Earlier this month, the world lost an entertainment icon when Olivia Newton-John died at 73 years old after a decades-long battle with breast cancer. Aside from starring in Grease, one of the most successful and beloved musicals/movies ever, she was tremendously prosperous as a musician; She had a No. 1 album with 1975’s Have You Never Been Mellow and maintained that success into the ’80s, producing some of the era’s most memorable songs, including the chart-topping singles “Magic” and “Physical.”
Now, Coldplay, Natalie Imbruglia, and Jacob Collier have honored Newton-John with a live rendition of a Grease classic.
At Coldplay’s show at London’s Wembley Stadium on August 16, towards the end of the set, Coldplay, Imbruglia, and Collier performed “Summer Nights” (which was a top-5 single in the US in 1978). Chris Martin took on the Danny Zuko/John Travolta role, Imbruglia sang the Sandy Olsson/Newton-John part, and Collier provided backing vocals and additional instrumentation.
The Chicks recently offered their own tribute to Newton-John, covering “Hopelessly Devoted To You” at an August 13 concert. Meanwhile, Coldplay recently incorporated another unusual-for-them cover into their setlist, playing a quick rendition of the viral “Jiggle Jiggle” song.
Watch Coldplay, Imbruglia, and Collier perform “Summer Nights” above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.