Forever YOUNG
AS POP LEGEND KYLIE MINOGUE COUNTS DOWN TO HER 50TH BIRTHDAY MARION McMULLEN LOOKS AT OTHER CELEBRITIES MARKING THEIR HALF CENTURY
THE upbeat sound of I Should Be So Lucky proved a breakthrough single for Kylie Minogue and turned the Aussie soap star into a pop sensation.
The song was a 1987 hit for her, and since then the one-time Neighbours star has been a chart regular with tracks like Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, Better The Devil You Know, On A Night Like This, The Loco-Motion and, from her latest album Golden, new song Dancing.
It’s hard to believe that the youthful-looking performer will be 50 on May 28, but she recently said she was viewing the landmark birthday as a way to spring clean her life and has no plans to slow down... she already has a tour planned for September.
“If anything’s slowing the ship down and is just old news or old noise, get rid of it, so you can get through smoother and more efficiently to where you want to go,” she points out.
“I mean, other things about getting older are not so much fun, like you’ve got to take care of your body a bit more, so ask me at the end of tour how it went, we’ll see.”
Kylie’s fellow Neighbours star and former singing partner Jason Donovan also turns 50 a few days later on June 1. He is marking his half century with his Amazing Mid-Life Crisis Tour which sees him singing and sharing stories of Neighbours, Kylie, his musical roles and time on I’m A Celebrity and Strictly Come Dancing.
A few celebrities have already reached the big 5-0 this year. James Bond star Daniel Craig turned 50 on March 2 and is already planning to return as 007. According to Variety, he will pocket $25 million for the new movie, which is still unnamed.
He is also expecting his first baby with his wife, actress Rachel Weisz, later this year. The couple, who each have a child from previous relationships, have been married for seven years.
Films such as Pretty In Pink and Breakfast Club made Molly Ringwald famous all over the world, but as she once pointed out: “You can’t be 16 forever.”
The mum-of-three reached her milestone birthday on February 18.
Meanwhile, Deadpool 2’s
Josh Brolin, who recently starred as galaxy-crushing Thanos in movie blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War, was 50 on February 12.
Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds marked the day by putting out an Instagram shot of his Deadpool character painting a portrait of Josh as he looked back in the days of The Goonies film in 1985.
Deadpool 2’s theme song singer Celine Dion also turned
50 on March 30. She had to cancel some shows at her Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace’s Colosseum because of an ear condition, but publicly thanked fans for all their birthday wishes and videos. Meanwhile, those still counting down to their 50th birthdays include The X-Files and The Fall star Gillian Anderson, who reaches her half century on August 9.
She recently posed in nothing but a pair of animal ears to front an anti-fur campaign for animal charity PETA and later said “I found it liberating to use my body to make an important statement”. Men In Black star Will Smith is 50 on September 25 and first came to public attention in American TV comedy The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air.
He and his actress wife Jada Pinket Smith also celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary earlier this year. He went on social media to praise his “queen” saying “I have learned that Love is Listening. Love is Giving. Love is Freedom.”
X-Men and The Greatest Showman star Hugh Jackman will be 50 on October 12. He was appearing in Oklahoma! on the London stage before playing Wolverine and said last year he would like to return to the stage in the future to do a new musical.
It is hard to believe but Marley & Me and Wedding Crashers actor Owen Wilson, famous for his boyish looks, reaches the big 5-0 on November 18.
Kill Bill and Elementary actress Lucy Liu celebrates her big birthday on December 2. She once said: “I try to believe like I believed when I was five – when my heart told me everything I needed to know.”
Brendan Fraser became a heartthrob playing action hero Rick O’Connell in The Mummy movies.
Now a father of three, he turns 50 on December 3. He recently revealed how doing too many stunts has ruined his body. “By the time I did the third Mummy picture (in 2008), I was put together with tape and ice,” he told GQ magazine.