Iconic pop star and ‘Grease’ actress was 73

Olivia Newton-John passed away at the age of 73.

The “Grease” legend died at her ranch in Southern California Monday morning, surrounded by family and friends following a long battle with cancer.

The sad news was announced on her official Facebook page in a statement reading: “Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer. Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer.”

The Post has reached out to Newton-John’s rep for further comment.

The “Physical” songstress is survived by her husband of 14 years, John Easterling, and her daughter, Chloe Lattanzi, 36.

Lattanzi shared a photo to Instagram with her mom last Friday — three days before the superstar’s death.

“I worship this woman. My mother. My best friend,” the devoted daughter captioned the snap, which showed the pair wandering across a field together. It’s unclear what date the image was actually taken.

Newton-John battled cancer on and off for three decades and poured vast amounts of her reported $60 million fortune into the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund in order to support cancer research.

Newton-John was first diagnosed with breast cancer back in 1992, at the age of 43.

She discovered that the disease had returned in 2013, before revealing in 2017 that it had metastasized to her lower back. The cancer subsequently spread to her bones, with doctors diagnosing it as stage 4 and declaring that there was little chance of survival.

Despite enduring chronic pain, the bubbly Australian became an outspoken advocate for cancer awareness and for treating the disease with marijuana.

Despite her long battle with cancer, news of Newton-John’s passing still shook the showbiz world and prompted an outpouring of grief from her celebrity friends.

“Grease” co-star John Travolta took to Instagram to pay tribute to his longtime pal, writing: “You made our lives so much better. Your impact was incredible.”

Newton-John was born in England in 1948, before relocating to Australia at the age of 5.

She began singing in the late 1960s, eventually releasing her first solo album, “If Not for You,” in 1971, with the title track originally written by Bob Dylan and recorded by George Harrison.

The song hit No. 1 on the US Adult Contemporary chart and No. 25 on the pop charts, and Newton-John went on to win three Grammys in the mid-1970s.

The starlet won Best Country Vocal Performance, Female, for “Let Me Be There” in 1974 and both Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, for the ballad “I Honestly Love You” in 1975.

But she did not become a bona fide superstar until her casting opposite John Travolta in 1978’s movie musical “Grease.”

The film, in which she played Australian student Sandy Olsson, became the biggest blockbuster of the year and its accompanying soundtrack sold a whopping 28 million copies. To this day, it remains one of the highest-selling records of all time.

Newton-John’s duet with co-star Travolta, “You’re the One That I Want,” topped the pop charts, while her solo ballad, “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” climbed to No. 3.

The movie transformed Newton-John into one of the world’s biggest stars, with her next solo album, titled “Totally Hot,” racing up the charts later that same year.

In 1980, Newton-John tried her hand at a second movie musical with “Xanadu,” but the film flopped with critics and didn’t resonate with audiences.

The soundtrack, however, was a success and cemented Newton-John’s status as a pop superstar.

Then, in 1981, the blonde scored her biggest hit ever with the sexually charged anthem “Physical,” which track spent 10 weeks at No. 1.

The track — which was accompanied by a steamy aerobics video clip, which won a Grammy for Video of the Year — was eventually named the biggest song of the 1980s.

Last fall, Newton-John told Fox News that she felt the track was a bit raunchy when it first came out.

“They call it reinventing yourself,” the superstar said about how fans looked at her differently following the release of the single.

She added: “I wasn’t doing it on purpose. It just was the song that I was attracted to and the album. But I feel very fortunate that I had the opportunity to record it. I don’t think I was really aware of how raunchy it was when I was recording it until afterward, and that’s when I freaked out.”

Newton-John continued to tour and release albums throughout the 1980s, but her personal life was in bloom.

She married actor Matt Lattanzi in 1984 before the pair welcomed their daughter, Chloe, two years later. The pair split in 1995.

In addition to her health woes, Newton-John also faced a series of other struggles in her personal life.

A year after her split from Lattanzi, the star began dating cameraman Patrick McDermott.

In 2005, their on-off nine-year relationship became headline news following McDermott’s mysterious disappearance while on a fishing trip off the coast of California. His vanishing sparked a frenzied search, but he was never found.

A US Coast Guard investigation, released in 2008, “suggested McDermott was lost at sea.” However, in April 2010, a private investigator hired by an American television program claimed McDermott was alive in Mexico and had faked his death for a life insurance payout. That claim has not been substantiated.

Newton-John spoke publicly of her beau’s disappearance, telling the Australian Women’s Weekly magazine: “I think there will always be a question mark … I don’t think I will ever really be at peace with it.”

She went on to meet and marry producer John Easterling in 2008.

Meanwhile, daughter Chloe Lattanzi has faced health battles of her own, struggling with anorexia and drug addiction.

“My eating disorder started when I was 15 and carried on until my early 20s,” the star told the Mail on Sunday in 2013. “I had anxiety attacks and needed to find a way of feeling in control of something. Food was the one thing I could be in control of.”

She also began abusing cocaine and chugging down a bottle of vodka every day.

“I would be out partying every night at different Hollywood clubs, running into other young celebrities like Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, and just partying the night away,” she further stated.

In 2012, Lattanzi suffered a “semi-psychotic meltdown” and spent seven months in rehab with the support of her famous mom.

“Despite how painful the circumstances were, I felt so lucky to have someone like my mom with me to lean on and cry with,” she stated.

Newton-John was first diagnosed with breast cancer back in 1992 when she was just 43.

Doctors discovered a malignant tumor in her right breast and she underwent a modified radical mastectomy and chemotherapy before eventually being declared cancer free.

She subsequently became a prominent advocate for promoting breast cancer awareness.

In 2013, however, an X-ray taken after a car accident revealed Newton-John had cancer in right shoulder. The star was treated, but did not publicize the diagnosis at the time.

Four years later, doctors discovered that Newton-John’s cancer had spread and was now stage IV.

In September 2017, Newton-John went public with the devastating diagnosis but insisted she wasn’t focused on her illness, but on things that make her happy.

“I’m a very privileged person, and I’m very aware of that,” she said. “I have a wonderful husband, I have all the animals I adore, I have an incredible career. I have nothing really to complain about.”

The superstar poured money into her Olivia Newton-John Cancer Fund and helped fund the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute in Victoria, Australia.

In recent years, she poured vast amounts of money into the initiatives, selling off her real estate portfolio to help finance the organizations.

“Olivia loved helping people. She spent the last two decades of her life giving back,” a source close to Newton-John told The Post.

— Mary K. Jacob contributed to this report.