Olivia Newton-John: ’70s pop princess spins through her greatest hits

September 5, 1999May 30, 2023 Jae-Ha Kim

Before Shania, there was Olivia. In a greatest-hits concert Friday at the Chicago Theatre, Olivia Newton-John took the audience on a two-hour tour of songs that showed off her aptitude for country (“If You Love Me (Let Me Know)”), pop (“Xanadu”), rock (“You’re the One That I Want”) and ballads (“I Honestly Love You”). In the ’70s, when female country stars wore their hair big and their sequins even bigger, Newton-John – who was born in England, raised in Australia and pretty enough to be a model – ruffled many Nashville purists by winning the 1973 Grammy Award for best country vocalist.

Olivia Newton-John: Fine-tuned instruments

September 3, 1999August 8, 2022 Jae-Ha Kim

At the end of the month, Olivia Newton-John will get out of jail. In a movie role, of course. “I begin shooting `Sordid Lives’ when this tour is over,” Newton-John says, phoning from Atlantic City, N.J. “I play a singer who just got out of jail. So she’s a little tough. I think it’ll be fun for me because it’s so interesting to do different things.” Playing a felon isn’t something that fazes Newton-John. But playing a guitar is.

100 Most Influential African Americans

September 1, 1999October 25, 2011 Jae-Ha Kim

Rosa Parks. Martin Luther King. Malcolm X. Oprah Winfrey. They are all pioneers who have made an impact on American society. And all four most likely will make the final cut of “The 100 Most Influential African Americans of the 20th Century.”