Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue was born on the 28th of May 1968 at Bethlehem Hospital in Caulfield South, a suburb of Melbourne. Her mother Carol Ann Jones had moved to Australia from Wales in 1958 aboard the ship Fairsea as part of an assisted migration scheme. The family frequently moved around various suburbs in Melbourne to sustain their living expenses, which Minogue found unsettling as a child. She often stayed at home reading, sewing, and learning to play violin and piano while her brother Brendan worked as a news cameraman and her sister Dannii pursued acting and singing. A 10-year-old Minogue accompanied Dannii to a hearing arranged by their aunt Suzette where producers found Dannii too young but gave Kylie a minor role in soap opera The Sullivans in 1979. She also appeared in another small role in soap opera Skyways in 1980 before being cast in one of the lead roles in The Henderson Kids in 1985. During filming co-star Nadine Garner labelled Minogue fragile after producers yelled at her for forgetting lines and she would often cry on set. Minogue took time off school to film The Henderson Kids and while her mother Carol was not impressed she felt she needed the independence to make it into the entertainment industry.
Minogue performed I Got You Babe as a duet with fellow actor John Waters at a Fitzroy Football Club benefit concert and sang The Loco-Motion as an encore. Producer Greg Petherick arranged for Minogue to record a demo of the latter song which was sent to Mushroom Records head Michael Gudinski who decided to sign Minogue in early 1987 based on her popularity from Neighbours. The track was first recorded in big band style and later given a completely new backing track by producer Mike Duffy inspired by the hi-NRG sound of English band Dead or Alive. Locomotion was released as her debut single in Australia on the 13th of July 1987 the week after the wedding episode of Neighbours premiered. The single became the best-selling single of the decade in Australia according to the Kent Music Report. The success resulted in Minogue travelling to London to work with record producing trio Stock Aitken Waterman in September 1987. They knew little of Minogue and had forgotten she was arriving so they wrote I Should Be So Lucky while she waited outside the studio. The track was written and recorded in under 40 minutes and reached number one in Australia Finland Germany Hong Kong Israel Switzerland and the UK.
Unhappy with her level of creative input on her first two albums Minogue worked with manager Terry Blamey and Australian label Mushroom Records to force a change in her relationship with SAW. Her third album Rhythm of Love was released in November 1990 and described as leaps and bounds more mature than previous albums by AllMusic's Chris True. The project contained more sophisticated themes and influences with composer Mike Stock stating that Shocked was influenced by the writings of Virginia Woolf. Despite exhibiting creative growth the album did not match the commercial success of its predecessors peaking at number nine in the UK. Three of its singles Better the Devil You Know Step Back in Time and Shocked reached the top ten in Australia. In the UK all four singles entered the top ten. Entertainment Weeklys Ernest Macias observed that by the third album Minogue presented a more mature and sexually-fuelled image. The making of the music video for Better the Devil You Know was the first time Minogue felt part of the creative process. She said I wasn't in charge but I had a voice. I'd bought some clothes on King's Road for the video. I saw a new way to express my point of view creatively.
Minogue signed with German-British record label Parlophone in April who wanted to re-establish Minogue as a pop artist. Her seventh studio album Light Years was released in September 2000 and NME magazine called it a fun perfectly-formed record which saw Minogue dropping her considerable concern for cool and bouncing back to her disco-pop roots. It was a commercial success becoming her first number one album in her native Australia and charting at number two in the UK. The lead single Spinning Around debuted atop the UK in July making her the second artist to have a number-one single in three consecutive decades after American singer-songwriter Madonna. Its accompanying video featured Minogue in revealing gold hotpants which came to be regarded as a trademark. Three other singles On a Night Like This Kids with English singer Robbie Williams and Please Stay all peaked in the top ten in the UK. In October she performed at both the closing ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics and in the opening ceremony of the Paralympics all held in Sydney. Her performance of ABBA's Dancing Queen was chosen as one of the most memorable Olympic closing ceremony moments by Kate Samuelson of TNT.
In February 2005 the animated film The Magic Roundabout was released in which she served as the voice actress for the role of Florence. She reprised the role in 2006 and recorded the theme song for the American edition re-titled as Doogal. In March Minogue commenced her Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour which initially had tour dates in Europe Australia Asia and a headlining appearance in Glastonbury Festival announced. In May she was diagnosed with breast cancer forcing her to cancel the remainder of the tour. In the same month she underwent surgery and commenced chemotherapy treatment soon after. In January 2006 it was announced Minogue had finished chemotherapy and the disease had no recurrence after the surgery. She would continue her treatment for the next months. Her children's book The Showgirl Princess written during her period of convalescence was published in October and her perfume Darling was launched in November. The range was later augmented by eau de toilettes including Pink Sparkle Couture and Inverse. She resumed her then cancelled tour in November under the title Showgirl: Homecoming Tour. Her dance routines had been reworked to accommodate her medical condition with slower costume changes and longer breaks between sections of the show to conserve her strength.
In February 2017 Minogue signed a record deal with BMG. Throughout 2017 she worked with writers and producers for her fourteenth studio album including Nigerian-German record producer Sky Adams and British record-producer Richard Stannard. It was recorded in London Los Angeles and Nashville with the latter profoundly influencing the record. The album Golden was released in April 2018 with Dancing serving as its lead single. It debuted at number one in Australia and in the UK. Tim Sendra from AllMusic labelled the album a darn bold for an artist of Minogue's longevity stating the amazing thing about the album and about her is that she pulls off the country as well as she's pulled off new wave disco electro murder ballads and everything else she's done in her long career. Pitchforks Ben Cardew stated it sounds like someone playing at country music rather than someone who understands it. The album led several more singles such as Stop Me from Falling the title track Golden A Lifetime to Repair and Music's Too Sad Without You featuring English singer Jack Savoretti. In support of the album she embarked on Kylie Presents Golden and Golden Tour.
Minogue has been regarded as a gay icon which she has encouraged with comments including I am not a traditional gay icon. There's been no tragedy in my life only tragic outfits and My gay audience has been with me from the beginning ... they kind of adopted me. Her status as a gay icon has been attributed to her music fashion sense and career longevity. Author Constantine Chatzipapatheodoridis wrote about Minogue's appeal to gay men in Strike a Pose Forever: The Legacy of Vogue... and observed she frequently incorporates camp-inflected themes in her extravaganzas drawing mainly from the disco scene the S/M culture and the burlesque stage. Minogue has one of the largest gay followings in the world. Lucy Ellis Bryony Sutherland. Kylie Talking: Kylie Minogue in Her Own Words. Omnibus Press 2003 p. 47. Minogue explained she first became aware of her gay audience in 1988 when several drag queens performed to her music at a Sydney pub and she later saw a similar show in Melbourne. She said she felt very touched to have such an appreciative crowd and this encouraged her to perform at gay venues throughout the world as well as headlining the 1994 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
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Common questions
When and where was Kylie Minogue born?
Kylie Ann Minogue was born on the 28th of May 1968 at Bethlehem Hospital in Caulfield South, a suburb of Melbourne. Her mother Carol Ann Jones had moved to Australia from Wales in 1958 aboard the ship Fairsea as part of an assisted migration scheme.
What was Kylie Minogue's first major acting role?
A 10-year-old Minogue received a minor role in soap opera The Sullivans in 1979 after producers found her sister Dannii too young for a hearing arranged by their aunt Suzette. She also appeared in another small role in soap opera Skyways in 1980 before being cast in one of the lead roles in The Henderson Kids in 1985.
Which song became Kylie Minogue's debut single and when was it released?
Locomotion was released as her debut single in Australia on the 13th of July 1987 the week after the wedding episode of Neighbours premiered. The track became the best-selling single of the decade in Australia according to the Kent Music Report.
When did Kylie Minogue receive a breast cancer diagnosis and how did she resume touring?
In May 2006 she was diagnosed with breast cancer forcing her to cancel the remainder of the Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour. She resumed her then cancelled tour in November under the title Showgirl: Homecoming Tour with dance routines reworked to accommodate her medical condition.
Who produced Kylie Minogue's album Golden and where was it recorded?
Throughout 2017 she worked with writers and producers including Nigerian-German record producer Sky Adams and British record-producer Richard Stannard for her fourteenth studio album. It was recorded in London Los Angeles and Nashville with the latter profoundly influencing the record before its release in April 2018.