John Travolta parodies Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Grease’ song in Super Bowl commercial

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Olivia Newton-John

John Travolta nodded to his late Grease co-star Olivia-Newton John in a 2023 Super Bowl commercial. The “Dancing With the Stars” singer and guest judge died on August 8, 2022 at the age of 73 after a 30-year battle with cancer.

For Super Bowl LVII, Travolta performed a parody of one of his most iconic “Grease” duets with Newton-John a commercial for T-Mobile.

Here’s what you need to know:

John Travolta performed a parody of “Summer Nights” with actors Zach Braff and Donald Faison

In the spot for T-Mobile, Travolta, 68, performed a new version of the Grease song “Summer Nights” with two unexpected co-singers: Scrubs actor Zach Braff and Donald Faison.

In the ad, Travolta sings on the street with his new “neighbors” in a spot titled “New Year, New Neighbor.” Instead of singing about his lost summer romance, Travolta sings about the benefits of using T-Mobile’s home internet services. Travolta no longer has the slicked-back hair that his “Grease” character Danny Zuko had in the 1978 film, but he wears the black jacket that his Greaser character was known for.

Although the ad doesn’t relate to Newton-John’s character at all, it does bring back memories of the original song she and Travolta performed in one of the opening musical scenes in Grease.

fashion said Billboard He was honored to be part of the parody of the famous tune. “It was a pleasure to work with John Travolta and sing our version of such an iconic song,” he said.

The original “Summer Nights” was one of the biggest songs on the “Grease” soundtrack

When Grease hit theaters in the summer of 1978, the soundtrack was already a hit, having been released two months earlier. Four of the songs – “Grease”, “You’re the One That I Want”, “Hopeless Devoted to You” and “Summer Nights” – were Top 5 hits, per billboard.

The “Summer Nights” duet featured Travolta’s Danny bragging about a summer date night, while Newton-John’s Sandy had a more romantic reminiscence of her summer at the beach.

“Summer Nights” wasn’t actually Travolta’s favorite duet with Newton-John. In January 202 he has said Closer Weekly he preferred another hit from the film. “I think ‘You’re The One That I Want’ because we’re actually performing it together,” he said. “On ‘Summer Nights’ we are separated. …I think if I’m not wrong it’s still the greatest duet in history. That has a nice story.”

But the famous duets almost never materialized. Three years before her death, Newton-John said Extra She almost turned down the role in Grease. “I was 29 — I was worried I was too old,” she said. “I had to be 17 or whatever and I was like, ‘I can’t play 17.'”

But Travolta, who was 24 at the time, convinced her that she could play a high school student, and the rest is history.

Travolta remained close friends with Newton-John long after they played the teenage couple Danny and Sandy. In addition to Grease, they starred in the 1983 film Two of a Kind. After Newton-John’s death, Travolta performed posted a photo of their 1974 album cover If You Love Me Let Me Know, with a heartfelt caption about their long friendship. He signed it, “Your Danny, your John!”

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