Month: February 2023

The life and glittering career of Olivia Newton-John will be celebrated later this month with a state memorial service in Melbourne, the Victorian government has announced.

Delta Goodrem, the Sydney pop singer who portrayed Newton-John in the 2018 TV mini-series Hopelessly Devoted to You, will perform at the free, ticketed event, which is set for Feb. 26 at Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne.

The service is being planned in close consultation with representatives of the late artist, with special tributes from family and friends, reads a statement.

Newton-John died Aug. 8, 2022 after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 73.

“Dame Olivia Newton-John was an inspiration to many around the world – her work in cancer research and treatment saved lives and changed lives and her music was the soundtrack to a generation,” comments state premier Daniel Andrews.

“We know Victorians are eager to celebrate the life of a driving force in medical research and an icon of film and music, with a service befitting her international acclaim.”

For lengthy stints in the 1970s and 1980s, ONJ was Australia’s flag-bearer in pop culture with a string of hits and starring roles in Hollywood films Grease and Xanadu.

Born in Cambridge, England, Newton-John moved to Melbourne with her family at a young age. From early on, ONJ showed a knack for performing and moved to London after winning a trip on the ‘60s TV show Sing, Sing, Sing.

Newton-John did sing, and, in her heyday, was one of the most popular artists on the planet. She amassed five No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including “Physical,” which was only the second song in Hot 100 history (following Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life”) to log 10 weeks at No. 1.

During her lifetime, she collected four Grammy Awards, set records at the American Music Awards and, in 1975, became just the second female solo artist to land back-to-back No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart. Her catalog has sold more than 100 million units worldwide.

Newton-John used her fame for good. In 2012, she partnered with Austin Health in Melbourne, to establish the Olivia Newton-John Wellness and Research Centre (ONJWRC); she separately founded National Tree Day in Australia; and established the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, which sponsors global research into plant medicine to help find kinder treatments for cancer.

Visit vic.gov.au/olivia-newton-john for more.

Sam Smith is on top in the land Down Under, as Gloria (via Capitol/Universal) bows at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart.

Gloria is Smith’s fourth consecutive top 10 album in Australia, and second No. 1 after In The Lonely Hour hit the summit in 2014 (The Thrill Of It All debuted at No. 2 in 2017, and Love Goes hit No. 3 in 2020).

The latest LP enjoyed a lift from Smith’s recent visit to Australia, a brief summer break during which the British singer performed for competition winners and VIPs at the d’Arenberg vineyards at McLaren Vale, outside of Adelaide.

It’s not Smith’s first time atop the leaderboard in Australia this year. “Unholy” featuring Kim Petras, the hit song from Gloria, returned to No. 1 last month on the ARIA Singles Chart for a sixth non-consecutive week. “Unholy” logs its 17th week in the national top 5 and is now triple-platinum certified (for 210,000-plus combined units).

Smith will return to Australia in October and November 2023 for a run of arena dates, produced by Frontier Touring.

Gloria is one of just three new arrivals on the latest ARIA top 40, published Feb. 3.

Further down the list, Bob Dylan’s Fragments—Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997) The Bootleg Series, Vol. 17 (via Columbia/Legacy) bows at No. 26. The legendary songsmith’s album isn’t quite a new entry, but rather the latest in a series that revisits his Grammy Award-winning 1997 album Time Out of Mind, with a remix of the original set and bonus outtakes, alternate versions and live cuts.

Meanwhile, Lil Yachty sails in at No. 37 on the ARIA Chart with Let’s Start Here (Capitol/Universal), the Atlanta rapper’s fifth album, and a sonic pivot to psychedelic space rock.

Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” (Columbia/Sony) continues to bloom, for a third consecutive week at No. 1.

Australia-bred singer and songwriter The Kid LAROI returns to the national tally, this time with “Love Again” (Columbia/Sony), new at No. 14. It’s the second taste off the Kid’s forthcoming debut album, The First Time, set for release later this year.

After catching fire on TikTok, Coi Leray’s “Players” (Universal) completes the crossover with a top 40 chart appearance in Australia. The Grandmaster Flash-sampling single, a modern-day spin on the 1982 seminal hit “The Message,” arrives at No. 31.

Finally, a raft of tracks enjoy a lift on the national chart following last Saturday’s (Jan. 28) Hottest 100 countdown on triple j. The winner of the poll, Flume and MAY-A’s “Say Nothing” (Future Classic) returns at No. 4, easily eclipsing its peak of No. 16 from February 2022, while tracks from Spacey Jane, Eliza Rose, Steve Lacy and others enjoy a post-Hottest 100 bump.

Shania Twain is back on her horse with “Queen Of Me,” her first album in more than five years.

The Canadian country-pop superstar marks her comeback with the 12-track set, led by “Waking Up Dreaming,” her first single since 2017, and her latest, “Giddy Up!”.

A five-time Grammy Award winner, Queen of Me marks the first artist release through Republic Nashville.

“I’m honored and excited to be the label’s first artist and lead the charge of this new and exciting chapter,” she said last September when the deal was struck. “In this respect, it feels like a new beginning all around, and I’m embracing it wholeheartedly.”

Queen of Me is the followup to Twain’s fifth studio album Now, which blasted to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2017. Prior to that, Twain’s fourth album release was 2002’s Up, which also hit No. 1 on the main U.S. chart.

Considering that timeline, which, for lengthy periods saw Twain sidelined with health problems, including Lyme disease, dysphonia and throat surgery, Queen of Me is just her second studio LP in more than 20 years.

Twain has been in the headlines of late, discussing her severe reaction to the COVID-19 virus, which evolved into pneumonia and required her to be airlifted to a hospital, and for an interview with Apple Music in which she talked about the time she almost worked with Prince before his death.

On her phone call with the Purple One, Prince laid out some ground rules for what would-be studio time with Twain — namely that there was no swearing allowed at Paisley Park.

“So that was another strike,” Twain told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “I’m like, ‘Oh no, I love you so much, but I don’t think I could get through writing and recording an album without swearing, somewhere along the way.”

Twain is set to serve as a presenter at the 2023 Grammy Awards and she’s the subject of the Netflix documentary Not Just A Girl, produced by Mercury Studios and directed by Joss Crowley.

Stream Queen of Me below.