I was always an Olivia Newton-John fan. The first record album I ever bought, as a 17 year old, was Olivia’s “Let Me Be There” (one of her first, before “Grease” and other best sellers)
I like Olivia even more after reading her new auto biography, “Don’t Stop Believin'”
The book is filled with interesting facts about Olivia’s life. In the chapters about her childhood I learned she was the granddaughter of quantum physicist Max Born. Her Father was a college professor. Born in England, Olivia later moved to Australia with her Mom after her parents divorced.
Olivia is very open in the book about her highs and lows as she progresses in her career. She first came to America as a country singer, and she drew criticism from some of the country stars of the day when she won her first Grammy in 1973 with Best Female Country Vocal Performance (“Let Me Be There”). “Who does this Aussie girl think she is??” was the feedback she got, intruding on these stars’ turf. “You have to learn to deal with criticism, and I was learning,” she writes of those early days. “It was hard at that time, though, because I didn’t have the success to balance out the harsh words, so they would linger.”
Olivia was already a successful singer when she got her big break – the role of Sandy in Grease. Initially reluctant to take the role, she writes “My music is going well. I’m not interested in making another movie (after a failed first attempt). And I’m twenty-eight and too old for Sandy. And I can’t do an American accent.”
Who convinced her to take the part? Her co-star John Travolta. Travolta came to Olivia’s house to persuade her. “I promise you that Danny Zuko’s Sandy is Olivia, and no one else should play it,” Olivia recalls Travolta telling her. I liked how Olivia included quotes from key people in her life, like Travolta, throughout the book. Did Olivia and Travolta have a real life romance as a result of filming Grease? Read the book to find out!
After she was disappointed in her singing as part of the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, she had a hard time accepting the positive reviews she received after that performance She was her own worse critic. Yet she came to learn “There is no such thing a perfection. If you do the best you can, instant to instant, that’s the most perfect a human being can ever be.” Wise words for perfectionists like myself!
Olivia’s positive attitude shines through on every page. “Being positive isn’t easy, but we always have that choice,” she writes in the book’s introduction. And with every challenge she relates in the book she manages to overcome all obstacles. Later in life she turns the pain of dealing with cancer into founding the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Center in Australia.
Don’t Stop Believing not only relates many interesting details of Olivia’s life I did not know about, I was also inspired by how she met life’s challenges with grace and gratitude. Listen as she performs what she called in a recent interview “her favorite song”:
