Kylie Minogue Biography

news-detailsKylie Ann Minogue was born on May 28, 1968 in Melbourne, Australia to an accountant father, Ron Minogue and wife, Carol Minogue. She is the eldest of the couple's two other children, Dannii Minogue who is a pop singer and Brendan Minogue who is a television cameraman. Kylie was known as a child actor in Australian soap operas at the age of 11, and claimed her fame through a role as Charlene in the 1985 Australian soap "Neighbors" which established her as an international star.

Starting her singing career purely by accident when a record company executive heard her performance of Eva in Little Eva's 1962 hit "The Loco-Motion," Kylie signed a record deal with Mushroom Records in 1987, under which she released and retitled her 1st single "Locomotion". It was at number one on the Australian chart for seven weeks, making it as the year's highest selling single in the country.

This success sent Kylie traveling to London to work alongside production team Stock, Aitken and Waterman. After that in 1988 she recorded her 1st album, "Kylie" and filled it with numerous dance songs that reached number one on the British albums charts and became that year's highest selling album, sold over 7 million copies worldwide, mostly in Europe and Asia.

One year later that was in 1989, Kylie released her 2nd album "Enjoy Yourself". It featured several hit singles which burnt charts in both the United Kingdom and Australia despite its flop in the U.S. that made her cut from the contract she signed with Geffen Records. To "jack up" her 2nd album, Kylie held her first concert tour in some countries, including U.K., France, Belgium and Australia. In this gig, she was criticized for the costume she wore, which according to many people imitated Madonna's.

Amidst the many criticism, in 1990 Kylie released her 3rd album, "Rhythm of Love" and offered a more sophisticated and adult style of dance music, marking the first signs of rebellion against her production team and the "girl-next-door" image. Hoping this album would be accepted by more mature audience, she dedicated her time to take control of her music videos, starting with "Better the Devil You Know" which saw her changing her appearance by presenting herself as a sexually aware adult.

Such efforts led Kylie to successfully reach her goal. Her singles like "Rhythm of Love" sold well in Europe and Australia and were popular in British nightclubs where they were accepted by the older audience she had targeted before. In relation with her 3rd album success, Kylie also became the 1991 first recording artist to place his/her first 13 singles in the Top 10. In the same year she got the achievement, Kylie released her 4th album "Let's Get to It", which was designed in purpose to broaden her appeal by presenting a diverse range of ballads and slower dance songs. Sadly, this album did not receive strong reviews as it was claimed for "showing no signs of musical development or direction," regardless Kylie's first contribution ever to the songwriting process.

Her ups and downs in music industry had encouraged Kylie to work even harder that she, coincided with her departure from Stock, Aitken and Waterman in 1992, produced her next album, dubbed "Greatest Hits [1994]". Presenting all of her singles with three additional recorded tracks, the set made it to number one in Britain, although the new single "What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)" and her cover version of Kool & the Gang's "Celebration" were only minor hits.

Soon after her departure from Stock, Aitken and Waterman, Kylie signed a new recording contract with Deconstruction Records and shortly got public attention. It was predicted to be the beginning of a new phase in her career. Even if Kylie self-titled 6th album "Kylie Minogue" (1994) had got mingle reviews, it had in fact, sold for over one million copies worldwide and became very success as one of its single "Confide In Me" had been sold 2 million copies worldwide and stayed at number 1 on the Australian charts for 5 weeks.

Three years later that was in 1997, Kylie released her 7th effort, "Impossible Princess". It consisted of her collaborations with such great musicians, as Manic Street Preachers with she herself participating more in the songwriting process. Receiving abundant minor critics, this album had become the lowest selling album of Kylie career in the United Kingdom. At this point, she decided to compile footage from her sold-out tours over the past years in a live album named "Intimate and Live". It was released in Australia and consequently, the singer had to settle for sometime in the country to promote it.

After parting ways with Deconstruction Records and signing another recording contract with Parlone in 1998, Kylie then in the year of 2000 recorded her 9th album, "Light Years". Strongly influenced by 1970s disco, this album became very successful throughout Europe, Australia and Asia, selling over 2 million copies worldwide. This made her successfully joining Madonna as the second female performer to achieve British number one singles in 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

Still in the same year, Kylie also produced her 10th album, a compilation titled "Hits+". Due to her fame and success, Kylie was asked to play at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, performing a cover version of the ABBA hit "Dancing Queen" and her single "On A Night Like This." In an effort to keep her star shining in music industry, she then held her biggest tour to date in the United Kingdom and played to sell-out crowds in Australia. It gained public recognition as the most successful tour ever by a female artist. As expected, Kylie 6 planned Melbourne shows were increased to 22 due to public demand, and in the United States, Billboard Magazine wrote of her return to prominence that she finally won a "Mo Award" for live entertainment in Australia as "Performer of the Year."

The next year in 2001, Kylie released her 11th album, "Fever". It mixed some disco elements combined with the 1980s electro-pop. The first single "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" reached number one in most European countries and topped the chart in both Britain and Australia for four weeks. The album itself also reached number one in over 40 countries and sold more than 4 million copies worldwide, making itself the biggest success of Kylie's singing career.

This success had attracted comments from many parties, for instance from Rolling Stone, Popmatters and from Launch's Bob Gulla as well. The so-many-positive comments contributed to "Fever" burning Billboard Hot 100 at number 3 with the single "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" reaching number 7. A tour that was inspired by Broadway musicals and Las Vegas shows were mapped out to promote the record further.

Kylie 12th album, a compilation titled "Confide in Me," was released in November 2001 in America by Imago Records, but failed to invade the chart. It caused the company filing for bankruptcy and made Kylie not able to release an album other than compilation set "Greatest Hits 87-97" album which listed a selected collection of the "special songs" taken from her 1987 up to 1997 albums.

In 2003, she released her 14th album named "Body Language", which was released following an invitation-only concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. Due to overwhelming public enthusiasm, the concert was then made into a successful television special that drew high ratings and in Switzerland it received an award for quality television. What make this album different from any Kylie's previous albums was that it downplayed the disco style and included elements of hip hop.

On November 22, 2004, Kylie released her second official greatest hits album entitled "Ultimate Kylie", along with her music videos on a DVD compilation of the same title. This greatest hits album introduced single "I Believe in You", co-written with Jake Shears and Babydaddy from the Scissor Sisters. What followed next was a massive tour named "Showgirl, The Greatest Hits," which was claimed to be the most extensive of her career announced in early 2005.

As the year of 2005 came, Kylie had sold more than 40 million singles and 25 million albums worldwide, and had at least one number one hit in over 45 countries. Beyond her musical career, Kylie tried out acting. Australian film director Baz Luhrmann chose her to play in "Moulin Rouge!" (2001) to tackle the role of Absinthe, the Green Fairy and sing a line from "The Sound of Music." She also had her own lingerie brand called "Love Kylie." This proved that Kylie was good not only in singing, but also in acting and designing.

In 2005, the pop diva was forced to cancel her "Showgirl" tour after she was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. Kylie made it through a successful breast cancer surgery at Cabrini hospital in Melbourne and spent time to recuperate with a series of radiotherapy. As of her love life, she once dated Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of Australian rock band INXS, before then in 2003 dated French actor Olivier Martinez. Sad to say that the singer and actor then decided to go separate ways after four years together. She then moved on by seeing a model named Andres Velencoso.

Completing her treatment and recovering well, Kylie still couldn't take her mind off the unfinished "Showgirl" tour. As compensation, she released a digital-only release of "Over the Rainbow" in 2006 that was recorded live from the tour. The same year also saw Kylie preparing new album with collaborations from Boy George, Scissor Sisters and many more. Before coming with the release, Kylie had her first performance post the breast cancer in Sydney.

Joking that she was "fashionably late", Kylie delivered an energetic performance like she never 'disappeared' before. At one point however, she was forced to cancel her appearance at U2's show due to exhaustion. Stumbling down and getting up, Kylie roamed to Europe for shows and joined by sister Danii Minogue at some dates. Meanwhile, her work in the studio kept flowing and details of the highly-anticipated work came out in September 2007. Kylie named her album simply "X" and dropped it in U.S. in February 2008.

Three years later, Kylie comes back with another album "Aphrodite" and the first single "All the Lovers" was a highly-anticipated one. When it was previewed on her website, thousands of eager fans tried to log on to the site at the same time and made it crash for few hours. She released the album on July 6, 2010.

Receiving favorable reviews from music critics, "Aphrodite" debuted at No. 1 on U.K. Albums chart and peaked at No. 2 on ARIA Albums chart. In the United States, the album peaked at No. 19 on Billboard 200 and spent a total of three weeks on the chart. It marked her second-highest charting album in the country.

Kylie spent the rest of 2010 by collaborating with other musicians, including Taio Cruz on "Higher". The song was a commercial success, peaking inside the top twenty on several charts and ruling Hot Dance Club chart. Concluding the year, the singer released a Christmas EP entitled "A Kylie Christmas", which included covers of Christmas classics such as "Let It Snow" and "Santa Baby". She performed both songs at the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lightning ceremony in New York City.

While Kylie didn't release any new music in 2011, she embarked on a tour called "Aphrodite: Les Folles Tour" in February. Including stops in Europe, North America and Asia among others, the tour grossed a total of $600 million and ranked at No. 21 on annual Pollstar Top Concert Tours of 2011. Celebrating her 25 years in the music industry, Kylie embarked on another tour called "Anti Tour" in England and Australia in 2012. She also released a single titled "Timebomb" and greatest hits compilation album "The Best of Kylie Minogue". Later in October, she unveiled another compilation album titled "The Abbey Road Sessions" that contained reworked and orchestral versions of her previous songs.

Kylie kept a low profile in the first half of 2013, only signing to Roc Nation for a management deal. Later in September, she was featured on Laura Pausini's "Limpido" and tapped as a coach for the third season the "The Voice" U.K. version. Her performance on the show led to her being cast as a coach for the third season of "The Voice" Australia version.

Her twelfth studio album "Kiss Me Once" was released in march 2014. Featuring contributions from the likes of Sia Furler and Pharrell Williams, the record topped ARIA Albums chart and peaked at No. 2 on U.K. Albums chart. In support of the album, Kylie hit the road for "Kiss Me Once Tour" in September.

After starring on "Young & Hungry" and in "San Andreas" with Dwyane "The Rock" Johnson and Carla Rugino, Kylie joined forces with Fernando Garibay to release an EP titled "Kylie + Garibay" in September 2015. Later in November, the songstress notched her thirteenth chart topper on Hot Dance Club Songs chart with her Jake Shears and Nile Rodgers collaboration "The Other Boys". In that same month, she released her first full-length Christmas album "Kylie Christmas".

While Kylie didn't release any new music in both 2016 and 2017, she still made headlines over her relationship with actor Joshua Sasse. They announced their engagement on February 20, 2016, only to break up in the following year. She spent the rest of the year working on her next album "Golden" after that, releasing the record on April 6, 2018. The album debuted at No. 1 in both U.K. and Australia. In September 2018, she became the first female headliner at Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park.

June 2019 was certainly a memorable moment for Kylie. In addition to earning her seventh No. 1 album in U.K. with compilation effort "Step Back in Time: The Definitive Collection", she made history when she made her debut at the Glastonbury Festival, fourteen years after her breast cancer diagnosis forced her to cancel her 2005 headlining slot. Her performance received rave reviews from music critics and was a big hit with fans, becoming the most-watched set of the weekend on TV with 3 million viewers. With that, she broke records for the most attended Glastonbury set in history.