{"id":1598937,"date":"2022-08-10T11:01:35","date_gmt":"2022-08-10T15:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1598937"},"modified":"2022-08-10T11:01:57","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T15:01:57","slug":"olivia-newton-johns-physical-introduced-me-to-the-magic-of-an-artists-live-performance-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/olivia-newton-johns-physical-introduced-me-to-the-magic-of-an-artists-live-performance-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Olivia Newton-John\u2019s \u2018Physical\u2019 Introduced Me To The Magic Of An Artist\u2019s Live Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Folivia-newton-johns-physical-introduced-me-to-the-magic-of-an-artists-live-performance-2%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1598937&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>On August 8, 2022, entertainer Olivia Newton-John lost her battle with cancer. Rather, on August 8, 2022, Olivia Newton-John\u2019s battle with cancer resulted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Hm0cAbK-ays\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in a draw<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To say the Australian-born entertainer was prolific, life-changing even, is to put it mildly.<\/p>\n<p>When Newton-John was catapulted into America\u2019s collective conscious in 1978, playing Sandy in \u201cGrease,\u201d she\u2019d already released 11 albums. She would go on to release 26 studio albums and six live albums in total. In addition to \u201cGrease,\u201d she appeared in 14 films, including 1980\u2019s \u201cXanadu,\u201d as well as a number of television shows and specials.<\/p>\n<p>She won Grammys, People\u2019s Choice Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards, and American Music Awards. She once had seven songs top the adult contemporary charts consecutively. Alas, as with most fame, hers proved to have a shelf life and her star began to fade in the late \u201880s, at which point she began to focus more on environmental advocacy and breast cancer, which she had initially beaten<\/p>\n<p>The disease would reappear two more times after her initial bout, in 2013 and 2017, the latter of which metastasized and spread to her lower back. Newton-John leaves behind a daughter, Chloe, with whom she recorded \u201cWindow in the Wall\u201d which hit number one on the iTunes pop chart in 2021. Her final film appearance was \u201cThe Very Excellent Mr. Dundee\u201d alongside Paul Hogan and Chevy Chase, which did not do as well.<\/p>\n<p>The albums, movies, and accolades are not what I\u2019ll remember her for, though. Instead, my memories of her primarily revolve around a singular January night in 1983, though that night has led to many more.<\/p>\n<p>When Olivia Newton-John catapulted into my conscious, I had presumably seen \u201cGrease,\u201d though as I was only two and a half when it was released, I cannot be sure. I can assuredly say that I have seen the movie many, many times since. I have seen it far more times than I have wanted to. At one point, I bought my wife both \u201cGrease\u201d and \u201cGrease 2\u201d on DVD with the premise being, \u201cI bought these so you can watch them whenever, with \u2018whenever\u2019 being defined as when I\u2019m not watching with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nothing against \u201cGrease\u201d or Sandy, but I\u2019m not big on musicals unless we\u2019re talking \u201cThe Blues Brothers.\u201d What I am a fan of is music, and at some point in my young life, I heard a song that wholly captured my attention \u2014 Olivia Newton-John\u2019s \u201cPhysical.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While I was too innocent then to understand the actual theme of the song, thinking it was simply about exercise as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vWz9VN40nCA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">video showed<\/a>, I was so rapt with her that I convinced my mother to let me stay up and watch her 1983 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=auKiPHBa9b0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HBO special<\/a>. I remember waiting for the performance of that smash hit, which wouldn\u2019t arrive until track 17 of the 18-song setlist, which also meant I got to stay up even later.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, it arrived and I was treated to the woman performing my favorite song live and on stage. It was as if she were performing for me. It planted a seed that grows to this day. I\u2019ve gone to see James Brown, David Lee Roth, the Grateful Dead, Parliament, Cypress Hill, Tribe Called Quest, Beastie Boys, and Beck, just to name a few.<\/p>\n<p>Once live shows started returning after our disastrous Covid response, going to see them has been a priority, particularly for artists who might hang it up soon, which is why I\u2019ve gone to see Bobby Weir &#038; Wolf Brothers, Dead &#038; Company, and Willie Nelson just this year. Run the Jewels are on the ascent, but they were just a few miles from home, so I went to see them, too.<\/p>\n<p>Regrettably, though, I never saw Olivia Newton-John get physical in person. Now, I never will. Instead, I\u2019ll forever have to live with the memory of that HBO special, watched so many years ago.<\/p>\n<p>But I still have her to thank for the inspiration she offered me back when I was a young man, unaware of what so attracted me to her performance. Thanks for introducing me to the magic of live music and rest in peace.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  Richard Cromwell is a writer and senior contributor at The Federalist. He lives in Northwest Arkansas with his wife, three daughters, and two crazy dogs. Co-host of the podcast <a href=\"https:\/\/coffeeandcochon.com\/%E2%80%9C\">Coffee &#038; Cochon<\/a>, you can find him on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jrichardcromwell%E2%80%9C\">Facebook<\/a><br \/>\nand <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rcromwell4\">Twitter<\/a>, though you should probably avoid using social media.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On August 8, 2022, entertainer Olivia Newton-John lost her battle with cancer. Rather, on August 8, 2022, Olivia Newton-John\u2019s battle with cancer resulted in a draw. To say the Australian-born<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":701,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1598937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1598937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/701"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1598937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1598937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1598937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1598937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1598937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}