Olivia Newton-John dead at age 73

Olivia Newton-John, the double threat from Down Under who stole America’s heart as the good girl Sandy in “Grease,” then skyrocketed to international fame as a pop superstar, died Monday morning at age 73.

Her husband, John Easterling, said in a post to her official Facebook page that she “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,” Easterling added.

No official cause of death was given, but the star had been very public with her most recent bout of cancer since receiving the diagnosis in May 2017.

“I’d be lying if I said I never go (down the rabbit hole of fear), there are moments, I’m human,” she told the Australian news program “Sunday Night” in September. “So if I allow myself to go there, I could easily create a big fear, but my husband’s always there, and he’s always there to support me and I believe I will win over it, and that’s my goal.”

Newton-John was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992 the same week her father died of cancer.

Her recovery included nine months of chemotherapy, a partial mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery.

Her first relapse came in 2013, and was discovered after she injured her shoulder in a minor car accident. Newton-John opted to keep her second bout private until September 2018, saying at the time that she’d been so vocal about her treatment in 1992 that she wanted to keep this battle to herself.

The star offered an update on her health in January, saying on social media that she was “doing great” after various media outlets reported she was “clinging to life” and had just weeks to live.

The four-time Grammy winner was born in Cambridge, England in 1948, the granddaughter of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Born on her mother’s side.

Her family, which included Newton-John’s parents and two older siblings, moved to Melbourne, Australia when she was in grade school.

Newton-John started in showbiz early, singing on local radio and television shows and recording music for labels like Decca Records in the U.K.

She had a successful single in 1971, “If Not For You,” which was written by Bob Dylan and previously recorded by George Harrison.

Despite the star power attached, Newton-John wasn’t sold on the track, and only recorded it at the insistence of her songwriter John Farrar.

“I didn’t think I sang it well, so when it was a hit, you know I had to really say it was my management,” she said in a 2005 book. “In those days I loved singing those big dramatic ballads, you know, talk about being sentimental.”

Two years later, Newton-John had her first crossover hit with “Let Me Be There,” which marked her first Top 10 single in the U.S. and won her a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocalist.

With her singing career in full swing, Newton-John continued churning out hits like “I Honestly Love You” and “Something Better to Do,” racking up an additional two Grammy wins and one nomination.

But it was her role as the girl-next-door Sandy in “Grease” that catapulted Newton-John to international fame, as the high school-set musical became the biggest box office hit of 1978.

Though Newton-John was hesitant to sign on – she was 29, and Sandy was a high school senior – the star was convinced after screen-testing opposite her on-screen love interest, a 23-year-old John Travolta.

“I was playing a naïve girl, but I didn’t want her to be sickly. I kept trying to give her a little strength,” she told People of the role in 1978. “John gave me a lot of confidence. We became good friends and spent a lot of time together.”

The role earned Newton-John two more Grammy nominations, one for the movie’s platinum-selling soundtrack, and another for her yearning, poolside solo song “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” which she performed at the 1979 Oscars.

She hopped on the musical train once again in 1980 for “Xanadu,” which, despite negative reviews and a dismal box office showing, scored Newton-John yet another pop hit with “Magic,” which topped the Billboard charts for four weeks.

Just as Sandy found her inner bad girl at the end of “Grease,” so, too, did Newton-John, who shed her goody-two-shoes image as her music career headed into the ‘80s.

She cemented her place in pop star lore with the 1981 release of “Physical,” her ninth studio album whose title track of the same name inspired a sexy, fitness-themed video that debuted just after MTV hit airwaves for the first time.

“I recorded it and then suddenly thought, ‘Goodness, maybe I’ve gone too far!’ It was a bit raunchier than I realized,” she told Entertainment Weekly in 2017. “I called (manager Roger Davies) and said, ‘We’ve got to pull this song!’ he said, ‘It’s too late. It’s already gone to radio and it’s running up the charts.’ I was horrified!”

The track – which was banned by select radio stations for its saucy content – spent 10 weeks atop the Billboard charts and earned Newton-John yet another Grammy nomination.

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Newton-John released the album “Soul Kiss” in 1985, though it didn’t make a splash in the same way its predecessor did, and after welcoming daughter Chloe with husband Matt Lattanzi in 1986, she took a brief hiatus.

She returned in 1988 with “The Rumour,” and continued to put out a steady stream of albums throughout the ‘90s and 2000s, including the 1994 record “Gaia: One Woman’s Journey,” on which she chronicled her first battle with breast cancer.

Following her diagnosis, Newton-John became an advocate for the disease, even helping to build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia in 2008.

She continued touring deep into her 60s, and enjoyed a residency at the Flamingo Las Vegas in 2013, though it was briefly postponed after the death of her sister, Rona, from a brain tumor.

Newton-John split from Lattanzi in 1995, and soon struck up a romance with cameraman Patrick McDermott.

McDermott disappeared in 2005 during a fishing trip off the coast of California, and has been presumed dead ever since, despite conspiracy theories claiming that he faked his own death.

Newton-John married businessman John Easterling in 2008.