The death of Olivia Newton-John yesterday was felt in the country community.
She influenced a lot of female singers, including Kelsea Ballerini who posted a tribute. She shared a clip of herself singing "Hopelessly Devoted to You".
Before Olivia was a movie star, she was a crossover country star. She had Nine Top 20 hits on the Billboard Country chart back in the '70s.
They included "Let Me Be There" in 1973 . . . "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" and "I Honestly Love You" in 1974 . . . and one of her biggest, "Have You Never Been Mellow" in 1975.
She won CMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 1974, which was quite an accomplishment because she beat out Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Tanya Tucker, and Anne Murray. Country purists were annoyed, but they got over it.