the Ehrenberg line she was also a third cousin of the comedian Ben Elton.
Her father, Brinley Newton-John, was born and raised in Wales. During World War II he served as an MI5 officer on the Enigma project at Bletchley Park, and he took Rudolf Hess into custody. After the war he became headmaster of the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys.
In early 1954, when she was five, the family sailed to Melbourne on the SS Strathaird. Her father became a professor of German and master of Ormond College at the University of Melbourne. It was a Presbyterian college, and the family attended church. She went to Christ Church Grammar School in the suburb of South Yarra, then to University High School in Parkville.
She was the youngest of three children. Her brother Hugh became a physician and an infectious diseases specialist. Her sister Rona became a model and actress, with appearances on The Benny Hill Show and Gerry Anderson's UFO. Rona's children included the music producer Brett Goldsmith and Tottie Goldsmith, a founder member of the band The Chantoozies. Their parents divorced in 1958, and their father later remarried twice. Rona herself married the Grease and Taxi actor Jeff Conaway in 1980, and the marriage lasted until 1985.
At 14, Newton-John formed an all-girl group called Sol Four with three classmates. The group often played at a coffee shop owned by her brother-in-law. She had first wanted to be a vet, but she doubted she could pass the science exams, so she turned to performing.
In 1964 she played Lady Mary Lasenby in her school's production of The Admirable Crichton. That role made her runner-up for the Young Sun's Drama Award for best schoolgirl actress. She soon became a regular on local television, including Time for Terry and HSV-7's The Happy Show, where she appeared as "Lovely Livvy". On The Go!! Show she met the singer Pat Carroll and John Farrar, who would become her producer. Carroll and Farrar later married.
In 1965 she won a talent contest on the television program Sing, Sing, Sing, hosted by the Australian star Johnny O'Keefe. She sang "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "Everything's Coming Up Roses". The prize was a trip to Great Britain, and she hesitated to take it. Her mother encouraged her to broaden her horizons, and she went nearly a year later.
In Britain she missed her boyfriend, Ian Turpie, who had co-starred with her in the 1965 Australian telefilm Funny Things Happen Down Under. She kept booking trips home, and her mother kept cancelling them. In 1966 she recorded her first single, "Till You Say You'll Be Mine", for Decca Records.
Her outlook changed when Pat Carroll moved to the UK. The two formed a duo called Pat and Olivia and toured nightclubs across Europe. One booking was at Paul Raymond's Revue in Soho, London. They did not realise it was a strip club until they walked on stage in frilly, high-collared dresses. The pair also sang backup on recordings for other artists, including the Easybeats song "Come In, You'll Get Pneumonia". When Carroll's visa expired she had to return to Australia, but Newton-John stayed to pursue solo work.
The American producer Don Kirshner then recruited her for a group called Toomorrow. In 1970 the group starred in a science fiction musical of the same name and recorded a soundtrack album for RCA Records. Two singles that year made no mark on the charts, the project failed and the group broke up. The disappointment stayed with her, and it was still on her mind when a film offer arrived in the late 1970s.
Bob Dylan wrote the title track of her first solo album, If Not for You, released in 1971. The song was her first international hit, reaching number 25 on the American pop chart and number one on the adult contemporary chart. Her follow-up, "Banks of the Ohio", reached the top 10 in the UK and Australia but stalled at number 94 in the United States. The magazine Record Mirror voted her Best British Female Vocalist two years running. She also appeared often on Cliff Richard's weekly show and starred with him in the telefilm The Case.
Her 1972 single "What Is Life" made little impact in America, so her second album, Olivia, was never formally issued there. Her fortunes changed in 1973 with "Let Me Be There". It reached number 6 on the pop chart, number 7 on the country chart and number 3 on the adult contemporary chart. It earned her a Grammy for Best Country Female and an Academy of Country Music award for Most Promising Female Vocalist.
In 1974 she represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest with "Long Live Love". British viewers picked it from six candidate songs. She later admitted she disliked it. She finished fourth in Brighton, behind the Swedish winner, "Waterloo" by ABBA. All six candidates appeared on her album Long Live Love, her first for EMI Records. In North America the album was reissued as If You Love Me, Let Me Know, with the Eurovision songs swapped for country-flavoured tunes. It reached number one on the pop chart for one week and on the country chart for eight.
The next single, "I Honestly Love You", became her signature song. Jeff Barry and Peter Allen wrote it. It gave her a first pop number one, held for two weeks, and earned two more Grammys, for Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female. In her 2018 autobiography, Don't Stop Believin', she described it as a song "so simple, with a meaning that was deeper than the ocean".
In 1974 the Country Music Association named her Female Vocalist of the Year, and she was the first British singer to win. She beat the Nashville-based nominees Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tanya Tucker, as well as the Canadian Anne Murray. Purists objected to a foreigner singing country-flavoured pop and being grouped with native Nashville artists. Their protest led to the short-lived Association of Country Entertainers. The country community eventually backed her. Dolly's sister, Stella Parton, recorded "Ode to Olivia", and Newton-John cut her 1976 album Don't Stop Believin' in Nashville, Tennessee.
Fellow Australian singer Helen Reddy encouraged Newton-John to leave the UK and move to the United States. Her next album, Have You Never Been Mellow, topped the pop albums chart for one week and the country albums chart for six. The gap between her two number-one albums on the Billboard 200 was 154 days. That was the shortest ever for a woman, a Guinness World Record that stood for 45 years. In 2020 Taylor Swift beat it with 140 days between folklore and evermore.
On the adult contemporary chart she reached number one ten times, including a record seven in a row. The run began with "I Honestly Love You" in 1974 and ended with "Don't Stop Believin'" in 1976. She also sang an uncredited vocal on John Denver's "Fly Away". Her own "Let It Shine" and "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" took over that chart's top spot from it, and then "Fly Away" returned. In December 1975 the two performed the song together on the ABC special John Denver - A Rocky Mountain Christmas.
Not everything kept climbing. Her streak of five consecutive gold top-10 singles on the Hot 100 ended when "Something Better to Do" stopped at number 13. Later in 1977 her Greatest Hits collection became her first platinum album.
In 1978 she starred as Sandy in the film version of the Broadway musical Grease. She was offered the part after meeting the producer Allan Carr at a dinner party at Helen Reddy's home. Still stung by the Toomorrow experience, and worried that she was too old to play a high school senior at 28, she insisted on a screen test with her co-star John Travolta.
Grease became the biggest box-office hit of 1978, though her own performance drew mixed reviews. The soundtrack spent 12 non-consecutive weeks at number one. It gave her three top-5 singles: "You're the One That I Want" with Travolta, which reached number one, "Hopelessly Devoted to You" at number 3, and "Summer Nights" at number 5. Linda Ronstadt had done it in 1977, and Newton-John became the second woman to hold two singles in the Billboard top 5 at once. She performed the Oscar-nominated "Hopelessly Devoted to You" at the 1979 Academy Awards. She won a People's Choice Award for Favourite Film Actress and was nominated for a Golden Globe.
When Grease returned for its 20th anniversary in 1998, it ranked second only to Titanic on its opening weekend. After her death, the cinema chain AMC brought the film back to some screens, with a portion of the proceeds going to breast cancer research.
On the 31st of May 1978, Newton-John and MCA Records each filed breach-of-contract actions against the other. In April 1975 she had signed a deal expecting two albums a year, with options for MCA to extend it. Her fourth album under that deal, Making a Good Thing Better, ran late, around the time she was making Grease for RSO Records. She sued for $10 million, arguing that poor promotion freed her from the agreement. MCA countersued for $1 million and an order stopping her from working with another firm. She was barred from recording for another label until the five-year agreement had run its course. Record companies afterward rewrote contracts around a number of albums instead of a span of years.
The courtroom was not done with her. In June 2006 her company, ON-J Productions Ltd, sued Universal Music Group for $1 million in unpaid royalties on the Grease soundtrack. A conditional settlement was announced in 2007.
Newton-John started 1980 with "I Can't Help It", a duet with Andy Gibb, and a television special called Hollywood Nights. Later that year she starred with Gene Kelly and Michael Beck in the musical fantasy Xanadu. Critics panned the film, yet its soundtrack went double platinum and produced five top-20 singles. "Magic" spent four weeks at number one on the pop chart and five on the adult contemporary chart. "Suddenly", with Cliff Richard, reached number 20. The title song, with the Electric Light Orchestra, reached number 8. The film later became a cult classic and the basis for a Broadway show that ran for more than 500 performances from 2007. It earned four Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical.
In 1981 came her most successful studio album, the double platinum Physical, with risqué, rock-oriented songs. She explained the shift: "I just wasn't in the mood for tender ballads. I wanted peppy stuff because that's how I'm feeling." Steve Kipner and Terry Shaddick wrote the title track, which spent ten weeks atop the Hot 100. That matched the record then held by Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life". It ranked as the biggest song of the decade, and in 2008 Billboard placed it sixth among all songs from the Hot 100's first 50 years.
Two Utah radio stations banned the single over its suggestive lyrics. She answered with an exercise-themed video that turned the song into an aerobics anthem. It even made headbands a fashion accessory outside the gym. She also recorded a video album for Physical, with videos for every track and three older hits. It earned her a fourth Grammy and aired as the ABC prime-time special Let's Get Physical, a top-10 Nielsen hit. Of that period she said she had "different sides" to her personality, including "the sane Olivia and the crazy Olivia".
In 1983 she reunited with Travolta for Two of a Kind, a critical and commercial disappointment. Its platinum soundtrack redeemed it, led by "Twist of Fate", which reached number 5. That same year she and Pat Farrar, formerly Pat Carroll, founded Koala Blue. It began as a shop for Australian imports and grew into a chain of women's clothing boutiques. The chain declared bankruptcy and closed in 1992. In 1993 a judge dismissed a multimillion-dollar suit from franchise holders on summary judgment. The two women later licensed the brand name for a line of Australian wines.
Her 1985 album Soul Kiss produced only one charting single, the title track at number 20. After a hiatus of nearly three years following the birth of her daughter Chloe in January 1986, she returned with The Rumour in 1988. Elton John wrote and produced the title track. Both the single and the album faltered, as the nearly 40-year-old singer seemed "old" beside teen stars Debbie Gibson and Tiffany. Critics did praise the album's maturity, noting its songs on AIDS, the environment and single-parent households. Its second single, "Can't We Talk It Over in Bed", did not chart. Yet in 1989 the song's arranger, Grayson Hugh, released it as "Talk It Over", and it became a top-20 pop hit.
In September 1989 Newton-John released Warm and Tender, an album she called "self-indulgent". It reunited her with the producer John Farrar and carried lullabies and love songs inspired by her daughter, who appeared on the cover. It reached only number 124. She was named a Goodwill ambassador to the United Nations Environment Programme. Two Christmas films, A Mom for Christmas in 1990 and A Christmas Romance in 1994, both became top-10 Nielsen hits.
In 1992 she compiled Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971-1992 and planned her first tour since the Physical trek ten years earlier. Shortly after the album appeared, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and cancelled all publicity and the tour. The diagnosis came the same weekend her father died. She recovered.
The illness shaped her next record. Gaia: One Woman's Journey, released in 1994, chronicled her ordeal. It was the first album on which she wrote all the music and lyrics herself. "No Matter What You Do" entered the Australian top 40. The environmental song "Don't Cut Me Down" was used in It's My Party, a 1996 AIDS drama.
In 1998 she returned to Nashville to record Back with a Heart, which reached number 9 on the Country Albums chart. Her song "Love Is a Gift" won the 1999 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Song after it featured on the daytime serial As the World Turns. From October to December 1998 she toured with John Farnham and Anthony Warlow on The Main Event Tour. The album Highlights from The Main Event reached number one and went 4 times platinum. It won an ARIA Award for Highest Selling Australian CD at the 1999 awards. At the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics, she and Farnham performed "Dare to Dream" during the Parade of Nations. An estimated 3.5 billion people watched the broadcast.
In 2000 she took a startlingly different part in Del Shores' film Sordid Lives, as Bitsy Mae Harling, a bisexual former-convict country singer. She reprised the role in Sordid Lives: The Series, which ran one season on the LOGO network and featured five original songs she wrote for it. In 2002 she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
From 2012 to 2017 she toured actively. A Las Vegas residency at the Flamingo was postponed after her sister Rona died of a brain tumour in May 2013, aged 72. Newton-John began 45 shows in April 2014, and her Summer Nights residency finally ended in December 2016 after 175 shows.
In 2015 she scored her first number one on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. "You Have to Believe" was a reworking of "Magic", recorded with her daughter Chloe and the producer Dave Audé. It was the first mother-daughter single to top that chart. Newton-John explained: "I met Chloe's dad on the set of Xanadu; so, without that film, Chloe wouldn't be here." Her final public performance came in February 2020, at the Fire Fight Australia charity event.
In 1978 Newton-John cancelled a concert tour of Japan to protest the slaughter of dolphins caught in tuna fishing nets. She rescheduled it after the Japanese government assured her the practice was being curbed. In 1981 she wrote "The Promise (the Dolphin Song)" for the Physical album. In 1991 she became national spokesperson for the Colette Chuda Environmental Fund after five-year-old Colette Chuda died of Wilms' tumour. Colette was the daughter of her friend Nancy Chuda.
In 2008 she led a three-week, 228 km walk along the Great Wall of China to raise money for a cancer and wellness centre in Melbourne. The Olivia Newton-John Cancer & Wellness Centre opened at the Austin Hospital in 2012, and it was renamed the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre in 2015. On the 2nd of November 2019, Julien's Auctions sold hundreds of items from her career for $2.4 million. Her Grease jacket brought $243,200, and the anonymous buyer returned it to her. All proceeds went to the centre.
In May 2017 she announced that her breast cancer had returned and spread to her lower back. Her back pain had first been diagnosed as sciatica. It was her third bout, following a recurrence in 2013. The cancer had reached her bones and progressed to stage IV. She spoke of using cannabis oil to ease the pain and advocated for medical cannabis.
She died on the 8th of August 2022, aged 73, at her home in the Santa Ynez Valley of California. John Travolta, Barbra Streisand and the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese were among those who paid tribute. Melbourne and Sydney lit up many of their landmarks. The State of Victoria offered a state funeral, which her niece Tottie Goldsmith accepted. Her Australian memorial was held on the 26th of February 2023 at Hamer Hall in Melbourne. Delta Goodrem performed a medley of her hits, and video tributes came from Elton John, Mariah Carey, Barry Gibb, Dolly Parton and Nicole Kidman.
Her first boyfriend, Ian Turpie, remembered that in the early days she had a small but very pure voice. She told him that Shirley Bassey was a big influence, and she worked to make her head voice sound like a chest voice. In her memoir she called herself "not a power singer but more of an interpretive one". In her 1982 concert performance of "Jolene", she covered a falling range of three octaves. Rachel Syme of The New Yorker argued that her most lasting legacy might be as "the rare celebrity who was almost universally well liked".
At the 2022 American Music Awards, Pink staged a commemorative cover of her work. At the 2022 ARIA Music Awards, a tribute to her featured Natalie Imbruglia, Peking Duk and Tones and I.
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Common questions
How many records did Olivia Newton-John sell?
Olivia Newton-John sold more than 100 million records, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She is also the highest-selling female Australian recording artist.
What role did Olivia Newton-John play in Grease?
Olivia Newton-John played Sandy in the 1978 film version of the Broadway musical Grease, opposite John Travolta. Grease became the biggest box-office hit of 1978.
Why did country music artists protest Olivia Newton-John in 1974?
Country music purists objected after she won the Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year award in 1974, because she was a foreigner singing country-flavoured pop. The protest led to the short-lived Association of Country Entertainers.
How long did the song Physical by Olivia Newton-John stay at number one?
"Physical" spent ten weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, matching the record then held by Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life". It was written by Steve Kipner and Terry Shaddick and released in 1981.
When did Olivia Newton-John die and what caused her death?
Olivia Newton-John died on the 8th of August 2022, aged 73, at her home in the Santa Ynez Valley of California. Her breast cancer had returned in 2017 and progressed to stage IV.
What charity centre is named after Olivia Newton-John?
The Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne carries her name. It opened in 2012 as the Cancer & Wellness Centre and was renamed in 2015.
All sources
330 references cited across the entry
- 2MagazineFarewell, Olivia Newton-John: Why We Honestly Loved HerRob Sheffield — 9 August 2022
- 3Companion of the Order of AustraliaDepartment of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia) — 26 January 2019
- 5NewsOlivia Newton-John displays movie memorabilia in NewbridgeRTÉ News and Current Affairs — 25 July 2019
- 6BookAll Music Guide to CountryMichael Erlewine — Miller Freeman Books — 1997
- 7News'This was her dream': Olivia Newton-John's legacy lives on at cancer research centreKelly Burke — 9 August 2022
- 8NewsOlivia Newton-John launches Bristol tree-planting projectSteven Morris — 23 February 2015
- 10Olivia Newton-John biography7 November 2008
- 11Olivia Newton-John, 'Grease' star and granddaughter of Jewish Nobel laureate, dies at 73Jewish Telegraphic Agency — 8 August 2022
- 12BookDon't Stop Believin' – Olivia Newton-John – Google BooksOlivia Newton-John — Simon and Schuster — 12 March 2019
- 13JournalThe wide-ranging family history of Max BornG.V.R. Born — royalsocietypublishing.org — 2002
- 14Genealogy of Tiemo Hollmann – Born, Irene HeleneTiemohollmann.de — 9 January 2012
- 15Max Born, the Quantum Physicist who Believed that "God Plays Dice"Ventana al Conocimiento — 5 January 2018
- 17Excerpts from Olivia's Don't Stop Believin' memoir23 May 2019
- 18Olivia Newton-John BiographyAETN-UK
- 19NewsFame & Fortune: Olivia Newton-JohnSarah Ewing — 21 May 2010
- 20Olivia Newton-John on The Biography ChannelMerrymedia.co.uk — 3 February 2007
- 21The Cambs school where Olivia Newton-John's dad was headteacherGabrielle Wilde — 29 December 2021
- 22Digital Item Page GalleryNational Archives of Australia — 25 January 1954
- 23Ohh Sandy!Robert Windeler — 31 July 1978
- 25NewsRomantic reunion of a kind on stage for OliviaSuzanne Carbone — 22 February 2012
- 26BookDon't Stop Believin'Olivia Newton-John — Viking Australia — 2018
- 27Brinley (Brin) Newton-John (1914–1992)John Stowell et al. — National Centre of Biography, Australian National University
- 31'Lively with noteworthy eyes': The untold story of Olivia Newton-John's school yearsAnthony Segaert — 10 August 2022
- 32Olivia Newton-John – Hip-O RecordsIlovethatsong.com — 26 October 1987
- 33Dame Olivia Newton-John obituary8 August 2022
- 35NewsOlivia Newton-John on Why She Won't Watch The Hopelessly Devoted To You BiopicAmy Campbell — 5 September 2018
- 36Olivia Newton-JohnPore-Lee-Dunn Productions — Classicbands.com — 26 September 1948
- 37Pop's Hottest PipesRobert Windeler — 24 February 1975
- 39Olivia Newton-John BiographyOlivianewton-john.com
- 40BookThe Billboard book of number 1 hitsFred Bronson — Billboard Books — 2003
- 41BookThe Billboard Book of Top 40 Country HitsJoel Whitburn — Billboard Books — 2006
- 42O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007.
- 43NewsOlivia Newton-John
- 44BookNotable Moments of Women in MusicJay Warner — Hal Leonard Corporation — 2008
- 45BookAt the Grammys!: Behind the Scenes at Music's Biggest NightKen Ehrlich — Hal Leonard Corporation — 2007
- 50Magazine50 Country Dissidents Organize New Assn., See Threat to CMABill Williams — 23 November 1973
- 51Shortest gap between new No.1 albums on the US Billboard 200 (female)26 December 2020
- 52BookAll music guide to country: the ...Michael Erlewine — Hal Leonard Corporation — 1997
- 53MagazineForever No. 1: John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John's 'You're the One That I Want'Paul Grein — 10 August 2022
- 54Olivia Newton-John, 'Grease' Star and 'Physical' Singer, Dies at 73Jonathan Cohen — Yahoo! News — 8 August 2022
- 56SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE30 December 1978
- 57Olivia
- 58IMDb Top Box OfficeIMDb
- 59NewsOlivia the charmer who beat HollywoodPeter McDonald — 30 September 1978
- 62NewsOlivia Newton-John Reaches Conditional Settlement Over 'Grease' Royalties4 December 2007
- 64BookBillboard30 May 1998
- 66'Grease' Returning to AMC Theatres in Tribute to Olivia Newton-JohnPamela McClintock — 18 August 2022
- 68An Olivia Newton-John Retrospective, Part Six: 197812 July 2018
- 70I Think About Olivia Newton-John's 'Dolphin Song' a LotDina Gachman — 14 September 2020
- 71BookUnfree Masters: Popular Music and the Politics of WorkMatt Stahl — Duke University Press — 2013
- 73MagazineOlivia Newton-John Battles BackBen Fong-Torres — 27 July 1978
- 74'Free' Records Cause Discord With ArtistsWilliam Jr. Knoedelseder — 18 August 1985
- 75How a Rock Band's Lawsuit Could Upend Record Deals Everywhere25 August 2017
- 77Xanadu Moves Up Broadway Closing Date to 9/28Broadway.com — 23 September 2008
- 78Olivia Gets PhysicalCarl Arrington — 15 February 1982
- 82MagazineOlivia Gets 'Physical'Bob Cannon — 19 November 1993
- 83NewsOlivia Newton-John's "Physical" sexiest song ever13 February 2010
- 86Animal MagnetismCarl Arrington — 19 October 1983
- 88Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted13 April 1987
- 89MagazineLosing Their Shirts with OliviaAnne Maier — 19 August 1991
- 93Your AFL club's most famous supporters, from Barack Obama to Cam NewtonRiley Beveridge — 29 January 2016
- 96Olivia Newton-John – Soul KissAllMusic
- 97Olivia Newton-John – Soul Kiss VideoAllMusic
- 98BookHis Song: The Musical Journey of...Elizabeth J. Rosenthal — Watson-Guptill Publications, Incorporated — March 2004
- 99BookThe Accidental Evolution Of Rock'n'roll: A Misguided Tour Through Popular MusicChuck Eddy — Hachette Books — 1997
- 100Book99 red balloons: and 100 all-time great one-hit wondersBrent Mann — Citadel Press — 2003
- 101An Olivia Newton-John Retrospective, Part Ten: 1987–1992Kevin John Coyne — 28 August 2018
- 102Toughing It Out3 August 1992
- 103Victors ValiantSusan Schindehette et al. — 26 October 1998
- 106Gaia
- 108BookThe Christmas Encyclopedia, 3d ed.William D. Crump — McFarland — 28 August 2013
- 111Book1227 Quite Interesting Facts to Blow Your Socks OffJohn Lloyd et al. — W. W. Norton & Company — 2013
- 113Whammo Homepage29 August 2004
- 115ARIA Awards 2008: History: Winners by Artist13 February 2009
- 116ARIA and PPCA remember Olivia Newton-John8 August 2022
- 117NewsShowing Her Mettle – Olivia Newton-John CoverJill Smolowe — 25 September 2000
- 120Olivia Newton-John – Back With A Heart21 May 1998
- 121NewsGay channel Logo steps into Sordid realm9 January 2008
- 125Olivia Newton-John, singer and actress, dead at 73theawarenews et al. — 1 September 2022
- 126MagazineNewton-John Records Angelou Poem For Breast Cancer21 August 2005
- 127NewsOlivia Newton-John Moves OnSandra Marquez — 28 September 2006
- 128BookBillboard28 October 2006
- 129NewsNew sounds for ChristmasPatrick MacDonald — 22 November 2007
- 133MagazineAsk Billboard6 January 2007
- 134Olivia and friends release album to better cancer researchGreat Walk to Beijing.com
- 135NewsAnne Murray partners with "Friends and Legends"23 November 2007
- 136Green Hill Music-Grace And Gratitude RenewedGreenhillmusic.com
- 138MagazineJustin Bieber Comic Book to Track His Rise to 'Fame'14 September 2009
- 140TIFF 2010 Scores An Opening Night FilmBrian McKechnie — 14 July 2010
- 141'Glee' Recap: Episode 17, 'Bad Reputation'Aly Semigran — MTV News — 5 May 2010
- 142NewsOlivia Newton-John's most iconic pop culture momentsNatalie Issa — 9 August 2022
- 143MagazineOlivia Newton-John Gets 'Physical' on 'Glee' with Sue SylvesterMonica Herrera — 5 May 2010
- 145NewsTuned In to Olivia Newton-John17 April 2010
- 146Wild Life (1996) – The Screen GuideScreen Australia — 1996
- 150NewsOlivia Newton-John's back, with a few good men14 January 2011
- 153Olivia Newton-John announces 40th anniversary UK tour23 October 2012
- 155Olivia Newton-John to begin Las Vegas residencyCBS News — 4 February 2014
- 156Olivia Newton-John Announces 'Summer Nights' Vegas ResidencyJay Smith — 4 February 2014
- 157Olivia Newton-John Is Still The One We WantRandy Slovacek — 6 April 2014
- 159Olivia Newton-John To Stay At Flamingo Through 201510 December 2014
- 161Olivia Newton-John's three-year Flamingo run is done6 March 2017
- 162Two Strong Hearts: Live In Concert21 August 2015
- 163NewsAlbum Reviews: John Farnham & Olivia Newton-John, Refused, Thy Art Is Murder, Way of the Eagle & SaskwatchCameron Adams et al. — 25 June 2015
- 167Tour
- 168Olivia Newton-John reveals her brother died earlier this month 'after years of decline'Tyler McCarthy — 24 May 2019
- 169NewsOlivia Newton-John receives Australia's highest honour13 June 2019
- 170NewsThousands Of Fans Travel To See John Travolta And Olivia Newton-John Together At 'Grease' EventsRobin Raven — 16 December 2019
- 173Olivia Newton-John and Daughter Chloe Lattanzi Talk New Single8 February 2021
- 174Still the One We Want15 March 2021
- 175Olivia Newton-John Returns To Billboard Charts With 'Jolene'Randy Slovacek — 1 March 2023
- 176Secret buyer of Olivia Newton-John's famed 'Grease' pants revealedTheresa Braine — 5 November 2019
- 177NewsBuyer returns Grease jacket to Olivia Newton-John after auction11 December 2019
- 178NewsA man bought Olivia Newton-John's 'Grease' jacket for $243,200 and gave it back to herDavid Williams — 11 December 2019
- 179Mystery billionaire returns auctioned Grease jacket to Olivia Newton-JohnVicky McKeever — CNBC — 11 December 2019
- 182How Olivia Newton-John guided us from blissful AM radio to raunchy MTVMichael Dwyer — 9 August 2022
- 183MagazineOlivia Newton-John's Tale of Two Sandys10 August 2022
- 184Olivia Newton-John: Is she really who you thought she was?Yvette Nipar — 26 November 2022
- 185Olivia Newton-John duets album 'Just the Two of Us' coming May 517 February 2023
- 187Olivia Newton-John was probably one of the most underrated vocalists in musicO'Neill Lauren — 9 August 2022
- 188Olivia Newton-John Was MagicMaura Johnston — 10 August 2022
- 192Delta Goodrem breaks into tears on Sunrise as she reveals her final contact with Olivia Newton-JohnMaddison Leach — 10 August 2022
- 193MagazineSee the Chicks Pay Tribute to Olivia Newton-John With 'Hopelessly Devoted to You' CoverDaniel Kreps — 14 August 2022
- 194Alanis Morissette: 'When someone says I'm angry, it's a compliment'Marie Claire — 13 June 2018
- 195P!nk belts out a powerful tribute to Olivia Newton-John at AMAs21 November 2022
- 196An Epic Set of Performers Announced for the 2022 ARIA AwardsAustralian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) — 16 November 2022
- 197Episode 64: Olivia Newton-John interview18 October 2004
- 198NewsIan Turpie My love for Olivia!Jim Murphy — 18 November 1981
- 199This is why Olivia Newton-John almost turned down her role in GreaseMarie Claire — 6 October 2017
- 200What You Never Knew About Olivia Newton-JohnMeagan Nantwich — 6 September 2017
- 201In Memory of Lee Kramer: An Inspiration Behind triyoga21 August 2017
- 203MagazineOlivia's BreakupPeople Staff
- 204Book1001 Australians You Should KnowToby Creswell et al. — Pluto Press Australia — 1 January 2006
- 205NewsNewton-John 'frantic'22 August 2005
- 206NewsTip line for clues on Newton John's exnews.com.au — 11 August 2009
- 207Press releaseCoast Guard statement on Patrick McDermott caseUnited States Coast Guard — 10 August 2009
- 208NewsNewton-John's boyfriend probably drowned: report22 November 2008
- 210NewsWhy Olivia Newton-John's 'Missing' Ex—and the Stories About Him—Just Won't DieDana Kennedy — 26 November 2017
- 212Amazon Herb Company Merges with TriVita, Inc.14 September 2012
- 213"Amazon" John Easterling: Helping Patients Overcome Cancer Related Challenges with Home-Grown CannabisDorron Blumberg — 28 September 2019
- 214NewsOlivia Newton-John Marries John Easterling – Twice!Michelle Tan — 10 July 2008
- 215@PhillipAdams_1 goes into bat for Olivia Newton-John in her quest for Australian citizenship, 198127 August 2020
- 216MagazineOlivia finally takes the plunge
- 217Olivia Newton-John's Former House in Malibu Is for Sale for $7.5 Million8 February 2016
- 220NewsPolice: Contractor kills self at Olivia Newton-John's homeAlan Duke — CNN — 19 August 2013
- 225Olivia Newton-John's former Californian estate now has new ownersTahni Mesann — 7 July 2025
- 226NewsOlivia Newton-John Selling 187-Acre Australian FarmBeckie Strum — 28 February 2019
- 227Olivia Newton-John scores $4.6 million Dalwood sale28 August 2019
- 229NewsMusic: Olivia Newton John InterviewJohn Fuzek — 5 April 2017
- 230Grease star Olivia Newton-John made a dameMapstone, Lucy — 28 December 2019
- 231Olivia Newton-John postpones concert dates to fight cancerStephanie Nolasco — 30 May 2017
- 234Olivia Newton-John Opens Up About Living With Stage 4 Cancer6 August 2019
- 236NewsOlivia Newton-John, pop singer and 'Grease' star, dies at 73Adam Bernstein — 8 August 2022
- 237Olivia Newton-John dies at 73, husband saysDolan Reynolds — 8 August 2022
- 240Sydney Opera House lights up pink in memory of Olivia Newton John10 August 2022
- 241Olivia Newton-John's Family Held 'Very Private' Memorial Service: DetailsCynthia Robinson — 26 September 2022
- 242Newton-John revealed where she wanted ashes scattered before deathLauren Evans — 15 August 2022
- 244Family of Olivia Newton-John accept Dan Andrews' state funeral offer11 August 2022
- 247'Supernatural' and 'magic' Olivia Newton-John farewelled at memorialMartin Boulton — 26 February 2023
- 248'They were her secret ingredient': The Australians who helped Olivia Newton-John conquer the worldGlenn A. Baker — 8 August 2022
- 249Toomorrow12 July 2012
- 250The Case
- 251NewsOlivia Newton-John
- 253It's My PartyRotten Tomatoes
- 256The Case
- 257Case, The (BBC-1 1972, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John)21 December 2018
- 259ABBA share tributes to friend Olivia Newton-John9 August 2022
- 264Watch: The moment Olivia Newton-John performed with ABBA9 August 2022
- 270MagazineForever No. 1: Olivia Newton-John's 'Physical'Andrew Unterberger — 12 August 2022
- 272Olivia Newton-John in Concert 1982, complete and synchronized27 February 2013
- 273Olivia Newton-John's 'Physical' Phenomenon Revisited, Page 49 August 2022
- 274An Olivia Newton-John Retrospective, Part Ten: 1987–1992Kevin John Coyne — 28 August 2018
- 279Obituary: Olivia Newton-John10 August 2022
- 280Ned & Stacey
- 283Olivia Newton-John | Is This Your Life? | Interview | 199523 October 2020
- 285Olivia Newton-John on Murphy Brown26 August 2010
- 286Olivia Newton-John's Career In Photos & Music VideosDenise Petski et al. — 8 August 2022
- 290Bette
- 293Olivia Newton-John acts as guest judge on 'Idol'27 September 2006
- 294Magazine'My Life on the D-List' recap: Australia, Meet Kathy GriffinAmy Wilkinson — 27 June 2008
- 295Olivia Newton-John & Jane Lynch – Physical (Glee)17 October 2010
- 297Watch: Olivia Newton John Remade 'Physical' With Glee's Sue SylvesterJed Rosenzweig — 9 August 2022
- 299Recap: Dancing With the Stars "Famous Dances Night" Season 21, Episode 6Kellie Freeze — 20 October 2015
- 300When Olivia Newton-John came to Bristol in 1972Ellie Kendall et al. — 14 August 2022
- 3031975 US tour
- 305Olivia Newton-John on tour Totally Hot World TourEdgar Pimienta
- 306MagazineGeneral News3 July 1982
- 311Olivia Newton-John comes up from Down Under for U.S. tour17 September 2004
- 312Upcoming Tour Info9 February 2004
- 313Olivia Newton-John returns to the states for tour26 June 2004
- 316Olivia's Tour datesolivianewton-john.com
- 318Olivia Newton-John on tour Grace and Gratitude TourEdgar Pimienta
- 320British-born Australian singer Olivia Newton-John poses for...14 April 2007
- 321NewsNewton-John set for maiden Malaysian concert on April 2917 March 2007
- 328Pollstar
- 329BookOlivia: The Biography of Olivia Newton-JohnTim Ewbank — Piatkus Books — 2008
- 330BookThe Story of the Shadows: An AutobiographyMike Read — Elm Tree books — 1983
- 331BookRock 'n' Roll—I Gave You the Best Years of My Life: A Life in the ShadowsBruce Welch — Penguin Books — 1989
- 332Gerry WoodOxford University Press — 1998