ON THE COVER Kylie
Like all of us she’d say don’t worry so much – she’s had her share of heartache, but she’s had a great time along the way
It’s hard to believe that it’s been over 30 years since Kylie first came to our attention as car mechanic, Charlene Mitchell, in Neighbours. Around 20 million of us tuned in to watch her marry Scott on the Australian soap, and it wasn’t long before she had us all boogieing to the Locomotion as she launched her pop career in the late 80s.
With 14 best-selling albums now under her belt, it’s still hard to believe that this weekend, the Queen of Pop will be celebrating her big 5-0 birthday.
“50 years on planet Earth… that will be amazing!” she laughs.
Looking back at her stellar career, we wonder what advice she would give to her 18-year-old self if she could?
“Gosh, I would have said, ‘Keep a diary.’ Because I didn’t and there’s a lot of things that I wish I could look back at and remember more details. Now it is quite different because we’re living in a digital age but back then, how did I feel on my very first trip to Europe? My first concert?
“I would also say, ‘Value the opinions of people you respect and admire, try to care less about the opinions of the others’ and ‘Try to have a good time along the way, try not to worry so much.’”
Kylie has certainly had a good time along the way but it’s not been without difficult times, too. As well as battling breast cancer back in 2005, Kylie has also suffered her fair share of heartbreak when it comes to finding love. Last year the star confirmed her split from fiancé, British actor, Joshua Sasse.
“I know heartbreak, we all know heartbreak. Music really saved me and gave me focus and that is a love that I will always have.”
She may have been unlucky in love but Kylie says she hasn’t rejected the idea of finding her one true love and remains optimistic about the future when it comes to relationships.
“No, I think it’s good to be hopeful. Right now, as I’m single again, a lot of people have come out from everywhere going, ‘You’ve got to meet this person, you’ve got to meet that person’ and I can honestly put my hand on my heart and say I’m not ready to go through it all again. I feel good within myself now. Who knows what is going to happen? In the near future, in the long future… I just don’t know.
“I really took pretty much all of last year to just get my footing again, just really remind myself who I am without anybody. A lot of my album, Golden, is about acceptance. We all make mistakes but I’m not going to give up. I think if you lose hope in any sense of life that’s the end. You have to remain hopeful.”
Kylie’s most recent album, Golden, has a distinct country feel to it – Kylie and her team even flew out to Nashville to record some tracks. However, she admits there’s no danger of her taking Dolly Parton’s place and has a secret to share about her guitar playing in the video to accompany her single, Dancing…
“I pretend to play in the video, I totally pretend! I did play instruments when I was younger but I never kept up with any of them.
“First I shot the scene in the kind of Dolly Parton world with the guitar and crazy long false nails and I just said, ‘I feel ridiculous,
this is never going to work.’
“Then we decided to put in the intro of the video the real me trying to have a go at playing the guitar but just giving up! I’m just going to dance instead!”
Anyone who ever watched Kylie perform knows that dancing comes almost as naturally to her as singing. She says getting up and moving to the beat lifts her spirits.
“It really does. There’s a total energy. I really think dancing can be an incredible tonic, be it for you, for your soul, for your happiness. You might have sore feet the next day, but you’ll feel good!”