Just the Two of Us: The Duets Collection (Vol. 1) is a posthumous compilation album by Australian singer Olivia Newton-John. It was released on 5 May 2023 by Primary Wave.[2][3] It is a collection of duets performed by Newton-John during her career, including unreleased tracks and some of her last recordings, as well as previously released songs. Three singles were released from the album – "Window in the Wall" (with daughter Chloe Lattanzi), "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" (with Paul Anka) and "Jolene" (with Dolly Parton) – the first two were released before Newton-John's death on 8 August 2022. "Jolene" with Parton was the final recording Newton-John made before her death.[4]
Just the Two of Us features two of Newton-John's frequent singing partners, Cliff Richard (left) and John Travolta (right).
Just the Two of Us, which already was in development before Newton-John's death, is intended to be a collection of duets recorded by the singer in the span 43 years, from 1979 to 2022 – the last year of her life. Produced by music industry veteran Vinny Vero, it was originally conceived as a 32-track single album to be released in August 2021, but the original schedule was delayed and the project was split between two albums.[5] The oldest song featured in the track listing, "Suddenly", is a single from the Xanadu soundtrack, released in 1980. "Take a Chance", part of the Two of a Kind soundtrack, was released as a single in 1984, same year the promotional single "Face to Face" was also released, a song from Barry Gibb's debut solo album Now Voyager. "The Best of Me", from David Foster's 1986 self-titled album, was released as a single in the same year of its parent album.
The compilation's lead single, "Window in the Wall", a duet with Newton-John's daughter Chloe Lattanzi, was released on 21 January 2021, with an accompanying music video featuring the two singers. "Put Your Head on My Shoulder", a re-recording of Paul Anka's 1959 hit single featuring Anka himself, was released as the second single in 6 May of the same year, with an animated music video released in 2 June. The song was also released in Anka's album Making Memories.
The re-recording of "Jolene", a duet between Newton-John and Parton, was recorded in December 2021 and January 2022, and released posthumously on 17 February 2023 as Just the Two of Us's third single. Its accompanying music video was also recorded before Newton-John's death.[1]
