Singer Olivia Newton-John, who soared to the top of the world's pop music charts in the 1970s and 1980s died on Monday at age 73 at her home in southern California.
Newton-John was born in Cambridge, UK on 26 September 1948.
Her father had been a British spy during World War Two. Her mother was the daughter of the German Nobel laureate, Max Born, and had fled with her family when the Nazis came to power in 1933.
The family moved to Australia in 1954, where she was raised.
Her breakthrough came in 1971 when she released a Bob Dylan-penned track, If Not For You, which reached number seven in the UK charts and featured on an album of the same name.
She won four Grammy awards and scored seven US number one hits between 1974 and 1977.
While critics never warmed to her audience-friendly style of music, the star forthrightly dismissed the reviews.
In 1978 she became a global star with the release of Grease. The film, set in the 1950s.
She had disclosed several years ago that breast cancer had metastasized and spread to her back, forcing her to cancel performances.
On asking about how she coped breast cancer, she said, "It was consuming my day and after a time I went 'you know what', I need to enjoy my life so I'm going to eat a cookie if I want it."
The death was announced on her Instagram account, saying she "passed away peacefully" at her ranch home "surrounded by family and friends."