Olivia Newton-John has received a posthumous duets album. Just the Two of Us: The Duets Collection, Volume One, was released on May 5, 2023, via Primary Wave. The first song shared was a duet of “Jolene” with the classic song’s writer, Dolly Parton. The performance was the last song Newton-John ever recorded. Watch the video below.
Parton and Newton-John became friends after the latter won 1974’s Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year award. (To this day, Newton-John is the only non-American born artist to win the award.) As a nod to their friendship, she recorded a version of “Jolene” for her 1976 studio album, Come On Over.
“My first memory of Olivia was when her song ‘Let Me Be There’ was a hit. I have loved her ever since,” said Parton. “We had many occasions that we got to share together, either backstage or performing on the same shows, and I loved every moment that I ever got to spend with her. I’ve always been inspired by her grit, tenderness, willingness, and determination.”
The icon continues, “My last memory of Olivia was when I sang with her on my song ‘Jolene’ which she recorded for an album not so very long ago. I cannot wait to hear that album and Olivia may you rest in peace. You left a spot that no one else will ever fill.”
“I have always wanted to record with Dolly,” said Newton-John during an interview in 2021. “She was always there for me and what she did for me early on in my career in Nashville is something I will never forget.”
“This duet seems like the perfect bookend to their decades-long friendship,” says Michael Caprio, Newton-John’s longtime publicist and friend of nearly 25 years. “Knowing that Dolly was there at the start of Olivia’s U.S. Country music career and here she is, one half of a duet of Olivia’s final recording, is pretty special.”
The 17-track Just The Two of Us album features duets with such stars as Mariah Carey, Michael McDonald, John Travolta, Barry Gibb, Jon Secada, Cliff Richard, Paul Anka, her daughter Chloe Lattanzi, and more. See the complete track listing below.
“Suddenly,” her duet with Richard, was a 1981 hit.
Just the Two of Us Track Listing
Suddenly with Cliff Richard
Jolene with Dolly Parton
Act of Faith with Michael McDonald
Window in the Wall with Chloe Lattanzi
Take a Chance with John Travolta
Put Your Head on My Shoulder with Paul Anka
Face to Face with Barry Gibb
I Honestly Love You with Jim Brickman
The Best of Me with David Foster
True to Yourself with Vanessa Amorosi
Lost Inside Your Heart with Jon Secada
I’ll Come Runnin’ with Tina Arena
Never Far Away with Richard Marx
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart with Kelly Lang
Stone in My Pocket with Beth Nielsen Chapman & Amy Sky
Love Is a Gift with Delta Goodrem
Hopelessly Devoted to You with Mariah Carey
Four-time Grammy winner Newton-John was remembered in a globally live-streamed memorial service in Melbourne, Australia on Feb. 26.
Related: Our 2022 obituary of Newton-John
