Australia has lost another icon - Olivia Newton-John has died

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I was pondering on what to write about when I logged on this morning and then I discover that another celebrity has passed away – Olivia Newton-John has died aged only 73. I mentioned her in my discussion about Judith Durham. Olivia came to Australia when she was five but returned to England when she was in her teens. She continued to own property and live in Australia for quite some periods of time. She really hit the big time when she was chosen to star opposite John Travolta in Grease in 1978. The soundtrack sat at number 1 for 12 non-consecutive weeks. Olivia became the second woman to have two singles simultaneously in the Billboard top-five. The songs were Hopelessly Devoted to You and Summer Nights. Physical, a bouncy R-rated smash hit and released in 1981, was banned by some radio stations but stayed at number 1 for ten weeks and was named Billboard’s Song of the Year. After she contracted breast cancer, she became very involved in charity work, especially into research of plant medicine and cancer. She was a great believer in the use of medicinal cannabis for the relief of pain. Another star gone from this world at too young an age. Photo courtesy: Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons