by Randy Slovacek
With a career stretching across more than five decades, Olivia Newton-John is still "the one that we want."
And at 72, the four-time Grammy Award winner shows little sign of slowing down.
Earlier
this year, Dame Olivia released a new pop duet, "Window in the Wall,"
with her daughter, actress and singer Chloe Lattanzi.
"I've
always loved recording duets and singing harmonies," said Newton-John.
"I had no plans to record at the time, but I knew from the second I
heard the song that I wanted to record it with Chloe."
Released in January, the stirring music video quickly hit #1 on the iTunes music video chart and stayed there for over a week.
In
light of today's turbulence, Newton-John shared that she felt connected
to the song and its message of hope, love, and understanding.
"The
last thing I recorded was with Barry Gibb on his Greenfields album.
That was lovely," said the forever-young performer. "But this song
coerced me into singing it — there was no way I couldn't sing it...
"To
be honest, I was a little nervous, because I hadn't sung in the studio
in a long time. 'What if I don't hit the notes, what if it's not there?'
Yeah, it took a minute," she laughed.
Trust and believe: that legendary voice was there.
Also
there were Newton-John's lifelong musical instincts regarding the
musical arc, build, and storytelling of "Window in the Wall" as she
worked with six-time Grammy Award—winning producer Dave Cobb on the
track.
"A lot of the records now, they're kind of throwing the
kitchen sink early, because they want to grab attention," explained the
Grease star. "But this needed to build. We worked on the bridge for a
while to get that build. It was a really fun experience to do it."
"Window
in the Wall" was not the first time this mother-daughter duo teamed up
in the recording studio. Their 2015 debut single, "You Have to Believe,"
a remake of Newton-John's #1 single "Magic" from the movie musical
Xanadu, with additional lyrics by Lattanzi, reached #1 on the Billboard
Dance Club Play Chart.
And speaking of Xanadu... Last August, the
singer's former husband (and father to Chloe, her only child), Matt
Lattanzi, joined DJ Disco Vinnie for a virtual tea dance in Seattle
celebrating the 40th anniversary of the movie musical.
Lattanzi, a
Northwest native, not only made his film debut as a dancer in the flick
but met the star... and... the rest is history.
Newton-John
watched the streaming event from her ranch in Southern California and
sent a video message as well. The nearly five-hour celebration raised
over $1,200 for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in
Melbourne, Australia.
Around that same time, she announced the
establishment of the Olivia Newton-John Foundation. The independent
charity aims to fund cutting-edge research and more effective cancer
treatment programs, with a focus on plant medicine.
"I have lived
beyond cancer for the past 28 years, and I have learned so much about
the importance of holistic care," said Newton-John in a statement at the
time. "On my breast cancer journey, I have always found incredible
benefit from the use of various natural therapies, particularly
plant-based medicines. Even through my experiences with surgery,
chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, I've always used a range of natural
protocols."
"The ONJ Foundation will find and fund individuals
and organizations doing exciting and life-changing research, to
challenge conventional thinking, taking us closer to a world beyond
cancer," she added.
But even as she steps up via her philanthropy, music still plays a central role in Newton-John's life.
This
spring the superstar also recorded a duet with iconic singer-songwriter
Paul Anka: a new version of his massive hit, "Put Your Head on My
Shoulder." Released in May, the single went straight to #1 on the Amazon
adult chart.
But wait — there's more!
Not content to sit
still, Newton-John is currently planning to release an album of duets
spanning her five decades in music this August, titled "Just the Two of
Us: The Duets Collection." The newly remastered 32-track anthology will
include some never-before-released collaborations with artists like
Dionne Warwick, Jon Secada, Andy Gibb, Keith Urban, and others.
Plus,
with 2021 being the 40th anniversary of her mega-hit album Physical,
there are plans this fall for a special release to celebrate the
milestone.
Factoid: Did you know the song "Physical" held the #1
spot on Billboard's Hot 100 chart longer than any other song in the
1980s? And the music video was one of the very first to be honored at
the Grammy Awards for "Video of the Year," in 1983. That video was also
considered somewhat "controversial" at the time for its ending,
featuring some of the muscled hunks hitting the showers holding hands.
But
that noise never bothered Newton-John. A longtime LGBTQ ally, she was
famously one of the very first Australian celebrities to speak out in
support of marriage equality. In 2012, she said in a statement, "With
respect to marriage equality, I believe that no one has the right to
judge and deny couples who love each other the ability to make a
marriage commitment. Love is love."
As an actress, Dame Olivia
has appeared in a number of LGBTQ-themed films, including It's My Party
and the camp classic Sordid Lives, in which she played a guitar-toting
lesbian bar singer "with a reputation," Bitsy Mae Harling.
"I
just think of gay people as people," she says of her relationship with
the queer community. "I have had a wonderfully strong gay following, and
I'm very grateful for that. And they're so much fun — I like to be able
to laugh a lot."
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