'Grease' star Olivia Newton-John dies aged 73 after long battle with cancer

Olivia Newton-John has died at 73 at her home in California after a long battle with cancer, her husband says.

The Australian singer and actress who starred in Grease and had a series of hit songs in the 1970s and 80s, selling more than 100 million album.

She had battled breast cancer for three decades, having previously beaten the illness twice.

"Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer. Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any donations be made in her memory to the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund.

Her husband John Easterling said on Facebook: "Dame Olivia Newton-John (73) passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends. We ask that everyone please respect the family's privacy during this very difficult time.

"Olivia is survived by her husband John Easterling; daughter Chloe Lattanzi; sister Sarah Newton-John; brother Toby Newton-John; nieces and nephews Tottie, Fiona and Brett Goldsmith; Emerson, Charlie, Zac, Jeremy, Randall, and Pierz Newton-John; Jude Newton-Stock, Layla Lee; Kira and Tasha Edelstein; and Brin and Valerie Hall."

Her Grease co-star John Travolta said: "My dearest Olivia, you made all of our lives so much better. Your impact was incredible. I love you so much. We will see you down the road and we will all be together again. Yours from the moment I saw you and forever!

Your Danny, your John!"

30-year cancer battle

Newton-John has battled breast cancer for more than 30 years. She famously overcame a 1992 cancer diagnosis but the disease returned in 2013 and then again in 2017

A source told TMZ today: "After a 30-year cancer journey, she lost her battle to metastatic breast cancer."

Grease role launched her to superstardom

The star had hit songs If Not for You in 1971 and Let Me Be There in 1973.

But her big break came in 1978 when she starred as Sandy opposite John Travolta in Grease, belting out songs including You're the One that I Want, Summer Nights and Hopelessly Devoted to You.

Her biggest hit was Physical in 1981, which was at number one in the US charts for 10 weeks, breaking records in the 1980s.

Newton-John teamed up with Travolta again in the 1983 rom-com Two of a Kind, which failed at the box office. Her leading roles were mainly in TV movies afterwards.

She continued to act and sing in her later years. In 2000, she dueted with Aussie star John Farnham at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and regularly sang with him afterwards.

That same year she starred as a gay ex-con country singer in the film Sordid Lives, and in its 2008 cable TV spinoff.

In 2010, she starred as herself on Glee and a remake of Physical with the cast reached number 89 on the American charts. It was her first pop single to reach the chart in 12 years.

She had got her start on Australian TV. At 14, she formed a short-lived all-girl group called Sol Four with three of her classmates, often performing in a coffee shop owned by her brother-in-law.

She later starred on local shows including Time for Terry, The Happy Show, and The Go!! Show.

In 1965 she won a talent contest on the TV show Sing, Sing, Sing, performing the songs Anyone Who had a Heart and Everything's Coming Up Roses. She used the prize, a trip to Great Britain, to "broaden her horizons" and recorded her first single while there - Till You Say You'll Be Mine for Decca Records in 1966.

She has spoken of missing her boyfriend at the time, Ian Turpie, who she starred with in the Australian TV film, Funny Things Happen Down Under, and repeatedly booked trips back to Australia. But her mother would cancel them.

Newton-John was born in Britain but raised in Australia. She met husband-to-be Matt Lattanzi on the set of Xanadu and they married in 1984, having daughter Chloe Rose in 1986. The couple divorced in 1995.

She married Easterling in 2008.

Newton-John was heavily involved in humanitarian causes.

In 1978 she cancelled a concert tour of Japan to protest the slaughter of dolphins caught in tuna fishing nets.

She performed at the 1979 Music for Unicef Concert for the UN's International Year of the Child, in which artists sang songs they donated royalties for. She was also a goodwill ambassador to the United Nations Environment Programme.

In 1991, she became the national spokesperson for the Colette Chuda Environmental Fund, following the death of four-year-old Colette Chuda - daughter of her friend Nancy Chuda - from Wilms' tumour.

Colette had featured with Newton-John's daughter on the cover of her Warm and Tender album.

This article was first published by the NZ Herald and is republished here with permission.