The Chicks paid tribute to late singer/actress Olivia Newton-John during their concert at the Gorge Amphitheater in Washington on Saturday (Aug. 13).
Prior to performing a heartfelt rendition of Newton-John’s Grease classic “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines shared a few words with the audience about the impact the late singer/actress had on her childhood.
“We lost a worldwide sweetheart last week, Olivia Newton-John,” Maines said. “I thought I was Olivia Newton-John from, like, 4 to 12 (years old), and then I only wished I was Olivia Newton-John. So we worked up today at soundcheck a little Olivia Newton-John song.”
Newton-John, best known for her role as Sandy Olsson in 1978’s Grease and for a long string of hits topped by “Physical” in 1981, died on Aug. 8. She was 73.
“Hopelessly Devoted to You” peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the song received an Oscar nomination for best original song. The Grease film soundtrack spent 12 weeks atop the Billboard 200 and wound up with a Grammy nomination for album of the year.
Fellow country music star Kelsea Ballerini also recently honored Newton-John with a beautiful a cappella cover of “Hopelessly Devoted to You” on Instagram. “Olivia Newton-John forever,” the singer captioned the video.
Watch the Chicks’ cover of “Hopelessly Devoted to You” here.
