Olivia Newton-John Played a Pivotal Role in Country Music (RIP)
British-born, and Australian-raised singer and actor Olivia Newton-John passed away on Monday, August 8th at the age of 73 after a long battle with breast Cancer, leaving the world bereft of one of the most cherished and recognizable entertainers in history whose work and influence bridged the worlds of acting and music like few others. Battling breast Cancer for over 30 years, she died at her ranch in Southern California, with her husband, John Easterling, sharing the heartbreaking news Monday afternoon.
Olivia Newton-John will be remembered for many things in the coming hours, days, and weeks as the world mourns, and though the remembrances will be dominated by references to the movie musical Grease, or perhaps some of her biggest pop hits such as “Physical,” the impact and influence that Olivia Newton-John left upon country music in the mid 70s would be criminal to resign to a passing footnote or afterthought.
Olivia Newton-John was an international pop star first and foremost, and didn’t necessarily intentionally market her music to the country audience in the United States to start off. However, the more folk-oriented approach of her early catalog meant it was deemed more favorable to categorize as country in North Americana, and she turned out to be a formidable artist in the country music realm.
After competing in the Eurovision Contest with the song “Long Live Love” in 1974, Newton-John was signed to EMI Records, and released an album of the same name. But in the United States, the album was rebranded as If You Love Me, Let Me Know, and included material from her previous three albums. When the title track went to #5 in pop, but #2 in country, it created the mandate to make Olivia Newton-John a country artist in North America.
If You Love Me, Let Me Know became a #1 country album in 1974 where it stayed for eight weeks, and it became the fifth most popular album in country music that year. Olivia Newton-John also went on to win the 1974 Country Music Association Award (CMA) for Female Vocalist of the Year. This sent shock waves of worry throughout the population of country music’s more traditional-styled artists. She was considered a foreign pop star invading their territory. Over the seven year history of the CMA Awards at that time, only three women had won the Female Vocalist award—Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette three times respectively, and Lynn Anderson in 1971. For many, Olivia Newton-John’s success was a sign that the pop incursion into country music had gone too far.
In response, a meeting was convened at the home of Tammy Wynette and George Jones, who were married at the time, and were country music’s major power couple. At that meeting with George and Tammy were Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, Bill Anderson, Porter Wagoner, Conway Twitty, Jim Ed Brown, Dottie West, Brenda Lee, Faron Young, Cal Smith, Hank Snow, Mel Tillis, and others. This was a major cross section of some of country music’s biggest stars at the time, and they were all concerned about the direction of country music, specifically due to the success of Olivia Newton-John.
The performers decided to form their own organization called ACE, or the Association of Country Entertainers, whose stated goal was to lobby for the representation of traditional country artists on the CMA Board of Directors, and for more balance on country radio’s playlists. ACE was ultimately short-lived, and dissolved rather quickly. But when another outsider in John Denver won the CMA Entertainer of the Year in 1975, the controversy was sparked anew, especially after the reigning CMA Entertainer Charlie Rich pulled out his lighter and burned the envelope containing John Denver’s name.
As for Olivia Newton-John, she was no more guilty for her success in country music than John Denver was. It was record label executives and radio promoters who chose how to market Newton-John’s music in North America. And despite where she was from, her music objectively fit the format when compared to many of the other singles on country radio at the time from performers born in the United States.
Though the CMA Awards controversy is what is most remembered by history, some artists rallied behind Newton-John, including Dolly Parton’s sister and fellow performer Stella Parton, who released the song called “Ode to Olivia.”
“We ain’t got the right to say
to say you’re not country
You’ve just a country girl
It’s so plain to see
If you’re not a country girl
Neither are we
They don’t treat us this way
When we sing in your country
Who said a country girl
Had to be from Tennessee”
As opposed to wilting to the controversy, Olivia Newton-John listened to the criticism, and doubled down. Olivia Newton-John released her second country album Have You Never Been Mellow in 1975, and it also saw great success, going #1 in country for six weeks. Then she decided to record her next country album Don’t Stop Belivin’ in Nashville in 1976, and it included multiple long-time A-list session musicians such as Charlie McCoy on harmonica, and Weldon Myrick on steel guitar. Newton-John also eventually moved to the United States to live full time.
But Don’t Stop Believin’ failed to achieve the success of her previous country albums. Then once Olivia-Newton John starred in Grease opposite John Travolta in 1978, the entire world changed for her, including her music. She became exclusively a pop performer, and an international superstar, with all the controversy of the mid 70s via country music’s gatekeepers quickly forgotten by many.
Undoubtedly, the success of Olivia Newton-John and John Denver in the mid 70s helped push country music in a more pop direction at that time. But in truth, it was already headed that way by many artists native to the country genre, Charlie Rich included. The difference was Olivia Newton-John was outside of the Nashville bubble, and that’s what made many artists so speculative, and in certain instances, jealous.
But even with the controversy, Olivia-Newton John owes a big debt of gratitude to country music, and country music to her. The popularity of Olivia Newton-John opened up country music to new audiences, including international ones, while Newton-John’s success in country helped create a foundation under her career, and facilitated her move to the United States. It also made her a sympathetic character in popular culture.
Olivia Newton-John’s long struggle with breast Cancer is over, and she’s in a better place now. But the music she made, the roles she played, and the debates she stirred in country music will go on forever. Because country music loves nothing more than to argue about what country music is. Olivia Newton-John proved that more than anyone.
August 8, 2022 @ 3:49 pm
Well I didn’t know any of this. I didn’t really know her til grease but I wasn’t specifically listening to music that much til late 70s, too busy just being a kid. Might have to check some of that early stuff out. It’s a travesty what some people will do to keep their little clubs. I never saw an instance where she talked about that stuff so I figure she was a better person than they were. Olivia was a really good person, that’s the vibe I got. I will miss her. May she rest in peace.
August 12, 2022 @ 12:34 pm
You can start out by checking out the 2 CD “Gold” collection which has all of her country and pop charted singles as a solo artist.
August 8, 2022 @ 4:08 pm
RIP, Olivia, I liked all her music, the early stuff even the pop stuff and who didn’t have a crush on her in Grease!
August 8, 2022 @ 4:26 pm
What is truly weird, as we look back into it, is how much supposed “damage” Olivia actually had done to the country genre back then, as more than a few country artists of that day were doing the pop-crossover thing (including Charlie Rich, I might add [insert video of him burning John Denver’s envelope on the CMA’s]). If she did any damage to country, how bad was it really in comparison to what the Bromeisters (Aldean; Shelton; Bryan; Brantley Gilbert) have done to it for the last twelve years?? How damaging was “Let Me Be There” in comparison to, say, “That’s My Kinda Night”?
In any case, ‘Livvy has left this world too soon. But her presence in the worlds of both music and movies remains; and she contributed so much to both. That’s how I think she will, and should, be remembered.
August 8, 2022 @ 5:40 pm
One thing about artists of that time who’s country bonafides were questioned is that it was inarguable that they were at least very talented artists. It was purely a matter of categorization.
Now compare them to Lil Nas X…
August 8, 2022 @ 4:27 pm
If Not For You, I Honestly Love You, and Have You Never Been Mellow were all 45’s I had that were played over and over back then. Everyone loved her and many of us had our first female singer crushes with her and Linda Ronstadt. Voice like an angel. To this day I’ve still never seen Grease…………but I’ve heard the songs a million times. Very sad R.I.P.
August 8, 2022 @ 5:17 pm
In the Kelefah Sanneh’s book about genres he goes into this as discuss why Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 a disco song, did not create the same fervor that John Denver or ONJ did because for many people genre is not so much about sound but about culture. And so if you are FROM the country then your ARE country. And of course Dolly has proven she makes country music… but in the case of ONJ she wasn’t from the country, let alone our country. So I think for many people that’s partly why is got, and continues to be so debated.
But you are right her sound was more or less the as people like Charlie Rich and others were putting out.
August 8, 2022 @ 7:20 pm
It’s just how one defines “from the country”. Olivia caused problems for Nashville because she was not American-born. That’s understandable…to a point.
So too, however, did John Denver, and he WAS American-born. Nashville’s problem with Denver was most likely that they only saw that he had begun his career in the mid-1960’s folk music scene in New York City, which they saw as anathema to what THEY saw as “country”. But he was born in New Mexico and lived much of his life in Colorado. That’s quite rural to most people, but it didn’t seem rural enough to Nashville, even though many of his albums contained heavy does of country instrumentation, including Dobro and banjo. Might their problem with Denver have been that he was from the West, and not the South? This is something that has to be considered (IMHO).
As for Olivia–by the standards of today, those songs of hers that were big hits on both the pop and country charts seem to be far more country in terms of sound (steel guitars; Telecasters) than most of what’s on the radio today. Even if only in retrospect, and much like with John Denver, Olivia is now very well respected by her peers in Nashville, and is likely getting the love from that town that she didn’t get back in the mid-1970’s.
August 9, 2022 @ 3:39 pm
Growing up in New Zealand, she was HUGE here. The very first tape and LP I bought were Olivia Newton John. The LP was the Xanadu soundtrack. I was obsessed with her. Like many others here, I had no knowledge of her country stuff, will check it out! Despite her fame, she always seemed to have a lot of humility and sweetness about her. Rest in power, Olivia
February 10, 2024 @ 4:13 am
Look back to ONJ’s recording of Jolene on her Come On Over albbum, then comparite to the recording with Dolly Parton. The woman, almost at the end of her days, still sounded like she was 20 years old. Women lose that range, but she never did. Awards from wherever don’t mean a thing if you can sustain your talent.
August 8, 2022 @ 5:37 pm
One of the songs she did that came close to being classic country was “Dancin’ ‘Round and ‘Round,” which was the B-side of a 1978 pop stiff called “Totally Hot.” “Dancin'” did marginally better on country radio, but not well enough to be played or even remembered by stations that play older pop country (or is that country pop?) today. There were certainly plenty of less country-sounding songs on country radio in 1978, which is something people caught up in back-when-country-sounded-country nostalgia tend to forget. (Check out Bill Anderson’s “I Can’t Wait Any Longer” or “Double S” sometime.)
RIP, ONJ.
August 9, 2022 @ 8:18 am
Or DON’T check out Bill Anderson’s “Double S”. Because it is horrible. Or DO check it out, because it is cheesy as hell. I sometimes play it to upset my family. It clears a room fast.
August 9, 2022 @ 5:36 pm
Lol just listened to “Double S” for the first time. Might be the dumbest song I’ve ever heard, but I had a smile on my face the whole time.
August 9, 2022 @ 8:47 pm
If you weren’t listening to the radio in the late ’70s, you can’t even begin to understand just how disco had infiltrated and influenced just about everything. Not only was Bill Anderson going disco, but so was Dolly Parton!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxuC-uFXzKk
August 10, 2022 @ 12:09 pm
Even Porter Wagoner briefly got in on it in 1979. From the Roland Database: “Porter Wagoner debuts a new disco sound with a performance at Nashville’s Exit/In that includes a surprise appearance by J.J. Cale. The Tennessean says the show is “about as disco as Goo Goo Clusters.”
August 8, 2022 @ 5:54 pm
Special mention should go to Cliff Richard, who happened break out in England in the early 70s.
August 9, 2022 @ 4:38 am
Cliff Richard ‘broke out’ in England in the 1950s, not the 1970s. He was a knock-off British Elvis before becoming more pop, and eventually making music influenced by his Christian faith. He is the only singer to have a UK No.1 in five consecutive decades, and he had chart hits in six.
Did he ever make any Country records? Lord knows, he made enough albums, so it isn’t entirely implausible that he snuck one in his catalogue somewhere. Though if he did I never heard about it.
August 9, 2022 @ 6:40 am
The first time I ever heard of Cliff Richard was when I heard Devil Woman on the radio in the mid 70s. It’s the only song of his that I can name. I had heard later that he was an early English rocker that had huge success on that side of the pond and that the Beatles were intent on not following the same path as he did with respect to trying to market himself in the States. They decided that they would not tour the US until they had some hits in the US first.
August 9, 2022 @ 7:28 am
That’s interesting. I was unaware any of Cliff’s songs had charted in the States. Turns out Devil Woman peaked higher in the US charts than it did in the UK.
Cliff was probably the UK’s biggest star in the pre-Beatles era. Like many others, the arrival of the Beatles pretty much KO’d his career for a while. His 70s hits were in his second phase, when he had remodelled his image and sound and managed to make a comeback.
August 9, 2022 @ 9:50 am
Obviously, my original post came out wrong because I the device I was typing on. I’m a die-hard Cliff fan so know my facts. I meant to say that he ushered in Olivia’s to fame in the early ’70s through his television variety show ‘It’s Cliff Richard’.
She later returned the favour by duetting with him on ‘Suddeny’, from Xanadu. She later featured prominently on the soundtrack to his West End musical adaptation of Wuthering Heights ‘Heathcliffe’.
Since then, they duetted twice more – ‘Find a Little Faith’, and, most recently, ‘Everybody’s Someone’.
August 8, 2022 @ 6:21 pm
She was truly a special talent, great voice, and yeah most of us young guys growing up in the 1970’s thought she was really really cute. And she sure seems like she was a great person.
Her music speaks for itself, and she even did versions of “Jolene” and “ Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain”, tapping into Dolly and Willie’s music when it wasn’t really big. I always thought her song
“Please Mr. Please” was a great country song. If some of those early songs had been recorded with fiddle and steel guitar, she may have been bigger in country music.
RIP Olivia!
August 8, 2022 @ 6:28 pm
And she did an interesting version of “Ring Of Fire} too!
August 8, 2022 @ 6:59 pm
For some reason, when reading this article referring to people upset about someone not being country, Tom T. Hall’s “Country Is” came to mind.
August 8, 2022 @ 9:18 pm
I was very young but my high school-aged sister had the If You Love Me, Let Me Know album and I fondly remember her playing the life out of it. Later, in high school myself, I did the same with Physical (I still have my original 45, and the LP). I don’t remember music without her, and she’ll be greatly missed. RIP, Olivia…we all honestly love you.
August 8, 2022 @ 10:13 pm
What a beautiful voice she had. To this day, I believe she would be considered among the genre’s top five all-time female vocalists if she would’ve stuck with country music longer. As it is, she produced great music in such a short amount of time, and in my opinion, “Please Mister, Please” showcased her heavenly voice perfectly. It’s also worth noting she sang backup to one of John Denver’s greatest songs: “Fly Away”. I’m somewhat surprised she didn’t do more such collaborations like Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton have done. I could’ve easily envisioned a duet with the late Kenny Rogers.
I have enjoyed some of her pop music, and aside from the “Grease”Roger’s. I like “Deeper than the River” the best of that genre. I truly believe, however, that the sweetness and genuineness of her voice (combined with a dash of spunk) were best displayed in her other great country tunes like “Sam”, “Have You Never Been Mellow”, and “Let Me Be There”.
Alas, instead of delving too deeply into “what if”, we should all be grateful for the music she did produce while also relieved that the horrible ravages of breast cancer are now finally over for her. With that said, her beauty (both inner and outer), music, courage and gentle nature will continue to live on in our memories.
August 9, 2022 @ 6:29 am
Yes “Fly Away” may have best showcased her beautiful voice!
August 14, 2022 @ 10:27 am
Seeing as you mentioned “Please Mister, Please”, that is sort of a female version of “A-11”.
“Please Mister, Please
don’t play B-17
It was our song, it was his song but it’s over.”
“I don’t know you from Adam
But if you’re gonna play the jukebox
Please don’t play A-11”
August 8, 2022 @ 11:05 pm
ONJ’s song “Please Mister Please” was covered by Scud Mountain Boys on an early record. The SMBs were hands down my favourite alt.country (or whatever you want to call it) band from that era, and opened the door to ‘proper’ country for me. In a funny way, I feel like I owe both that band, and ONJ, for setting me on my journey. Rest in peace.
August 9, 2022 @ 4:58 am
In retrospect, Olivia’s version of country music was tame compared to the garbage they are calling country now.
August 9, 2022 @ 6:17 am
Brenda Lee is the most surprising name in the ACE faction, since she was widely considered a pop singer in the 1960s.
August 9, 2022 @ 6:36 am
I got to see her, once, in late 75, IMS, in concert at Stephen F Austin, where my now ex was going to school-
I was disappointed as the show wasn’t as country as I had hoped and we were too far away to really enjoy the experience- but, I still had a bit of a crush on her, because of this song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UcTCYmoQTQ
August 9, 2022 @ 8:37 am
Beautiful woman. Beautiful voice.
August 9, 2022 @ 8:13 am
This “country or not” discussion is getting old and tiresome.
August 9, 2022 @ 8:41 am
Only one critique concerning your article, Trigger. Olivia was an actress, not an actor.
August 10, 2022 @ 10:45 am
Actually, the Screen Actors Guild refers to members as male or female “actors, ” even though the Oscars use “actress.” It’s odd, since we don’t refer to any enemies as bad actresses, only actors. So either way is accepred.
August 9, 2022 @ 8:45 am
I watched GREASE yesterday in her honor. She is so cute in that, up until she gets sexy as hell at the end. And her voice is just pure. She was beautiful and talented. She made some very singable and catchy country pop records in the 70s that sound pretty good in retrospect, especially compared to a lot of today’s junk. Requiescat in pace, Olivia.
August 10, 2022 @ 11:34 am
Sorry. Just because the folks at the SAG refer to females as “actors” does not make it correct. Males are “actors” and females are “actresses.” On the other hand, however, there is no such thing as a “congresswoman.” Anyone, male or female, elected to the congress is a “congressman.” It is a tortuous twisting of good English to refer to anyone as a “congresswoman.” Members of legislatures are “legislators.” There is no such thing as a “legislatoress.” This grammar lesson was brought to you today courtesy of bigtex.
August 9, 2022 @ 9:16 am
Side note about ACE: The artists in that list of ACE participants make me chuckle every time I read it.
Brenda Lee: Started out as pop singer
Barbra Mandrell: many of her singles in the late 70’s and early 80’s had a pop sheen; also, she covered R&B hits in the early part of her career
Dolly: Lots of pop hits, including 2 #1’s on the Hot 100
Conway: This one is my favorite. He started as a rock singer, then a few years after ACE, he made sure country radio was full of his renditions of songs by the Bee Gees, Pointer Sisters, Eagles, Bette Midler, and the Commodores. Yet he still gets mentioned as an example of a singer of “real country” by those complaining about pop influences in country music.
Disclaimer: I love all kinds of music, including pop and pop country. I like Conway, as well as other country crossover acts such as Milsap, Rich, Campbell, Denver, etc. I’m not slamming Conway or ONJ or Brenda Lee or anyone except the people who hold them up as examples of purely country singers. Those people have selective memories and should get elbowed in the ribs.
August 9, 2022 @ 9:18 am
Country had gotten into its own particular rut back then, and I found Olivia’s pop-folk a refreshing counterbalance to the highly orchestrated countrypolitan Nashville was churning out. She had a crystal clear voice, and was hotter than a two-dollar pistol, to boot! She will be missed.
August 9, 2022 @ 3:39 pm
Very nice tribute to Olivia, Trig.
I was crazy about her early songs and I liked her pop songs as well, which is fairly rare for me and probably my liking of them emanated from liking her early offerings and overall vibe.
And I like John Denver, also, back in the 1960s and early 1970s.
As a Memphian, I really was crazy about Charlie Rich, and I though it was really cool to drive by his house, which wasn’t too far from our home.
But I had no real country connection until my best friend’s brother brought back Jerry Jeff’s Viva Terlinqua in 1973 or 1974 and my life changed forever.
August 9, 2022 @ 3:48 pm
Juliana Hatfield recorded an album of songs associated with Olivia Newton-John back in 2018.
It was a true labor of love and I highly recommend it.
August 9, 2022 @ 4:20 pm
(So maybe this is last time we can tell this joke?)
If Olivia Newton-John married Wayne Newton, then divorced him and then married Elton John, she would be Olivia Newton-John Newton John!
RIP Olivia
August 10, 2022 @ 11:22 am
All of the artists you mentioned are excellent. By today’s weird standards they could ALL be considered traditional country singers. BTW Mandrell covered R&B throughout her entire career. Her first single was an Otis Redding cover, and she recorded songs like Treat Him Right, Show Me, Do Right Woman, Do Right Man, and Woman To Woman early on. But she later recorded If Loving You Is Wrong, The Thrill Is Gone, Angel In Your Arms, and I’m Not Your Superwoman, among others. She has an excellent cover of Oleta Adams’ Get Here on her final album. Many of her original songs had an R&B bent (thanks to the magic of Tom Collins, who also produced Ronnie Milsap, who has the same vibe). I’ve always found this R&B aspect in her catalog interesting and I think it elevates her above (some argue) being simply a pop singer on the country charts ( though she recorded a lot more country). It all solidifies the argument that great songs are great songs and span genres…just like great singers like Olivia Newton-John.
August 10, 2022 @ 10:08 pm
Olivia Newton-John was a beautiful woman, inside and out. She was truly loved and she will be truly missed.
The country audience of the mid 1970’s absolutely loved her. Her records were played on country radio 1973-1979 constantly. It was the aging old guard who were jealous of her instant success. There was no crabbing from 1973 until 1974 when she won top female vocalist – up to that point her hits were covered on albums or sung in concert even by hard country acts like Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens, and Kitty Wells. As noted by Trigger in the writeup only three women had ever won the top female vocalist award at that point and here Olivia gets nominated and wins on her first nomination. The fact that she recorded in England and was a foreigner was the thin straw used against her; her early 70’s stuff. There really any complaining about Anne Murray or Linda Ronstadt being marketed as country when were certainly just as pop. Most of the members of that short-lived group where people who hadn’t had hits in years – it wasn’t Olivia’s fault they weren’t selling records anymore. They were just looking for a scapegoat.
I don’t think Conway and Brenda were in this organization, after all Brenda was a pop star herself and Conway defended Olivia in interviews. They may have been invited to the original meeting and not know what the intention was, not everyone joined it and it was mostly fading Opry stars. Loretta Lynn hit the nail on the head in her autobiography – these people were just jealous and while they wanted country to be able to get on pop radio they didn’t want anyone from pop to get in the country market.
August 11, 2022 @ 1:17 pm
It’s funny considering Dolly and Barbara (among others) who were opposed to pop in country ended up going the pop route numerous times.
August 14, 2022 @ 3:29 pm
Your early history of Olivia’s career somehow overlooked her very first U.S. country & pop hit “Let Me Be There” as well as her early U.S. chart records.
Her first album “If Not For You” was released for the Uni label in 1971. The title track, a Bob Dylan song, was issued as her first U.S. single. It peaked at #25 on the Pop Hot 100 but fared much better on the Adult Contemporary survey where it hit #1. The subsequent single “Banks Of The Ohio” climbed to #94 on the Hot 100 and #34 A/C and did garner some limited country radio airplay. A third single George Harrison’s “What Is Life” from her second Uni LP “Olivia” hit #34 A/C but completely missed the Hot 100. Uni was a label owned by MCA and in late 1972 that imprint was dropped so Olivia’s subsequent releases were issued on MCA. Her first MCA single was a remake of the John Denver hit “Take Me Home Country Roads.” It failed to gain any pop or country traction but the subsequent single “Let Me Be There” became her breakthrough hit. That success story began on the country chart in late summer 1973. By late December “Let Me Be There” had peaked there at #7. The previous month that single debuted on the Pop Hot 100 where it climbed to #6 in February 1974. The “Let Me Be There” album issued on MCA in late 1973 contained songs from her earlier albums along with the brand new title track. That LP became a #1 country album in March 1974 but only peaked at #54 on the pop album chart. The “Let Me Be There” 45 was actively promoted to country radio in the U.S. and clearly that is where her major success in the States began.
If You Love Me (Let Me Know) was released as her next single in the spring of 1974 and the story continues from there as noted in the narrative at the top of this thread
August 15, 2022 @ 8:43 pm
This is the most comprehensive account I’ve read of Olivia’s pre-Grease career. Thank you for such a great article! Just one thing to add- Loretta Lynn was one of the country stars who rallied to support ONJ! I will always love her for that!
September 5, 2022 @ 8:41 pm
Olivia’s picture on the cover of “If You Love Me, Let me Know” is a smoker, with her all Laurel Canyon’ed and Malibu’d out in her Wranglers and chambray shirt. Look at the album cover, and her expression. She seems to be saying, as clear as anything was ever said,
“I came to LA all the way from Australia, and you’re not even going to XXXX me? Pathetic!”
And yet, the “official video” of Olivia and Cliff singing “Suddenly” is the most awkward faux-romantic bad acting I have ever seen… they look like 6th-graders who hate each other. It’s hilarious and painful.