Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Iconic singer-songwriter Olivia Newton-John passes away at her Santa Barbara County home

Singer-Songwriter-Actress Olivia Newton-John has died at her Santa Barbara County home. She had been battling cancer.
Olivia Newton-John Foundation
Singer-songwriter-actress Olivia Newton-John has died at her Santa Barbara County home. She had been battling cancer.

Newton-John had 15 top-ten hits in the 1970's, but is perhaps best known for her role in the movie Grease.

One of the hottest pop music stars of the 1970’s and 80’s has died at her Santa Barbara County home. Singer and actress Olivia Newton-John died following a long battle with cancer.

Newton-John had more than a dozen top ten hits, but she’s perhaps best known for her role in the hit movie turned cultural classic Grease.

The Australian singer-songwriter-actress won four Grammys, and was one of the dominant forces on radio airwaves in the 1970’s.

Newton-John appeared multiple times on Santa Barbara’s Unity Telethon, which raises money to help those in need in the region with food and clothing.

She battled breast cancer multiple times over the last three decades, beating it twice before it spread out of control five years ago.

Newton-John dedicated much of the later years of her life to cancer research, creating the Olivia Newton-John Foundation.

On social media, John Travolta said his Grease co-star made all of our lives better.

Newton-John was 73 years old.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.