Olivia Newton-John’s Best Quotes About Her Cancer Battles, Staying Positive Ahead of Death

Credit: Marion Curtis/Starpix/Shutterstock

Olivia Newton-John’s Best Quotes About Her Cancer Battles, Staying Positive Ahead of Death

Looking on the sunny side. Olivia Newton-John never let her cancer battles ruin her zest for life — being diagnosed three separate times before her death in August 2022. “If you think positive thoughts, you’ll create a positive world around yourself and attract positive people to you,” the British-Australian actress exclusively told Us Weekly in April 2019 amid her third breast cancer battle. “I’m very lucky in all those areas; I have the best husband in the world and the best daughter. I’m lucky.” The Grease star was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. She underwent partial mastectomy and reconstruction surgery before going into remission. Newton-John was diagnosed again in 2013 but chose to keep her fight private. “I just decided I wanted to go through it myself,” the Likewise cookbook author told the Today show in March 2019 about why she didn’t announce the second health scare. “And I did a lot of natural healing and a lot of herbs that my husband [John Easterling] made for me.” When the cancer returned in 2017, the “Physical” singer decided to publicly share the news. “I’m a very privileged person, and I’m very aware of that,” she said during a September 2018 appearance on Sunday Night, confirming her stage IV breast cancer diagnosis. “I have a wonderful husband, I have all the animals I adore, I have an incredible career. I have nothing really to complain about.” Less than one year later, Newton-John gave Us an exclusive update on her health while promoting her new song, “Window in the Wall,” which she recorded with her daughter, Chloe Rose Lattanzi. (The late actress shared her daughter with ex-husband Matt Lattanzi.) [jwplayer tnoa8M1x-zhNYySv2] “I feel really well, thank you. Thanks to my husband and his plant medicine. I'm doing really well,” the Xanadu star told Us in January 2021, referring to Easterling’s cannabis treatments which aided in her pain management. “Plant medicine has been incredibly healing for me, but I think it's just keeping a positive attitude and believing that I will be OK … is probably the most important part.” Newton-John noted that amid her health journey she and Easterling started the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund to raise money for plant medicine and cancer treatments. She added that her “dream” was to “find a world beyond cancer.” Following her death in August 2022 at the age of 73, her husband sang her praises and asked that Newton-John’s fans continue to help in her work to end cancer. “Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer,” Easterling wrote via social media after announcing her passing. “Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any donations be made in her memory to the @onjfoundation.” Scroll down to see what Newton-John said about her fight with cancer — and why she was optimistic that cancer will one day be non-existent — over the years: [podcast_block]

Credit: Marion Curtis/Starpix/Shutterstock

Olivia Newton-John’s Best Quotes About Her Cancer Battles, Staying Positive Ahead of Death

Looking on the sunny side. Olivia Newton-John never let her cancer battles ruin her zest for life — being diagnosed three separate times before her death in August 2022. “If you think positive thoughts, you’ll create a positive world around yourself and attract positive people to you,” the British-Australian actress exclusively told Us Weekly in April 2019 amid her third breast cancer battle. “I’m very lucky in all those areas; I have the best husband in the world and the best daughter. I’m lucky.” The Grease star was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. She underwent partial mastectomy and reconstruction surgery before going into remission. Newton-John was diagnosed again in 2013 but chose to keep her fight private. “I just decided I wanted to go through it myself,” the Likewise cookbook author told the Today show in March 2019 about why she didn’t announce the second health scare. “And I did a lot of natural healing and a lot of herbs that my husband [John Easterling] made for me.” When the cancer returned in 2017, the “Physical” singer decided to publicly share the news. “I’m a very privileged person, and I’m very aware of that,” she said during a September 2018 appearance on Sunday Night, confirming her stage IV breast cancer diagnosis. “I have a wonderful husband, I have all the animals I adore, I have an incredible career. I have nothing really to complain about.” Less than one year later, Newton-John gave Us an exclusive update on her health while promoting her new song, “Window in the Wall,” which she recorded with her daughter, Chloe Rose Lattanzi. (The late actress shared her daughter with ex-husband Matt Lattanzi.) [jwplayer tnoa8M1x-zhNYySv2] “I feel really well, thank you. Thanks to my husband and his plant medicine. I'm doing really well,” the Xanadu star told Us in January 2021, referring to Easterling’s cannabis treatments which aided in her pain management. “Plant medicine has been incredibly healing for me, but I think it's just keeping a positive attitude and believing that I will be OK … is probably the most important part.” Newton-John noted that amid her health journey she and Easterling started the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund to raise money for plant medicine and cancer treatments. She added that her “dream” was to “find a world beyond cancer.” Following her death in August 2022 at the age of 73, her husband sang her praises and asked that Newton-John’s fans continue to help in her work to end cancer. “Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer,” Easterling wrote via social media after announcing her passing. “Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any donations be made in her memory to the @onjfoundation.” Scroll down to see what Newton-John said about her fight with cancer — and why she was optimistic that cancer will one day be non-existent — over the years: [podcast_block]

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It’s All About Positivity

“This is one of the reasons I like to talk about it is because here I am 18 years later and I am talking about it and I was fearful of talking about it the first five years because a lot of women are until we get to that five-year marker, but all I can really say is, here I am and I am here so you can be,” Newton-John told EmpowHer in 2010, reflecting on her first battle with cancer. “You know, it’s like having that positive thought and believing that you can be. Of course, not everybody is as fortunate and I realize that and I am very grateful that I am, but that positive attitude does really help in how you go through the journey.”

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Leaving Her Mark

The Don’t Stop Believin’ author recalled her personal journey with cancer when founding the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre in 2015. “I underwent a partial mastectomy, chemotherapy and breast reconstruction. I did herbal formulas, meditation and focused on a vision of complete wellness,” she explained on the foundation’s website, detailing her fight with cancer since 1992. “The whole experience has given me much understanding and compassion, so much so that I wanted to help others going through the same journey.”

She revealed that her mission with the center is to help others get the support they need amid their own health journey. “My dream is that one day the ONJ Centre will be only about Wellness, and we will no longer need cancer centers because cancer will be a thing of the past,” Newton-John concluded.

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It’s an Ongoing Battle

“I’m not going to be one of those statistics, I’m going to be fine,” the musician told Australia’s Today show in September 2017. “I’ll probably deal with this in my life as an ongoing thing. I think that you can live with cancer like you can live with other things if you take care of yourself.”

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Keeping the Fears at Bay

“Having it happen again, I thought to myself, ‘I’ve done it before, I got through this before and I can do it again,’” the “I Honestly Love You” songstress said during her September 2017 Today show appearance. “Of course, you have fear. That’s only natural. But my positive outlook is a decision. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I have dark moments and negative moments, I’m human. But on a general scale, I tend to see the glass is half full.”

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Ready for Battle

“I’m one of millions in this fight … in this journey,” the Two of a Kind actress said during a September 2018 appearance on Australia’s Sunday Night. “A lot of people see it as a fight, and [however] you choose to see it, that’s your prerogative. … I see it as part of my mission.”

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Feeling ‘Lucky’

“I feel lucky that I’m experiencing it for a third time, you know? You have to find the silver lining; there’s good in every bad situation,” the A Few Best Men actress exclusively told Us in April 2019. “I’m very positive. I’m human, I have my moments of fear and anxiety like everybody does, but generally I choose to be positive because you create your world by what you think. And if you think dark thoughts, you’re going to create a dark world.”

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Doing It for Kelly Preston

Following the death of Preston, who died in July 2020 after a private two-year battle with breast cancer, Newton-John exclusively told Us how she was honoring her late friend and the late wife of her Grease costar John Travolta. “Kelly was a lovely woman and incredibly tragic loss,” the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund creator said in January 2021. “It just strengthened my resolve to find an end to cancer.”

She added: “Losing friends and losing people that you care about just makes me even more determined to do this research.”

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Keeping Her Spirits Up

The Sordid Lives actress exclusively revealed to Us in January 2021 that she was feeling “really well” amid her third bout of cancer. “I think it's just keeping a positive attitude and believing that I will be OK and talking to my body and doing all the things that I can to support myself emotionally and mentally … is probably the most important part,” she said at the time.