Kylie Minogue
- Profession: Singer
- Place/Date of Birth: Melbourne, Australia, 28 May 2020
- Associated with: Dannii Minogue, Jason Donovan
Tickets for the New Year’s Eve show go on sale today.
Showgirl Kylie finally back on tour - Nov 12 2006
An ornate Kylie Minogue dazzled an adoring home-land crowd in the diva’s triumphant first foray on to the stage since she was diagnosed with breast cancer 18 months ago.
"Good evening Sydney!" were the London-based Australian’s first words as she rose on a platform from the centre of the stage. "How are you feeling tonight?"
The 2004 Grammy award winner’s performance before a sellout crowd of 10,000 was the much anticipated comeback from her shock diagnosis of the potentially fatal disease in May last year just days before the Australian leg of The Showgirl Tour was set to begin.
She had successful surgery in her home town of Melbourne and a course of chemotherapy in Paris, where her French actor boyfriend, Olivier Martinez, has a home.
During her recovery, she wrote a children’s book, The Showgirl Princess and launched her own perfume, Darling.
The 38-year-old former soap opera teen star wore a pink feathered head-dress and flowing gown by designer John Galliano to kick off her renamed Showgirl Homecoming Tour.
She also wore a dazzling bejewelled pink corset as she launched the concert with her classic hit Better The Devil You Know.
"Are you ready for your 15 minutes of fame? Do you like what you see?" Minogue asked her cheering audience.
As well as outfits by Galliano, Minogue donned costumes by designers Gareth Pugh, Dolce e Gabbana, Karl Lagerfeld and Emilio Pucci.
After Australia, Minogue will travel back to Europe, playing dates in Britain from January 2.
Kylie likens chemo to explosion - Nov 1 2006
Kylie Minogue has told how undergoing chemotherapy was like being in an atomic explosion.
The pop princess, who underwent six months of chemo after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in May last year, said she struggles to describe what it’s like.
"It’s like a prison sentence. I can’t quite articulate it," the 38-year-old said in an interview with Elle magazine.
"It’s a bit like being in an atomic explosion and people asking you how to describe it, ’So, exactly how big is the hole?’ I don’t think anyone who hasn’t had it can understand it."
Kylie, who was given the all-clear in January, also told how boyfriend, French actor Olivier Martinez, helped pull her through her darkest moments.
"He is the most honourable man I have ever met. He’s surprising," she said.
"On particularly dark days I’d be lying on the bathroom floor wailing and he’d say, ’OK honey, you can cry for just five minutes, then I’m taking you on a bike ride around Paris.’
"So I’d howl a bit more then I’d find myself thinking, ’Hmmm. Actually, a ride on the bike sounds pretty good’."
The singer is now getting ready to resume her sell-out Showgirl tour, which she was forced to cancel after her diagnosis.
It kicks off in Sydney, Australia, next week.
Kylie launches her children’s book - Oct 1, 2020
Kylie Minogue looked every inch the pop princess as she took time out from rehearsals for her comeback tour to launch her new children’s book.
The Aussie pop star, now in remission from breast cancer, wowed her younger fans with her fairytale dress at the launch of The Showgirl Princess at the Waterstone’s flagship store on London’s Oxford Street.
Fans said the star, wearing a knee length dress decorated with large flowers and sequins and with big wizard-like sleeves, looked the picture of good health despite her recent battle with cancer.
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In 1986 Kylie was offered the role of Charlene Mitchell in upcoming soap Neighbours. Her storylines made her a household name in both Australia and the UK and the on screen wedding between Charlene and Scott Robinson (played by Jason Donovan) attracted record numbers of viewers.
Whilst performing The Locomotion on stage at a benefit in 1987 Kylie was spotted by representatives of Mushroom Records who signed her up and released the track. The success of her first release saw Kylie travel to London to meet with pop moguls Stock Aitken and Waterman who penned I Should Be So Lucky for her on the spot. The single was a smash and launched Kylie as one to watch and indeed her debut album became the biggest seller of the year here in the UK.
Panned by critics, Especially For You, a duet recorded with Jason Donovan (by this time a pop star in his own right) was a huge hit in 1989 but Kylie’s follow up album, Enjoy Yourself, whilst successful in Europe and Australia flopped in the US, resulting in the singer being dropped by her American label.
1990 saw Kylie make the first radical adjustment to her image. Gone was the cutesy girl next door in favour of a more sexy look for Better The Devil You Know, while a relationship with bad boy rocker Michael Hutchence cemented Kylie’s new ’cool’ status. Rhythm of Love produced several well received dance-orientated singles and was enough of a success to persuade Kylie to produce a further album despite her contract with PWA being up. Let’s Get To It was a critical success but was her first release to miss the top ten. Realising that she was stifled by the Stock Aitken and Waterman formula she recorded three new tracks for a Greatest Hits album and made a break for it.
So it was time for another change in direction. Kylie went indie following her signing to Deconstruction Records and Confide in Me spent several weeks at the Aussie top spot. The self titled album released alongside sold reasonably well although it received mixed reviews from the press while follow up singles eached top twenty. Elsewhere Kylie went extra dark, appearing on Nick Cave’s Where The Wild Roses Grow, a move which promised a more credible pop star in the future.
By 1997 Kylie had overhauled her image again, and the release of Impossible Princess the following year reflected that. A collaboration with the Manic Street Preachers wasn’t enough to stop the album from becoming the least successful of her releases and the end of Kylie’s pop career looked near.
However a split with Deconstruction resulted in Kylie hooking up with Parlophone and in an explosion of gold glitter and disco the pop starlet burst back on to the scene in an unfeasibly small pair of gold hotpants to promote Spinning Around and accompanying album Light Years. The single was Kylie’s first UK number one in ten years and resulted in a duet with Robbie Williams and a sell out tour. However, it was 2001’s Fever which cemented Kylie’s future. The unforgettable video for impossibly catchy single Can’t Get You Out Of My Head ensured that the track reached number one in over 40 countries. Follow up singles were almost equally successful and the awards flooded in while next album, Body Language, was another hit while Ultimate Kylie, a greatest hits release was accompanied by a lavish tour.
It was during this time that Kylie was diagnosed with breast cancer, much to the shock of her fans. Her headline slot at Glastonbury was cancelled and the rest of the Showgirl tour was postponed but after treatment from Australia and France’s best doctors Kylie was back on the scene looking better than ever. She began work on a new album and released a children’s book The Showgirl Princess closely followed by a perfume, Darling. She resumed her Showgirl tour and split with French boyfriend Olivier Martinez.
Elsewhere Kylie’s film career has been slightly less successful than her musical one. From The Deliquents to Street Fighter she has been panned for her on screen work her only success coming in the form of the green absinthe fairy in Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!
updated March 2007
November 2007