Olivia Newton-John has recorded a song with her daughter, and it will be part of her duets album, set to release soon.
For parents, seeing their children happily married is perhaps one of the biggest parenting goals. If we had a good marriage, we hope that our child is also able to experience that, or in the case of those who didn't, they want a better future for their child. It is these personal goals that help us keep moving forward after a certain age.
Olivia Newton-John, 72, has a lot to look forward to in 2021. The Grease star, who has been fighting cancer for years, has the wedding of her daughter, Chloe Lattanzi, 35, to look forward to. Lattanzi is going to tie the knot with her fiancé of 10 years, James Driskill, in a "small wedding" later this year. Newton-John is also planning to release a new duet album in 2021.
"I'm so lucky to still be doing all these things," Newton-John tells People. "I don't think I imagined living this long! I feel very blessed," she added. The Xanadu star has had a hard few years since being diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer in 2017. However, she said she's "feeling great."
The 72-year-old mom-of-one shares a deep bond with her daughter (from her marriage to ex-husband Matt Lattanzi) and had her by her side through it all. They reportedly got even more close since quarantining together in California during the coronavirus pandemic. "I worked my whole life, and the longest period I can remember being home was my pregnancy with Chloe and the first year or two of her life," said Newton-John. "So it's been wonderful reconnecting with my baby. She is my reason to be."
The mother and daughter decided to share their love for music through their new duet, Window in the Wall. The song will be part of the star's upcoming duets album. When Newton-John asked her daughter to join her to sing the song, she said "yes" without asking any questions. "I was flattered and honored," said Lattanzi. "She could have asked anyone, and she asked me. That meant the world to me. It's my dream job — I get to spend time with my favorite person," she added.
Lattanzi says that she calls Driskill her "husband" even though they don't have the paperwork. "To be honest, we're just lazy," the Dancing With The Stars contestant was quoted as saying by Now To Love. "We know we're soulmates, we know we're committed – we call each other husband and wife – so we're just like, 'OK, we'll get to the paperwork when we have time.'"
The couple would like to get married in Australia but the pandemic might throw a wrench on that plan. Professionally, the Instagram influencer added that she has been offered roles in all kinds of local TV shows. "There are a few offers, so I haven't decided," she said. "I'll probably make those announcements when Dancing With The Stars is finished."
Meanwhile, her mom, who has been married to John Easterling since 2008, also launched the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund recently to be able to keep supporting research into plant medicine for cancer. "I'm very lucky to be married to a wonderful man who is a plant medicine man, and he has great knowledge," she said. "Now he's growing medicinal cannabis for me, and it just has been wonderful. It helps me in every area."
In October 2020, she talked about her diagnosis, which was the third time in 28 years. "Three times lucky, right?" she told The Guardian. “I’m going to look at it like that. Listen, I think every day is a blessing. You never know when your time is over; we all have a finite amount of time on this planet, and we just need to be grateful for that," she said.
In 2018, she fractured the base of her spine. "I was so weak. I had a walker, a cane, and crutches, but now I’m walking around," she said. And, now she has bounced back and her career is going places. She calls her disease "a gift."
"I don’t wish it on anyone else. But for me, it’s been important in my life," said the 72-year-old.
References: