Beloved actress and tremendously popular singer Olivia Newton-John died on August 8, 2022, at 73 years old, causing great sorrow to her family, friends, and numerous fans. She left her daughter, sister, brother, nieces, nephews, and husband, John Easterling, who she considered the “love of her life.” The pair developed a unique connection and became companions in their life, love, and advocacy.
Newton-John was born in England on September 26, 1948, before relocating to Australia with her family at the age of five. In the early 1970s, she started her journey in the entertainment field as a singer. Although her records performed well and some of her singles reached high positions on the music charts, she didn’t quite achieve widespread fame.
She achieved superstardom by landing a role in the 1978 musical “Grease” alongside John Travolta. Newton-John’s performance as a naive Australian student yearning for Travolta’s Danny Zuko was very successful, setting records upon its release and achieving both critical acclaim and commercial prosperity. The film’s soundtrack contributed to its success, featuring several notable songs performed by Newton-John, such as “Hopelessly Devoted To You,” “Summer Nights,” and “You’re The One That I Want.”
Then would come “Physical.” The album, along with the title track of the same name, would blow up in 1981 due in part to the provocative lyrics and music video that accompanied the single. Despite the change in her clean-cut image, the public still adored her, and she went on to record more albums with varying degrees of success.
While her romantic life suffered swings and misses much like her career, she hit the love jackpot with her second husband, Easterling, whom she married in 2008.
Olivia Newton-John, John Easterling (2010), (Peter Bischoff/Getty Images)
At every public appearance, Newton-John and Easterling appeared very much in love. They were seen on the red carpet regularly with old friend John Travolta as well as at charity events. For the lovebirds, the match was one of minds and heart, particularly as Easterling was a natural health businessman and Newton-John was struggling with her own health battles.
Newton-John also credited Easterling with helping her fight cancer and said saying in 2019:
“My husband hands me all these herbs every morning and makes me a green algae drink.”
He also gave her medicinal cannabis that “he grows … and makes … into liquid for me. I take drops maybe four to five times a day.”
In announcing his wife’s death, Easterling described Newton-John as “a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years” before urging the public to donate to her cancer research cause.
And just two days after Newton-John’s passing, Easterling posted a heartfelt tribute to his late wife. He wrote:
“Our love for each other transcends our understanding. Every day we expressed our gratitude for this love that could be so deep, so real, so natural. We never had to ‘work’ on it. We were in awe of this great mystery and accepted the experience of our love as past, present and forever.”
He added:
“It is only the grace of God that has allowed me to share the depth and passion of her being for so long. In her most difficult times she always had the spirit, the humor, and the will power to move things into the light. Even now as her soul soars, the pain and holes in my heart are healed with the joy of her love and the light that shines forward.”
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Olivia Newton-John, John Easterling (2016), (David Livingston/Getty Images)
On Newton-John’s birthday in 2022, Easterling shared a fond memory of the first time they celebrated her birthday together. They had gone on a boat trip in the Bahamas that ended with an impromptu wildlife encounter.
“As the dolphins led us over the gorgeous aqua water, under the rainbow towards the lighthouse, we both recognized the fingerprints of the supernatural were all over this – and that’s the way we lived our life. Every day with Olivia there was a hint of magic and every day with Olivia was a bit of the supernatural,” he wrote.
Nearly six months after her passing, Easterling and Newton-John’s daughter, Chloe Lattanzi, sat down with The Today Show’s Hoda Kotb. In the interview, Easterling speaks tenderly about his lost love, with tears in his eyes and struggling not to cry. He shared that while she was no longer with them, he often felt her presence, usually “late at night, early in the morning.”
“I’ll just be walking around the house, or throwing the ball for the dogs and just speak to her out loud,” he said as throwback footage showed Newton-John playing with her dog in the grass outdoors.
