Liv's Simple Blessings

She’s battling cancer for the third time but Aussie legend Olivia Newton-John isn’t letting it get her down. The hit-maker talks to Paul Ewart about staying positive, medicinal cannabis, cutting out sugar and reveals her most important legacy.

She’s Australia’s original sweetheart. A legend of the stage and screen with four Grammy awards to her name, alongside more than 100 million albums in record sales, making her one of the world’s best-selling recording artists of all time.

But aside from a career that has seen her entertain for five decades, the adored performer has also become an unlikely source of inspiration for millions of cancer sufferers around the world after publicly battling breast cancer following a diagnosis more than 25 years ago. After years in remission, the pop icon revealed last year that not only has the cancer returned to her body, but that she was secretly treated for a second bout of the illness five years ago. Yet despite the blow, the singer is remaining upbeat in the face of adversity and is determined to beat it a third time.

“I have always been the kind of person to look at the cup as half full,” the 70-year-old superstar tells Good Health & Wellbeing. “Positive thinking is so important to living a healthy and happy life, no matter what the challenge. I think just being open to learning and growing through tough times is the way to evolve and become stronger – for yourself and for others.”

Public scrutiny

First diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992 at the age of 43, Olivia underwent nine months of debilitating chemo, and surgeries including a partial mastectomy and breast reconstruction. Later admitting that it was especially tough dealing with the illness in the public eye, the star made the decision to keep a second diagnosis – a tumour in her shoulder – to herself. The tumour got smaller, but unbeknownst to the star the cancer continued to spread and last year doctors discovered that it had returned and metastasized to the base of her spine, later spreading to her back.