Don’t Stop Believin’

By Olivia Newton-John

I recently read Olivia Newton-John’s 2018 memoir, Don’t Stop Believin’. Her goal in life is to find a cure for cancer. She talks about her three bouts with cancer and her relationship with the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia. She was born in Cambridge, England, in 1948. Her Welsh father was a college professor, and her German mother was the daughter of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Born.

The family moved to Melbourne, Australia, when “Liv” was a little girl. Although she returned to England in her teens to kick off her singing career, she seems to identify only with Australia, frequently referring to herself in the book as an Aussie. She lives mainly in the United States, with homes also in Australia.

She moved to the USA in 1974 because she had hit songs here with “Let Me Be There” and “If You Love Me (Let Me Know).” When “I Honestly Love You” came out, she was named the 1974 CMA Female Vocalist of the Year. She acknowledges her win caused controversy. “I didn’t really understand the separation of country and other music,” she writes, “since I believe music is music and just naturally crosses over. Some CMA members resented it so much, they split from the organization in protest and formed their own chapter. I felt terrible about it but not bad enough to return the award!” She is referring to the group of country stars who met at the home of George Jones and Tammy Wynette and formed the Association of Country Entertainers (ACE), which eventually faded away.

Because this memoir is more topical than chronological, the timeline is sometimes hard to follow. From filming Grease with John Travolta in 1978 to performing at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Olivia leads a busy life, balanced by her passion for rescuing animals and time with her husband. “Five decades in show business have taught me to have staying power,” she writes. “My will is iron-strong because I still have so much to do.”

Note: Olivia Newton-John died August 8, 2022, at her home in California after fighting breast cancer. She was 73 years old.