Perhaps nobody in the world understands Olivia Newton-John like The Chicks, because perhaps no other artists have reinvented female superstardom before facing a wildly out of proportion backlash — that’s Xanadu and “We’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas,” respectively. From one trailblazer to another, The Chicks honored the dearly departed Newton-John with an August 13th performance of her 1978 Grease hit, “Hopelessly Devoted to You.”
“We lost a worldwide sweetheart last week,” lead singer Natalie Maines told the crowd at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, WA. “I thought I was Olivia Newton-John from like four until 12. And then I just wished I was Olivia Newton-John from then on.”
The downtempo honky tonk vibes were a perfect fit for The Chicks, and most of their audience seemed to know every word. It was a cool moment, a connection between icons across almost 45 years of distance. Check out fan footage of the performance below.
In June, The Chicks kicked off their first tour since dropping “Dixie” from their name. They just wrapped their tour’s summer leg, but will hit the road again in September. Tickets are available here.
Newton-John died August 8th following a 30-year battle with breast cancer. Revisit our look back at her career, and why she may have been a star born out of time.
