Olivia Newton-John – Hopelessly Devoted to You

“Hopelessly Devoted to You” – Single by Olivia Newton-John from the album Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture
B-side: “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing”
Released: June 1978
Recorded: 1977
Studio; United/Western Studio
Label: RSO
Songwriter: John Farrar
Producer: John Farrar

Olivia Newton-John’s contract for Grease stipulated that she should have a solo spot. However, nobody had any ideas for a song for her character, Sandy, until Olivia’s producer John Farrar came up with “Hopelessly Devoted To You” halfway through the shoot. Director Randal Kleiser wasn’t wholly convinced by the song at first and had to come up with an entirely new scene to fit it in. It was eventually filmed and recorded after the movie had wrapped and it earned the film’s only Oscar nomination, for Best Music – Original Song.
In the movie, Sandy sings this song while pining for her summer fling Danny, played by John Travolta. As the scene wraps up and he finishes the song, she sees his reflection in a kiddie pool.

The song reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the Adult Contemporary chart. On the country chart, “Hopelessly Devoted to You” peaked at number 20 and was her first top 20 country hit in two years. Newton-John performed the song at the 21st Grammy Awards in 1979. The song was released in Australia in August 1978 and peaked at number two.

John Travolta evoked this song when he introduced the In Memoriam segment at the Oscars in 2023, seven months after Olivia Newton-John died of cancer at 73. “In this industry we have the rare luxury of getting to do what we love for a living, and sometimes getting to do it with people we come to love,” a tearful Travolta said. “They’ve touched our hearts, they’ve made us smile, and became dear friends that we will always remain hopelessly devoted to.”

Featuring: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Dody Goodman, Didi Conn, Jamie Donnelly, Stockard Channing