Hitting The Right Notes
With the Stock, Aitken and Waterman “hit factory”, Kylie went on to enjoy a succession of chart-topping albums and singles. Pete Waterman later recalled how she had set her sights on becoming the new Prince or Madonna, saying, “What I found amazing was that she was outselling Madonna four to one, but still wanted to be her.”
From 1992 Kylie worked with different labels and experimented with new musical genres and looks. The curly-haired pop princess evolved into an edgier look as she produced more house-influenced songs such as Better The Devil You Know. She returned to a pop sound in the late ’90s, bringing us Kylie classics such as On a Night Like This and Kids, her 2000 collaboration with Robbie Williams. The following year, the techno-pop Can’t
Get You Out of My Head topped the charts in over 40 countries, Kylie claiming another iconic look with the hooded white jumpsuit for the video. “It was just one of those moments where the planets are aligned and everything worked – the songs, the imagery, the moment,” Kylie later said about its success.
Years of hits and tours continued, during which she became Kylie Minogue OBE, recognised for her services to music. Performances included the legend slot at the 2019 Glastonbury Festival, with a record TV audience of
3.9 million. It was a poignant experience for the singer; she had been forced to cancel her original appearance in the festival’s 2005 line-up after a breast cancer diagnosis, also forcing a withdrawal from her international Showgirl tour that year. With typical tenacity, she resumed the tour after treatment concluded, with adapted costumes, choreography and set list to accommodate her recovery.
With the 2020 release of her 15th album Disco, Kylie became the first female artist to have a No.1 album in the UK in five consecutive decades. She is set to deliver her 16th album this year, promising the launch of a “strong and empowered era” for the superstar.