Olivia Newton-John felt "overwhelmed" when she lent her name to a cancer research centre in Melbourne in 2014.
The 68-year-old singer-and-actress overcame breast cancer in the early 90s and her own battle inspired her to open the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre in the Australian city three years ago, and admits she was nervous about having a building named after herself but a conversation with her mother changed her mind.
She said: "I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to get behind having a building with my name on it. It was all very overwhelming. And I asked my mother and she said, ‘Listen darling, if you can help somebody, then you should do it.’ That was just the most important, basic and obvious answer. So, if it’s something that touches my heart and I feel like I can help, then I’ll do it."
The ‘Grease’ star regularly lends her support to the centre, and even donated a portion of the proceeds from every ticket to her three-year ‘Summer Nights’ Las Vegas residency – which wrapped in December – to the centre’s wellness programmes.
And Olivia – who has 31-year-old daughter Chloe with her ex-husband Matt Lattanzi and is currently married to John Easterling – has said her charity work is the time outside of her career where she will happily step into the spotlight.
She said: "Unless it has to do with my career or some charity or something I want to draw attention to, I’m not out there flashing my life around too much. Because I like to have my quiet time with my husband and my animals and my daughter. I think I’ve managed pretty well to keep a good balance between the two things, so I feel very grateful for that."
Although the four-time Grammy winner has just wrapped her Las Vegas residency, she’s not taking a break as she’s now headed back out on the road.
Speaking to Asbury Park Press’ ‘Fan Theory’ podcast about her setlist for the tour, Olivia said: "I kind of went and did my research into what was the most popular, ones that sold the most or were in the charts and then of course picked some that were my favourites. But basically, it’s kind of the most successful music that I’ve had [that] goes into the show. Plus, I add some [selections] of my own and a few new ones and try to vary it with the country stuff and the movie stuff and just go through my life."
Olivia Newton-John was ‘overwhelmed’ opening cancer research centre in 2014
