Listen to Grady Butler’s Classic Interview with Olivia Newton-John on Arizona Radio

Grady Butler Interviews an Icon

I am so happy to have an interview with Olivia Newton-John. I've loved her music ever since I was a little kid after seeing Xanadu. From there, I was hooked. I got to see her two times in concert, both times in Tucson. I have featured her music on Grady’s 80’s several times over my radio career. 

A Rising Star: Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John's career started in the 1960s, she recorded country in the 1970s, moved on to pop music in the 1980s, and continued to make music into the 2000s. 

Get our free mobile app

In the 70’s Olivia Newton-John was country. Her country music hits include “Let Me Be There”, “If You Love Me (Let Me Know)”, “Have You Never Been Mellow” and “Sam”.

Olivia's acting career took a sharp upturn when she starred in the movie “Grease” with John Travolta and got a number-one hit with “You’re the One That I Want”.

Her star shone again with the hit “Magic” from her 1980 movie Xanadu. She also starred in a lesser-known movie with John Travolta in the eighties called “Two of a Kind”. The movie wasn't as memorable as her song that broke into the top 5, “Twist of Fate” 

Her biggest hit is "Physical" which soared to number one in the 1980s. It stayed at number one for 10 weeks. For perspective, Michael Jackson's “Billie Jean” and the hit by The Police, “Don't Stand So Close To Me”, stayed at number one for 9 weeks.

You can listen to my telephone interview with Olivia Newton-John and her husband John Easterling on the link below. Listen as they talk about medicines from the Amazon rainforest. Did you know? Olivia Newton-John also authored 8 books.  

Olivia Newton-John was a breast cancer awareness advocate and raised funds for breast cancer and blood cancer research. Olivia always supported several charities and organizations, like the Red Cross and many others.

 Sadly, Olivia Newton-John died on August 8, 2022, at the age of 73.