It’s been six months since actor and singer Olivia Newton-John died aged 73, but the late hit-maker still has one more treat for her loyal fans.
Newton-John’s husband, John Easterling, sat down with TODAY’s Hoda Kotb for an exclusive interview and talked about the icon’s final recording, a recently released duet in which she covered Dolly Parton’s classic hit “Jolene” with a country music twist. Sung with Rani.
“It’s a grand couple,” Easterling said. “Dolly’s a wonderful person, a good friend to Olivia.”
Parton opened up about her relationship with the beloved “Grease” star in a memorial message shared on social media shortly after Newton-John’s death.
“So sad to have lost our special friend, Olivia Newton-John,” he wrote. “So glad our life paths crossed. I know her voice is singing beautifully with the angels.
When Newton-John raised her voice with Parton, Easterling said they had created something that he believed highlighted his late partner’s remarkable vocal talent.
“I think it expresses a part of who she was,” he explained. I mean, to him it was his voice. She knew. That was a gift. She understood it was a gift, and she gave it very generously.”
The “Jolene” duet was recorded a few months before Newton-John’s death after a multiple-long battle with breast cancer.
Easterling said of his wife of 14 years, “She kept giving (generously) until the very last thing she did with Dolly Parton.” part of his love.
And his love is something he still feels today. Easterling, who was joined by Newton-John’s daughter, Chloe Lattanzi, for the interview told Hoda how she has been able to embrace the love she has had while mourning such a loss.
“A man I was flying with said, ‘You know, John, when you’re lucky enough to have your true soul mate, and you share a heart, when one passes away, the other Both have an obligation to live life,'” he recalled. “And that was very empowering and very powerful for me, and you know, and gave a way forward.”