There have been rumours of Olivia's autobiography for decades, but it never amounted to much, the project was rumoured on and then off over the years. There have been a few unauthorised versions, but these tended to be unsatisfactory although that didn't stop Gregory Branson-Trent trying more than once.
Finally we got what we have been waiting for in 2019, published by Simon and Schuster as Don't Stop Believin'. It s pretty much a must-have for any of Olivia's fans. Don't Stop Believin' is the title track from Olivia's 1976 album of the same name, and Olivia's song titles are used as a literary device for many chapter heads.
You get two sections of terrific colour/black and white plates of photos in the physical book, both of Olivia's personal and her professional career. It's a delight to see these.
Olivia describes what's now a 50-year showbiz career at a cracking pace. She describes her childhood and teenage years in Australia, then whisks us off to London where she makes a start with Pat Carroll. Most of her fans know the story well by now, but the little vignettes of Olivia's rise to stardom over the 1970s add colour to a rich story. I loved her description of the twenty-something singer and her attorney John Mason taking on Lew Wasserman, the CEO of MCA, which changed how recording contracts were structured. Lew's office had him perched on a platform behind a massive dark wood desk, all designed to put minions in their place, but Olivia prevailed.
Her talent for singing carries her through, but a good helping of serendipity and good fortune boost her along the way. She sprints through her early musical career, the move to US and capturing the hearts of America, until the movie Grease is in the offing.
Grease is the word
Fans of the movie Grease are in for a treat as there are many anecdotes from the movie's shooting, and what the experience was like shooting the movie in quite a short period in the sweltering heat of a Californian summer - they couldn't use the air conditioning most of the time because it would interfere with sound. Olivia dedicates about thirty pages to that wild time in the late Seventies when Grease-mania ruled. She clearly has very fond memories of the movie and is eternally grateful for its timeless appeal, capturing new fans of the movie with each generation.
Changes...
Olivia comes across as a really beautiful human being, who has grown and deepened through a long life that seems to have faced its fair share of challenge as well as enormous success. She carries her narrative with dignity and graciousness, we get to know her a little better through some of the little vignettes of her story.
Although I knew the basic facts about her early life, it was interesting to hear the initial idyllic middle-class homeliness change with the divorce of her parents. It sounds like Australia was quite strait-laced in the 1950s, and divorce was less common then than sixty years later, so it was quite a change and may have been quite formative to Olivia's sense of security. The topic inspired her first self-written song, Changes, which featured on her first Greatest Hits album
Olivia had clearly taken deeply to heart what a good girl's mother says to them 'if you can't say something nice, say nothing'. Everybody mentioned is shown in a positive light, and for sure, there have been very many beautiful people in Olivia's life. But Don't Stop Believin' isn't the book for you if you want the goss. Olivia hasn't been terrifically rock'n'roll in her private life, so some of it's fair enough, but we don't hear much about Bruce Welch, and Lee Kramer who managed Olivia in her 1970s success up until his protege Roger Davies took over in 1981 as well as being her boyfriend got short shrift.
You get a sense of Olivia deepening as she gets older, her career starts to take up less of the narrative as she has Chloe, and then the bombshell in 1992 when she is diagnosed with breast cancer. Olivia overcomes this with inner courage and determination, and pursues several directions, although she returns to music for the early 2000s, as well as being involved in cancer fundraisers and the children's health charity CHEC.
In the last chapters of the book Olivia discovers the love of her life in John Easterling, who takes her to Peru for a shamanic ayahusca ceremony. They get married in 2008, and in the last part of the book there is the story of Olivia's ONJ Cancer Center and research facility, and the work Olivia and John Easterling are doing researching and promoting the therapeutic use of medical cannabis in the treatment of cancer.
Audiobook edition
This is also available read by Olivia. Though she is a lady renowned for her voice, Simon & Schuster didn't pull out all the stops on recording quality, it's clear enough but some of the warmth on record - or indeed as I've heard Olivia speaking in real life, isn't captured to its full extent. It's still lovely to hear her and the little vocal mannerisms I recognise from her live shows and interviews. I don't normally listen to audiobooks, so I didn't really take it in until I read the hardback afterwards, but if you are into audiobooks then it is available as seven CDs or on Audible.
a New York Times Best Seller - from the publisher:
page topWith candour, humour and warmth, legendary musician, actress, activist and icon Olivia Newton-John reveals her life story - from her unforgettable rise to fame in the classic musical Grease to her passionate advocacy for health and wellness in light of her battles with cancer. [...]
A tireless advocate for countless charities, her true passion is as the founding champion of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre in her hometown of Melbourne, Australia. Olivia has always radiated joy, hope and compassion - determined to be a force for good in the world.
Now she is sharing her journey, from Melbourne schoolgirl to international superstar, in this deeply personal book. Warm, candid and moving, Don’t Stop Believin' is Olivia Newton-John's story in her own words for the very first time.