Her signature solo recordings include the Record of the Year Grammy winner " I Honestly Love You" (1974) and " Physical" (1981) – Billboard's Top Hot 100 Single of the 1980s – plus her cover of " If Not for You" (1971), " Let Me Be There" (1973), " If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" (1974), " Have You Never Been Mellow" (1975), " Sam" (1977), " Hopelessly Devoted to You" (also from Grease), " A Little More Love" (1978) and, from the 1980 film Xanadu, " Magic" and " Xanadu" (with Electric Light Orchestra). Plus " Heart Attack" (1982) and " Twist of Fate" (from the 1983 film Two of a Kind). Newton-John has been a longtime activist for environmental and animal rights issues. She has been an advocate for health awareness, becoming involved with various charities, health products and fundraising efforts.
Her business interests have included launching several product lines for Koala Blue and co-owning the Gaia Retreat & Spa in her home country Australia. Newton-John was born on 26 September 1948 in Cambridge, United Kingdom, to the Welshman Brinley "Bryn" Newton-John (1914–1992) and Irene Helene (née Born 1914–2003). Her Jewish maternal grandfather, the Nobel Prize–winning physicist Max Born, fled with his family to Britain from Germany before World War II to escape the Nazi regime. Newton-John's maternal grandmother was of paternal Jewish ancestry as well through her, she is a third cousin of comedian Ben Elton.