Minogue, Kylie

▪ 2005

      In February 2004 pop sensation Kylie Minogue won her first Grammy, for best dance recording, with “Come into My World.” For American audiences it was indeed an invitation into her world, which was already well known to fans in Europe and Australia, where her success and endurance arguably eclipsed that of fellow superstar Madonna. Longevity was not a word generally associated with the often-fickle pop music scene, but Kylie—as her legions of fans called her—had filled an impressive 17-year span with 40 hit singles and 40 million albums sold, and she remained a sex symbol at age 36, which some considered old for female celebrities who relied mainly on sex appeal. Though a native Australian, Minogue was also adopted by Britain, where in April 2004 she was calculated as the most-played female singer on British radio; that fall she became the new spokesperson for British Airways.

      Kylie Ann Minogue was born in Melbourne, Vic., on May 28, 1968, and had some success as a child actress (like her younger sister, Dannii). Minogue first came to fame in the popular soap opera Neighbours in Australia and Great Britain in 1985–88. She left television for a singing career, making her recording debut in 1988 with the album Kylie, as part of the London hit factory Stock, Aitken & Waterman, and her first number one single, “I Should Be So Lucky.” Her cover of Little Eva's “Locomotion” broke into the American Top 10, where she would not reappear for another 14 years. With media savvy and a strong work ethic, the diminutive (1.5-m [5-ft]-tall) Minogue saw her career skyrocket in Europe. Her music was lauded as “the pristine embodiment of pop—simple, undemanding, unthreatening fun,” and her stage shows became big draws. A natural in front of the camera, with a diva's sense of fashion, she became a darling of the tabloids, which spilled untold amounts of ink praising her rear end. Minogue parlayed her sexy image and much-admired derrière into further publicity—she dated rock stars, endorsed perfumes and automobiles, sold millions of calendars as a sexy pinup, and promoted her own line of underwear, called Love Kylie.

      Minogue left Stock, Aitken & Waterman, and her musical career slumped in the second half of the '90s as she assumed a punky look and recorded with “indie” rockers. She returned to her saucy pop roots in 2000, donning hot pants in the video for her comeback single, “Spinning Around,” from the album Light Years. Led by the blockbuster “Can't Get You out of My Head,” her comeback even returned her to U.S. shores, where the album Fever (2001) reached the Top 3 in 2002, outselling all of her previous albums there combined. Her renewed popularity continued with the release of Body Language (2003).

Tom Michael

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▪ Australian singer

in full  Kylie Ann Minogue 

born May 28, 1968, Melbourne, Vic., Austl.

      Australian singer who in the late 1980s became a pop superstar in Australia and Europe and continued to enjoy success into the early 2000s.

      Minogue, who had been acting since she was a child, first garnered fame in Australia and Great Britain for her work on the popular soap opera Neighbours (1985–88). She subsequently left television for a singing career, making her recording debut in 1988 with the album Kylie—as part of the London hit factory Stock, Aitken & Waterman—and registering her first number one single, "I Should Be So Lucky." Her cover of Little Eva's "Locomotion" broke into the American Top Ten, where she would not reappear for another 14 years. With media savvy and a strong work ethic, the diminutive (5 feet [1.5 metres] tall) Minogue saw her career skyrocket in Europe. She became a favourite of the tabloids, and Minogue cultivated her sexy image to further publicity.

      Minogue left Stock, Aitken & Waterman in the early 1990s, and her musical career later slumped as she assumed a punky look and recorded with “indie” rockers. She returned to her pop roots in 2000 with her comeback single, "Spinning Around," from the album Light Years. Minogue had further success the following year with Fever, which contained the blockbuster single "Can't Get You Out of My Head." In the United States the album reached number three in 2002, outselling all of her previous albums there combined. Her renewed popularity continued with the release of Body Language (2004), and in 2004 she won her first Grammy Award, for best dance recording, with the single "Come into My World."

      In 2005 Minogue announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She subsequently underwent surgery, and, after more than a year-long recovery period, she began touring again in late 2006. The following year her 10th studio album, X, was released. She was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2008.

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