Olivia Newton-John [ tickets ] began her career as a country-pop singer, scoring huge hits in the early '70s with tracks like "Have You Never Been Mellow" and "I Honestly Love You." After her starring role in "Grease" and a string of hits from the movie's soundtrack ("You’re the One That I Want," "Summer Nights," etc.), she became one of the biggest pop stars in the world.

Newton-John--a native of England who was raised in Melbourne, Australia--has scored 10 No. 1 pop singles in the U.S. over the course of her career, which spans more than three decades.

Having emerged victorious from a bout with breast cancer, Newton-John in recent years has continued to tour and make new music. liveDaily caught up Newton-John to talk about her career and her new greatest hits compilation "Magic: The Very Best of Olivia Newton-John" (Universal).

One of your first big breaks was on a program called "The Tarax Happy Show." For those of us unfamiliar with the program, what was that like?

No one’s familiar with it anymore. It was on the air in Australia when I was 15. I had been on a talent contest and they’d seen me on this contest and asked me if I would be the host on the TV show over the holidays, which in Australia was Christmas time. That’s when our summer is, so I went on over Christmas and took the place of another [host]. I was Lovely Livvy for a while.

John Farrar wrote a lot of your biggest hits ("Have You Never Been Mellow," "Please Mr. Please," "Magic"). How did you start working together?

It actually happened because I was living in England and I was engaged to a man who was in the group called the Shadows, who were very big in England. They were looking for a new member of their band, because they were replacing someone. John ended up being the person they chose; I helped them along with that decision. He had married one of my best friends, Pat Carroll, by then. [Farrar] came to England, and he and my fiancée at the time started producing me. So that’s how it all came about.

How involved were you with the greatest hits package?

I was involved. They would send me a list of the songs that they thought people would want to hear.

How closely did their list match your list?

Pretty much the same. We couldn’t get everything on. I think we left out the very first song, "If Not for You." We just ran out of space on the disc. Something else would have had to go, so we had to make a choice.

What’s it like to go back and try and anthologize your own career?

Well, it’s a part of my life I don’t think about. But now that you’ve asked me, it’s an interesting question. What I’ve found really interesting is that when I was young, I used to look at people that I admired who were a few years older than me and had been in the business for a long time. I remember being on a television show once with a German singer--of course, I’ve forgotten her name, but she was a really great performer--and they said she had, like, 20 albums, and I said, "Oh, my goodness." I had, like, one [album] at that point. I thought how amazing it must be to have that many, and I wondered if that would ever, ever happen to me. And here I am looking back at the same kind of thing.

I feel very fortunate. I’ve had so much fortune, and that I’m still performing and I’m still going out there. And there’s still people sitting there, so I feel very lucky.

What’s it like to hear the songs now, 25, 30 years removed?

I enjoy them more now, because I’m not as critical. When I’m really close to [a song], I’m more concerned with every little thing about it. Now it’s too late. I can just enjoy them. What’s been interesting to me [since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 is that] it’s been a very difficult time for everybody. I was on the road singing, and suddenly my songs took on all kinds of meaning that I hadn’t originally thought of.

Could you give me an example of that?

Fans have written to me in the past and said, "Your songs have been really healing." Of course, when you’re the person singing them, I couldn’t really apply it--they’re the songs I recorded, and I’m really happy with, but I didn’t see them that way. Suddenly, I’m on stage singing "Have You Never Been Mellow," or "Don’t Stop Believing" or "Come On Over," and all of those songs have incredible poignancy all of a sudden.

They’re very soothing.

I thought, "This is wonderful." Because it was very hard to go back and sing, because I didn’t know what the right thing to do was. But it turned out that being out there and singing for people was the right thing to do. The [fans] were there, so I wasn’t going to cancel if they wanted to hear it. It made it extra special that the songs--I’m so lucky I’ve had such great songs in my career.

Which songs have held up the best for you over the years?

For me? A lot of them. Particularly, "Honestly Love You," of course. The songs from "Grease" never die--my fortune again. I’d say those and "Physical"--people love that. So I’m really lucky.

Are there any songs that you feel like, "If I have to sing that one more time ..."

No, I don’t have that feeling. I enjoy them still, which is really kind of amazing.

"Grease" was obviously one of the more popular movies of all time. Are you someone who enjoys that level of attention? Was it an enjoyable time for you?

I always realized it would be passing. I remember being on stage during that time period and thinking it’s exciting and everything, but I was always realistic. I never got caught up in it. It never affected me too much--I was kind of in the middle ground. I enjoyed it, but didn’t let it go to my head. Most people have to learn: in your career, you have ups and you have downs and it’s all part of the cycle. I certainly had huge ups with "Grease," and again, I count my blessings.

Keeping a level head saved you from a "VH1 Behind the Music" biography.

Yes, one of those horrible stories. I was never into that kind of thing. Growing up in Australia was a very great place to be brought up, because it was very grounding. I started out when I was 15, and I was a small fish in a big pond and learned all my basic skills. So that was good.

Do you follow the current pop scene?

There’s so much good music. Of course, you ask me and I can’t think of anyone. There’s so many wonderful girl singers. I like Sarah McLachlan, I love Mariah [Carey]. If I had a list in front of me, I could tell you, but I can’t. I like to listen to a lot of very soothing, meditation-type music. Even some of the rap I enjoy--some of it, with melody to it. There’s a guy, D'Angelo. I don’t know it like my daughter knows it. I enjoy what I see. She's always got MTV on.