Although she was born in Cambridge, England, Olivia Newton-John was raised in Melbourne Australia, where her father was the headmaster of Ormond College (her grandfather, Max Born, won the Nobel Prize for physics). She tenatively entered show business at the age of 12, when she won a local Haley Mills-lookalike contest. A few years later, she formed an all-female vocal group called the Sol Four with three school friends. Once the Sol Four disbanded, Newton-John entered a television talent contest, winning the grand prize of a trip to London, England. Once in London, she formed a duo with Pat Carroll, another Australian-based vocalist, and tried to work her way into the music industry. Though her partenership with Carrol was short-lived - Pat was sent back to Australia once her visa expired - Olivia was making inroads in the business. Following Carrol's departure, Newton-John recorded and released her first single, a version of Jackie DeShannon's Till You Say You'll Be Mine. Shortly afterward, she became a member of Toomorrow, a bubblegum group assembled by Don Kirshner in hopes of creating a British version of the Monkees.

Toomorrow appeared in a science-fiction movie of the same name and had one minor British hit single, I Could Never Live Without Your Love, in early 1970 before the group quietly disbanded. Following the failure of Toomorrow, Newton-John became part of Cliff Richard's touring show, appearing both as an opening act at his concerts and on his British television series, It's Cliff!. The exposure as a singer and comedienne on the show helped Olivia's career immesurably, and her first single for Uni Records, a version of Bob Dylan's If Not For You became a Top 10 hit in the UK in the spring of 1971; in America, it was surprisingly successful, spending three weeks at the top of the Adult Contemporary charts and peaking at number 25 on the pop charts. For the next two years, Newton-John's success was primarily contained in Britain, where she had a string of lesser hits with covers of George Harrison's What Is Life and John Denver's Take Me Home Country Roads. In America, her career was stalled - her followup single, Banks of the Ohio, barely scraped the lower reaches of the Top 100. On the other hand, she didn't release a full-length album in the US until 1973, when Let Me Be There appeared. The title track from the record became a huge hit, going gold in early 1974 and peaking in the Top 10 country and pop charts. Let Me Be There was so successful it won the Grammy award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female, much to the consternation of many members of Nashville's music industry.

Let Me Be There was followed by four other Top Ten hits - If You Love Me (Let Me Know), I Honestly Love You, Have You Never Been Mellow, and Please Mr. Please. Newton-John moved to Los Angeles late in 1974, and early the following year, she won the Female Vocalist of the Year award from the Country Music Association. As a protest, several members of the CMA quit the organization. Ironically, Olivia Newton-John was already planning to move away from country. During 1976 and 1977, she had a number of minor hits with soft-rock songs. Though none of these were big pop successes, they began to establish her as a pop singer, not a country-pop singer.

Olivia Newton-John's transformation into a mildly sexy pop singer was complete in 1978, when she starred in the movie version of the popular Broadway musical Grease. Also starring John Travolta, Grease was an international hit and it spawned three huge hit singles - Hopelessly Devoted to You, Summer Nights and You're the One That I Want, the latter two were duets between Newton-John and Travolta. You're The One That I Want in particular, was a massive success, reaching number one in both America and Britain; in the UK, it spent a staggering nine weeks at number one. During 1979, Olivia released the Totally Hot album, which boasted a mixture of soft rock and light disco. The record was another hit, with the first single A Little More Love peaking at number three on the US pop charts and going gold. Early in 1980, Newton-John starred in the roller-disco fantasy film Xanadu. While the movie was an unqualified bomb, the soundtrack was a huge hit. Magic spent four weeks at the top of the US pop charts, while the ELO duet Xanadu reached number eight and her duet with Cliff Richard, Suddenly, peaked at number 20.

With her next album, Physical, Newton-John continued to rework her image, re-inventing herself as a sexy aerobics fanatic. The first single from the record, the suggestive Physical, was a huge hit, spending ten weeks at number one during the fall and winter of 1981-82. Physical spawned another Top Ten hit - Make a Move On Me - and became her most successful record. Following the album's success, she was awareded with an Order of the British Empire. In 1983, Newton-John again starred with Travolta, this time in the comedy Two of a Kind. The movie was a bomb, but a song she recorded for the soundtrack, Twist of Fate, became a Top Ten hit in early 1984.

By the end of 1984, Newton-John had married actor Matt Lattanzi. The following year, she released the Physical clone Soul Kiss, which produced only one minor hit with its title track. In 1986, she had a daughter named Chloe and opened a clothing store chain called Koala Blue. Newton-John attempted to launch a comeback in 1988 with The Rumour, but the album was ignored. She signed with Geffen the following year, releasing the children's album Warm and Tender. During the late '80s and '90s, she devoted herself to her family and business, as well as several environmental activist organizations. In 1992, Koala Blue folded and Newton-John was diagnosed with breast cancer. Over the next year, she successfully underwent treatment for the disease. In 1994, she returned to recording with the indepently-released and self-produced album Gaia. Back with a Heart, a return to Nashville, followed in 1998. One Woman's Live Journey was issued two years later and in the end of 2000 a special Hallmark stores-only CD Tis the Season (together with Vince Gill & the Bradford Singers and the London Symphony Orchestra).

 

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