A Dynamic Duo
- Olivia Newton-John, 72, (who is battling stage 4 breast cancer) and her daughter Chloe Lattanzi, 35, appeared on the Tamron Hall show today to discuss their new song. “We’re both creative people, so getting to sing together and write together and create and spread a message of love … that was very exciting,” Lattanzi says.
- Lattanzi opened up about about her past struggle with anorexia and how she was able to turn to music to help her through it. “She was very brave,” says Newton-John.
- Using music to cope with a cancer diagnosis or other illnesses is universally comforting. "Without air guitar, my treatment would have been incredibly sad," music-enthusiast and cancer survivor Marquina Iliev-Piselli tells SurvivorNet.
Newton-John, 72, and daughter Chloe Lattanzi, 35, a singer like her mom, have been teaming up to make music together.
Read MoreThe global star wore a (faux) leather jacket and Lattanzi was in a tight, ribbed baby tee with her dog on her lap. The two sat closely while on the video call. Lattanzi did most of the talking at first, and discussed working with her mother.
“My mom and I, we’ve worked together, God, since I was like 8, ” Lattanzi tells Hall. “We’re both creative people, so getting to sing together and write together and create and spread a message of love, you know, we both care about the planet and we both see that there’s been so much suffering over the past year, and physically it’s hard to connect with people so the idea of getting to make a song that could, you know, touch people’s hearts … that was very exciting.”
Related: Olivia Newton John And The Actress Who Plays Her: A Story Of Two Cancer Survivors
Newton-John says she hopes the song “touches people’s hearts” and says that “we’ve all become terribly judgmental.” The Grease star says she is thankful she is able to record with her daughter, and that she is able to sing again (which she wasn’t sure that she would be able to).
A History with Anorexia
Lattanzi also discussed her issues with anorexia.
“I made an album while I was going through the hardest time, of my eating disorder, and … and it’s called ‘No Pain,’ and I had a lot of…young girls and boys who wrote me who said that I helped them want to recover or just to know there was another person going through it,” she says. “And that really touched my heart. When you’re going through an eating disorder, I think you feel really isolated, and you feel alone. And so knowing that I can make someone else not feel alone … ”
Newton-John describes her daughter as “very brave” in addressing the issue. Newton-John’s cancer came back as stage 4, meaning that it has spread to other parts of the body, in 2017 after having been in remission. The warrior was initially diagnosed in 1992.
Related: Where Can I Get the COVID-19 Vaccine If I Have Cancer? A State-By-State Guide
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Like Mother, Like Daughter
Lattanzi was inspired to follow in her parents’ footsteps when it comes to acting and dancing. Her father is Newton-John’s ex-husband Matt Lattanzi, 62, who is an actor and dancer. Chloe competed on Australia’s version of Dancing with the Stars last year and has appeared in a handful of films since she was a kid in the early ’90s, most recently, Sharknado 5: Global Swarming.
Lattanzi recently told Us Weekly that she is marrying her fiancé James Driskill, who she has been engaged to for 10 years, this year. Lattanzi and Driskill, a Jiu Jitsu teacher, have "been married in spirit since the moment we met,” she said, noting that their relationship is “unconventional” and that they just decided to finally make it official.
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Healing Through Music
As Newton-John and her daughter discussed, music can connect people and improve your mood.
People going through cancer and other hardships often report that music gives them comfort and helps them process their emotions.
"I have found music and rock 'n' roll to be transformational," survivor Joel Naftelberg tells SurvivorNet.
"Without air guitar, my treatment would have been incredibly sad," music-enthusiast Marquina Iliev-Piselli tells SurvivorNet.
Music and Art – Reflecting On Your Cancer Journey
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