Singer, actress, cancer advocate Olivia Newton-John will be farewelled this Sunday

SIX months on and Australia and the world is still mourning the loss of entertainer and cancer advocate Olivia Newton-John, who passed away in California on August 8, 2022, aged 73.

Following the tragic passing of Grease star Olivia Newton-John, the Victorian state government is holding a state memorial service this Sunday afternoon (Melbourne time).

Olivia was born in Cambridge in 1948 but her family moved to Melbourne when she was five. After winning a singing competition as a teenager, she moved to the UK and then the USA where she recorded 26 studio albums, six live albums, 14 compilations and six soundtracks. With five number-one Billboard hits.

As a 30-year cancer thriver, Olivia raised nearly $200 million for the Olivia Newton-John Wellness Centre at Melbourne’s Austin Hospital which opened in 2012 for the traditional and alternative care of cancer patients. She sought a “kinder” treatment for the disease.

Chloe Lattanzi, 36, Olivia’s only child, arrived in Melbourne with her husband yesterday ahead of the service. Olivia’s husband John Easterling will also attend. Chloe is a singer/songwriter who has overcome battles with anorexia and addictions to be the second last duet performer with her mother, when “Window in the Wall” was released in January 2021.

Last week a duet Olivia recorded with Dolly Parton, just months before she passed away, of the song “Jolene” was posthumously released and has raced up the charts.

The service will take place at 3.25 pm on Sunday, February 26.

The State Memorial Service honouring Olivia will be live-streamed via this site: www.vic.gov.au/state-service-dame-olivia-newton-john-ac-dbe