Olivia's Back On The Road
Olivia Newton-John, still reeling from the collapse of her Koala Blue empire, is back with a a new album and a new tour, the first time she has hit the road in nine years.
There’s also talk that she’s planning to do a sequel to her hit film Grease, in which she co-starred with John Travolta. The film was one of the big commercial successes of 1978. Now with the recent revival and success once again of the original version, interest in a sequel has been revived.
Over the past decade Olivia. 43, has put her career in third place behind her family, actor husband Matt Lattanzi, 33, and daughter Chloe, 6, and now is jumping back into show business with a vengeance.
The new album, her 18th, is called Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971-1992, and includes something old hits such as Physical, You’re The One That I Want, Summer Nights, If You Love Me and something new, including a single written by Steve Kipner, who penned Physical and Twist Of Fate for her.
“The Nineties is the decade of reality,” says Olivia. “Everyone is trying to get back to the basics of life. That is why I chose this title. For me going back to singing is going back to the basics and back to my roots.”
In the middle of it all Olivia and Matt are putting the finishing touches to their beachfront Malibu home. They are also deeply involved in helping save the environment. Olivia rounded up celebrity pals including Cher. Tony Danza, Pierce Brosnan, Jane Seymour. Ted Danson, Kirstie Alley and the cast of Cheers to do a video that was aimed at persuading President Bush to attend the recent Earth Summit in Brazil.
In August she will hit the road to perform her one-woman show. Opening night will be at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, and then she will take the show around the U.S.
“I hope to take the show overseas, but not until early next year”, Olivia says. “My new album covers the past 21 years of my career since I started recording. We selected what we felt are the most popular records from 1971 to 1992, plus four exciting new songs.”
On the business front, Olivia is still recovering from the collapse of Koala Blue stores. The worldwide chain consisting of 55 stores, like many businesses, got caught in the economic recession and the company was forced to file for bankruptcy last year.
Currently Olivia’s lawyers have been trying to tie up all the legal loose ends including lawsuits filed by licensees who have charged breach of contract and fraud.
By Ivor Davis