Olivia Newton-John skilfully made the transition from popular country-pop singer to popular mainstream soft rock singer, becoming one of the most successful vocalists of the ’70s in the process. The transition itself wasn’t much of a stretch – her early-’70s hits I Honestly Love You and Have You Never Been Mellow were country only in the loosest sense – yet the extent of her success in both fields was remarkable. As a country singer, her first five charting singles all went Top Ten in the U.S.; as a pop singer, she had no less than 15 Top Ten hits, including five number one singles, highlighted by Physical, which spent ten weeks at number one in 1981-1982. Newton-John’s sweet voice suited both country-pop and soft rock perfectly, which is what kept her at the top of the charts until the mid-’80s.
