Pink 2022 American Music Awards in Los Angeles

Pink Opens Up About Paying Tribute To Olivia Newton-John In Moving Performance

Home / Stars / Pink Opens Up About Paying Tribute To Olivia Newton-John In Moving Performance

By Kelly Coffey-Behrens on November 21, 2022 at 6:15 PM EST

Olivia Newton-John, best known for starring opposite John Travolta in 1978’s Grease,passed away on August 8, 2022.

Months later, pop music icon, Pink, paid tribute to the late actress and singer during the 2022 American Music Awards.

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Pink On Her Tribute To Olivia Newton-John: "I Hope I Do It Justice."

Pink 2022 American Music Awards in Los Angeles
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Prior to performing at the 2022 American Music Awards, Pink, known for her hit songs "So What" and "Get the Party Started," opened up about the late Olivia Newton-John.

"She was an icon," Pink told PEOPLE. "She was a kind person and she was really supportive of younger artists and she was present and [had] songs for days. She just she was very unique, but you can't think of another person like her."

"I hope I do it justice," she added when discussing her tribute.

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Pink 2022 American Music Awards in Los Angeles
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During the 2022 American Music Awards, Pink performed Newton-John's hit "Hopelessly Devoted to You," which is from the iconic film, "Grease."

A video of the moving tribute was shared to Twitter.

https://twitter.com/enews/status/1594522322727305217

Fans loved Pink's tribute, as one Twitter user wrote "We love an artist who doesn't screw up tributes. ?

"P!nk will always be the person who gives best performances in every awards shows yet some are always asking why is P!nk here and performing?," another fan wrote. "This is the reason, She always have been an amazing artist!"

A third fan Tweeted, "They said “Would you sing this song?” And Pink said “Consider it SUNG” and we got THIS vocal masterclass out of it. Yes. Ma’am."

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Olivia Newton-John’s Snub at the 2022 Emmys

Olivia Newton-John GDay USA 2020
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The 2022 Emmys faced backlash from fans earlier this year after many viewers noticed Olivia Newton-John was missing from the “In Memoriam” segment.

The tribute included legends such as Betty White, Bob Saget, Anne Heche and Sidney Poitier, but when fans noticed Newton-John never appeared, they were angry.

Her publicist of 24 years, Michael Caprio, spoke out after the Emmys aired, saying that although Newton-John’s family is still grieving and have not commented on the Emmys snub, he, personally, is very disappointed. Per TMZ:

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Michael feels the decision wasn’t right, given Olivia’s extensive track record in Hollywood and especially on TV … including acting in TV movies like “A Mom For Christmas” as well as appearing on “American Idol,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “Murphy Brown,” “Glee” and ‘DWTS.’

He also noted, Olivia had ton of TV specials like ABC’s “A Special Olivia Newton-John” and “Olivia Physical.”

Olivia Newton-John’s Career

Olivia Newton-John at 2019 Industry Dance Awards - Los Angeles
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The “Grease” star had a very successful career including releasing several hit songs such as “Physical,” “If Not For You” and “Let Me Be There.”, but Newton-John also faced tragedy from time to time.

In 1992, the singer and actress was diagnosed with breast cancer, which forced her to postpone and cancel several tours.

In 2005, Newton-John was dating Patrick McDermott, who unexpectedly went missing at sea while on a fishing trip. He was never found.

“It’s very hard to live with that,” she told CNN’s Larry King in 2006. “It’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve been through a lot of things.”

Despite her troubles and tragedies, the icon persevered and continued to have an amazing career.

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