September 26th is an important date for Olivia Newton-John. In just a few short weeks the Australian icon will turn 70-years-old. However, this year Olivia isn’t planning a big birthday bash – she’s just focusing on surviving.
The Grease star is battling cancer for the third time, revealing that doctors recently found a tumour at the base of her spine. “I’m still treating it, and I’m treating it naturally and doing really well,” Olivia told with Channel 7’s Sunday Night, revealing that she is turning to a mixture of radiation therapy and holistic medicines.
Newton-John remains optimistic about her future having beat the disease previously. In 1992 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, then two decades later she privately sought treatment for cancer in her shoulder. Adding that she also grapples with her mortality, “there are moments. I’m human. So if I allow myself to go there, I could easily create that, you know, big fear.”
Newton-John is currently living on her ranch in Santa Barabra, California with her husband of ten years John Easterling. The singer-songwriter says she’s fortunate to be living in a state which has legalised the use of marijuana.
“In California, it’s legal to grow a certain amount of plants for your own medicinal purposes. So he [Easterling] makes me tinctures. It’s hard to say, they help with pain.
“I’m very lucky that I live in a state where it’s legal and that I have a husband that is a plant-medicine man.”
Adding that she hopes Australia will recognise the benefits of medical cannabis. “My dream is that in Australia soon, it will be available to all the cancer patients and people going through cancer that causes pain.”
Looking back at her tremendous career, Newton-John adds, “you know, there are other people out there doing much, much worse than me. And, um, I’m a very privileged person, and I’m very aware of that. I live in this beautiful place. I have a wonderful husband. I have all the animals that I adore. I have an incredible career. I have nothing, really, to complain about.”
Although Aussies have claimed Olivia as one of our own – the six-time Grammy winner was actually born in England. Her family moved to Melbourne, Austalia when she was just six-years-old. After finding some success in the United States and back home with her debut record If Not For You, she represented the U.K in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Long Live Love.
However, she became a household name following her role in the 1978 film Grease alongside John Travolta. Her transformation in the high school musical from goody-goody “Sandy” to spandex-clad “Sandy” emboldened Newton-John to do the same with her music career. Her most useful musical release followed – the Physical album.
In her personal life, Newton-John suffered another hardship in June 2005. Her boyfriend of nine years, Patrick McDermott, 48, vanished when he failed to return from a fishing trip off the California coast. There were many investigations into McDermott’s mysterious disappearance with some claiming that he is allegedly alive and living in Mexico. Three years later, Newton-John married American entrepreneur John Easterling.
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