Emily Mack
With the passing of Olivia Newton-John, both the music and film communities are expressing their grief. Former co-star John Travolta shared a touching tribute last week. Now, a video of the Chicks performing “Hopelessly Devoted To You” is going viral.
Videos by Rare
Taken by a fan at a recent concert, the clip captures the song and sweet intro by frontwoman Natalie Maines.
The Chicks Take on Olivia Newton-John
“We lost a worldwide sweetheart last week, Olivia Newton-John,” Natalie Maines begins. Growing up in the 1980s, she jokes that she thought she was Newton-John “from ages four to 12” before, simply, just wishing that she could be.
What follows is a stunning tribute that breathes new life into the heartbreak classic. The popular single from Grease captures Sandy’s (Newton-John) emotional climax as she pines, oh-so-hopelessly, over Danny (John Travolta).
But sung here, by the country trio in the wake of Newton-John’s death, the words take on a double meaning. As the audience sings along in appreciation, it’s clear that fans everywhere will remain devoted to Newton-John long after she is gone.
Gotta Love the Original
As Olivia Newton-John was a firmly established singer before filming Grease, the period piece was contractually required to include one full solo song for its Australian star. However, halfway through filming, the song was yet to be written. Finally, John Farrar, who was Newton-John’s personal producer, picked up a pen and wrote the ballad himself.
Farrar said that the lyrics took longer to write than any other song he’d ever created. “Every thesaurus and every rhyming dictionary I had, [I used] just trying to really make it work properly,” he revealed in Songwriters Speak. And the hard work paid off.
Although the Grease production team was wary at first, “Hopelessly Devoted to You” was eventually approved and recorded… and turned out to be one hell of a hit. The song earned Grease its only Oscar nomination (though songwriter Farrar lost out to Donna Summer for “Last Dance” from Thank God It’s Friday) and topped the 1978 charts in both America and Australia.
