Editing Olivia Newton-John (section)

===1978–1979: ''Grease'' and ''Totally Hot''===
[[File:John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.jpg|thumb|upright|Newton-John appearing with [[John Travolta]] in 1982|left]]
In 1978, Newton-John's career soared after she starred as Sandy in the [[Grease (film)|film adaptation]] of the Broadway musical ''[[Grease (musical)|Grease.]]'' She was offered the role after meeting producer [[Allan Carr]] at a dinner party at [[Helen Reddy]]'s home.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Disillusioned by her ''[[Toomorrow (film)|Toomorrow]]'' experience and concerned that she was too old to play a high school senior (she was 28 during the filming of ''Grease''), Newton-John insisted on a [[screen test]] with the film's co-lead, [[John Travolta]].<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Newton-John previewed some of the film's soundtrack during her second American network television special, ''Olivia'', featuring guests [[ABBA]] and [[Andy Gibb]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=your&p=182&item=B:88509 |title=Olivia |website=The Paley Center for Media |access-date=2 March 2020}}</ref>

''[[Grease (film)|Grease]]'' became the biggest box-office hit of 1978.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/chart/boxoffice|title=IMDb Top Box Office|publisher=IMDb}}</ref> [[Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture|The soundtrack album]] spent 12 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 and yielded three Top 5 singles for Newton-John: the platinum "[[You're the One That I Want]]" (No. 1 Pop, No. 23 AC) with John Travolta, the gold "[[Hopelessly Devoted to You]]" (No. 3 Pop, No. 20 Country, No. 7 AC) and the gold "[[Summer Nights (John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John song)|Summer Nights]]" (No. 5 Pop, No. 21 AC) with John Travolta and the film's cast. Newton-John became the second woman (after [[Linda Ronstadt]] in 1977) to have two singles—"Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Summer Nights"—in the ''Billboard'' top 5 simultaneously.<ref name="google1" /> The soundtrack is one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time.<ref>{{cite web |title=The 15 best-selling movie soundtracks of all time |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/15-best-selling-movie-soundtracks-all-time-2016-9/#15-the-song-remains-the-same-1976--led-zeppelin-1 |access-date=5 July 2017 |website=Business Insider}}</ref> In June 2006, Newton-John's company ON-J Productions Ltd filed a lawsuit against [[Universal Music Group]] (UMG) for $1&nbsp;million in unpaid royalties from the ''Grease'' soundtrack.<ref>[http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-12-05-newton-john-suit_x.htm "Newton-John sues over 'Grease' album"]. ''USA Today''. (5 December 2006).</ref> In 2007, it was announced that she and UMG had reached a "conditional settlement".<ref>{{cite news |date=4 December 2007 |title=Olivia Newton-John Reaches Conditional Settlement Over 'Grease' Royalties |url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-olivia-newton-john-reaches-conditional-settlement-2007dec04-story.html |access-date=23 December 2016 |newspaper=The San Diego Union-Tribune}}</ref>

Newton-John's performance earned her a [[People's Choice Award]] for Favourite Film Actress. She was nominated for a [[Golden Globe]] as Best Actress in a Musical and performed the Oscar-nominated "Hopelessly Devoted to You" at the 1979 [[Academy Awards]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Olivia Newton-John as Sandy Olsson – The Cast of 'Grease,' Then and Now |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/grease-cast-now-movie-turns-40-1084136/item/olivia-newton-john-sandy-olsson-1084128 |access-date=28 August 2018 |work=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref> The film's popularity has endured. It was re-released for its 20th anniversary in 1998<ref name="ReferenceC">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fQ4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA88|title=Billboard|date=30 May 1998|access-date=13 August 2010}}</ref> and ranked as the second highest-grossing film behind ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'' in its opening weekend.<ref>[https://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=1998&wknd=13&p=.htm Box Office Weekend, 27–29 March 1998], Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 6 February 2013.</ref> Following her death in August 2022, AMC announced that the picture would reappear in some of its cinemas over the weekend and that a portion of the proceeds would go to breast cancer research.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=McClintock |first1=Pamela |date=18 August 2022 |title='Grease' Returning to AMC Theatres in Tribute to Olivia Newton-John |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/grease-returning-theaters-olivia-newton-john-1235201926/ |access-date=19 August 2022 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>

In November 1978, she released her next studio album, ''[[Totally Hot]]'', which became her first solo top-10 (No. 7) album since ''Have You Never Been Mellow''. Dressed on the cover all in leather, Newton-John capitalised on her character's look that was introduced at the end of ''Grease;'' moreover, ''Totally Hot''<nowiki/>'s singles—"[[A Little More Love (Olivia Newton-John song)|A Little More Love]]" (No. 3 Pop, No. 94 Country, No. 4 AC), "[[Deeper Than the Night]]" (No. 11 Pop, No. 87 Country, No. 4 AC), and the title track (No. 52 Pop)—all demonstrated a more aggressive and uptempo sound for Newton-John.<ref name="google3">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Mo7xm-X1r4C&q=%22olivia+newton%22&pg=PA334|title=All Music Guide to Country: The ...|access-date=13 August 2010|isbn=9780879304751|last1=Erlewine|first1=Michael|year=1997|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation }}</ref> Although the album de-emphasised the country sound, the LP still reached No. 4 on the Country Albums chart. Newton-John released the B-side, "Dancin' 'Round and 'Round", of the "Totally Hot" single to Country radio. The entry peaked at No. 29<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKicir5sZr4C&pg=PA461|title=The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits|isbn=9780823082919|access-date=13 August 2010|last1=Whitburn|first1=Joel|year=2006|publisher=Billboard Books }}</ref> (as well as No. 82 Pop and No. 25 AC), and it became her last charted solo Country airplay single.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.countryuniverse.net/2018/07/12/an-olivia-newton-john-retrospective-part-six-1978/ |title=An Olivia Newton-John Retrospective, Part Six: 1978 |website=Country Universe |date=12 July 2018 |access-date=2 March 2020}}</ref>

Newton-John cancelled a 1978 concert tour of Japan to protest the slaughter of dolphins caught in tuna fishing nets. She subsequently rescheduled the tour when the Japanese government assured her that the practice was being curbed.<ref name="PopMattersPhysical">{{cite web |date=22 October 2018 |title=Making Her Move: Olivia Newton-John's 'Physical' Phenomenon Revisited |url=https://www.popmatters.com/olivia-newton-john-physical-2613720727.html |access-date=29 August 2019 |website=[[PopMatters]]}}</ref> In honor of dolphins, in 1981 she also composed and recorded the song "The Promise (the Dolphin Song)" on the ''Physical'' album.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gachman |first=Dina |date=14 September 2020 |title=I Think About Olivia Newton-John's 'Dolphin Song' a Lot |url=https://www.thecut.com/article/i-think-about-olivia-newton-johns-dolphin-song-a-lot.html |access-date=5 July 2024 |website=The Cut |language=en}}</ref>

She was a performer on the 1979 ''[[Music for UNICEF Concert]]'' for the UN's [[International Year of the Child]] televised worldwide. During the concert, artists performed songs for which they donated their royalties, some in perpetuity, to benefit the cause.

====Lawsuit against MCA Records====
In April 1975, Newton-John and [[MCA Records|MCA]] entered into an initial two-year, four-album deal in which she was expected to deliver two LPs a year for the record company. MCA also had the option of extending the contract for six more records and three more years; and if the artist did not deliver on time, MCA was allegedly allowed to lengthen the term of the contract.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stahl |first=Matt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aPaXqeXEA1wC&q=Newton-JOhn+1978+lawsuit+MCA+Records&pg=PA123 |title=Unfree Masters: Popular Music and the Politics of Work |date=2013 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=9780822353430}}</ref>

Per her new agreement with MCA, Newton-John's first three albums, beginning with ''[[Clearly Love]]'', came out on schedule. Her fourth, ''[[Making a Good Thing Better]]'', was late. This delay occurred around the same time she was working on ''[[Grease (film)|Grease]]'' for [[RSO Records]], and the postponement arguably gave MCA—which seemed to want to keep its hold on the performer—the right to exercise its option, extend its contract, and stop her from signing with another enterprise. She also did not deliver a "newly optioned" album.<ref>{{cite web |title=MCA Records, Inc. v. Newton-John (1979) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/3d/90/18.html |access-date=30 August 2019 |website=Justia Law}}</ref>

On 31 May 1978, Newton-John and MCA each filed breach-of-contract actions against the other. Newton-John sued for $10 million and claimed that MCA's failure to adequately promote and advertise her product freed her from their agreement. MCA's countersuit requested $1 million in damages and an injunction against Newton-John working with another music firm.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last1=Fong-Torres |first1=Ben |date=27 July 1978 |title=Olivia Newton-John Battles Back |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/olivia-newton-john-battles-back-240738/ |access-date=30 August 2019 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref>

Ultimately, Newton-John was forbidden from offering her recording services to another label until the five-year pact had run its course. The original covenant was not automatically extended, though she had not duly supplied the total sum of vinyls indicated in the contract.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Knoedelseder |first1=William Jr. |date=18 August 1985 |title='Free' Records Cause Discord With Artists |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-18-fi-1709-story.html |access-date=11 August 2022 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>

As a result of the lawsuit, record companies changed their contracts to be based on the number of albums recorded by a musician and not a specific number of years.<ref>{{cite web |date=25 August 2017 |title=How a Rock Band's Lawsuit Could Upend Record Deals Everywhere |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/how-a-rock-bands-lawsuit-could-upend-record-deals-everywhere-1031489 |access-date=30 August 2019 |website=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref>