Olivia Newton-John music streaming spikes following her death

As the world mourns the loss of Australian icon Olivia Newtown-John, fans have been channelling their grief through song.

Australians woke to the news of the loss of national treasure Olivia Newton-John on Tuesday morning when the top star, who found enduring fame for her leading role in the film Grease, died at the age of 73.

By that afternoon, Spotify Australia had seen a 147 per cent increase in the number of people listening to her music.

Between Tuesday, August 9 and Wednesday, August 10, there was a whopping 26,310 per cent increase in plays of her official ‘This is Olivia Newton-John’ playlist across the country.

A spokesman for the streaming service told Confidential they were only able to share the percentage increases, as opposed to the raw data, when asked how many minutes Australians collectively spent delving into Newton-John’s discography after news of her death.

However, they could say they saw “huge increases on streams” across her entire catalogue.

Between Tuesday, August 9 and Wednesday, August 10, there was a whopping 26,310 per cent increase in plays of her official ‘This is Olivia Newton-John’ playlist across the country.

That included an 896 per cent increase in streams of Physical (from her 1981 album); an 825 per cent increase in streams of Twist of Fate; and an 669 per cent increase in streams of Xanadu.

In 2017, Newton-John revealed the breast cancer she had first suffered in 1992 had returned and had spread to her spine. The musical star had a second cancer diagnosis in 2013, which she initially kept quiet because she believed she would “win over it.”

LOS ANGELES - JUNE 16: The movie "Grease", directed by Randal Kleiser. Seen here, Olivia Newton-John as Sandy, waves goodbye.

At the time, she called on Australia to allow the use of medicinal marijuana, which was legal in California, where she then lived: “My dream is that, in Australia soon, it will be available to all the cancer patients and people going through cancer that causes pain.” She added that although she sometimes despaired, she had “an incredible career” and had “nothing to complain about”.

A number of musical comebacks met varying levels of success over the last four decades, which Newton-John spent battling illness, raising her daughter Chloe Lattanzi, and campaigning for cancer research, the environment, and animal rights.

But she will be most affectionately remembered for her role of Sandy, the straitlaced high school sweetheart who transforms herself to win the affections of bad boy Danny Zuko (John Travolta).

The role was actually adapted for Newton-John’s Australian accent.

Her most listened to song in Australia on Tuesday, according to Spotify, was Hopelessly Devoted to You, which only very narrowly edged out You’re The One That I Want, and Summer Nights. The Grease soundtrack remains one of the top 10 biggest sellers of all time.