Then: At 14, Newton-John formed a short-lived all-girl group, Sol Four, with three classmates often performing in a coffee shop owned by her brother-in-law. She became a regular on local Australian radio and television shows including HSV-7’s The Happy Show where she performed as “Lovely Livvy”. She also appeared on The Go!! Show where she met future duet partner, singer Pat Carroll, and future music producer, John Farrar (Carroll and Farrar would later marry). In 1965 she entered and won a talent contest on the television program Sing, Sing, Sing, hosted by 1960s Australian icon Johnny O’Keefe, performing the songs “Anyone Who Had a Heart” and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”. She was initially reluctant to use the prize she had won, a trip to Great Britain, but travelled there nearly a year later after her mother encouraged her to broaden her horizons. Newton-John recorded her first single, “Till You Say You’ll Be Mine”, in Britain for Decca Records in 1966. While in Britain, Newton-John missed her then-boyfriend, Ian Turpie, with whom she had co-starred in an Australian telefilm, Funny Things Happen Down Under. She repeatedly booked trips back to Australia that her mother would subsequently cancel.
Now: On 2 November 2019, Julien’s Auctions auctioned hundreds of memorabilia from the singer’s career. The sale raised $2.4 million. Newton-John’s iconic Grease outfit garnered an impressive $405,700; her pants and jacket were purchased separately by two different billionaires. Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, bought Newton-John’s black skintight pants from Grease for $162,000.The anonymous buyer who acquired her famous Grease leather jacket for $243,200 returned the item to her and said: “It should not sit in a billionaire’s closet for country-club bragging rights […] The odds of beating a recurring cancer using the newest emerging therapies is a thousandfold greater than someone appearing out of the blue, buying your most famous and cherished icon, and returning it to you.” Proceeds are being donated to cancer research facilities in Australia.
