Kylie Minogue, who hails from
Australia, began her career as an actress
in 1986 starring as Charlene in the popular
soap 'Neighbours', fans were devistated when
she and then real-life boyfriend Jason Donovan,
decided to no longer appear on the soap.
Soon afterwards, at a charity gig, she and
a couple of friends from Neighbours decided
to sing a cover of The Locomotion and it
was that day which brought us Kylie Minogue,
the singer. She later released The Locomotion
in Australia which was a massive hit and
a number 1 for a long time. She then released
I Should Be So Lucky both in Australia and
Europe where I Should Be So Lucky became
one of the most successful songs of
1988.
She released her No:1 debut album 'Kylie'
(which is also the second most successful
debut album from the youngest artist second
only to Britney Spears) in 1988 which got
her a string of hits around the world, even
her only US hit single. She had another UK
number one when she duetted with then boyfriend
Jason Donovan on Especially For You, her
second most successful hit to date. She released
'Hand on Your Heart', her 3rd UK number 1
which was from her second album 'Enjoy Yourself'
in 1989 along with her first lead film role
in 'The Delinquints' from which a cover of
'Tears On My Pillow' was released, her 4th
UK number one and
another hugh European hit.
In 1990, a new decade and a new look for
Kylie who had now gotten over her split with
Jason Donovan and had started a new love
affair with Michael Hutchence (The lead singer
of INXS). Kylie dumped her bubbly, smiley
girl-next-door image and donned new sexier
clothes and a more grown up look and attitude.
Her album 'Rhythm Of Love' gave her hits
such as 'Better The Devil You Know' 'What
Do I Have To Do' 'Shocked' and 'Step Back
In Time' None of which went to number 1,
but all of which were huge everywhere, especially
Australia and Europe. Kylie Minogue then
went through a low period in 1992.
Whilst Smash Hits readers voted her worst
dressed person and the lack of the success
of previous hits and her 1992 album 'Let's
Get To It' be the only Kylie Minogue album
to not have reached the top 10 in the UK
album charts, her 'Greatest Hits' album still
took the number 1 spot on the first week
of it's release. Kylie later joined a new
record company, Deconstruction and was now
dating French photographer and director Stephane
Sednoui she released her 5th album 'Kylie
Minogue' which gave her a successful UK number
2 with ballad Confide In Me which was a massive
Australian single and that song has been
celebrated with a stamp featuring the lyrics
and her lips to comemorate the new millennium.
The songs to follow were unsuccessful even
though Kylie, as Madonna had done (though
not so provocativly) changed her image frequently.
She released her favourite of her songs,
Where The Wild Roses Grow (a duet with Nick
Cave) in 1995 and a Australian no:1 came
her way but she did not release anything
until 1997 which saw her have the most obvious
and severe of her image changes. She had
help from indie stars Manic Street Preaches
to release the first single from her new
album 'Impossible Princess' (Later changed
to 'Kylie Minogue' due to the tragic death
of Princess Diana which coincedentally clashed
with the release of 'Impossible Princess')
The song was called 'Some Kind Of Bliss'
and only reached 22 in the UK charts.
From that same album she released to more
singles 'Did It Again' and 'Breathe' which
both hit 14. In Australia, she released 'Cowboy
Style' which failed to even chart. She was
dropped by Deconstruction due to the lack
of hits. In 2000, she joined a new record
company, Parlophone and this time, her new
album would have any of the indie that caused
her last album to be lassed as a flop, this
time she would return to her pop roots with
Light Years. The first release was Spinning
Around, her 5th Uk number and a European
number 1 as well as a number 9 in the world
chart and a number 1 in her native land Australia.
It was accompanied by a video which glorified
the donning of Hotpants in the year 2000
and hotpants became the must-have item. The
album got to number 1 all around the world
but was kept of number 1 in the UK by Madonna's
'Music' LP. Also from Light Years, kylie
released one of her most successful records
in Australia, On A Night Like This which
went to number 1 twice in the same month!
She lso released
Please Stay, a surprising choice as it was
quite weak compared to the rest of the album
which was a masterpiece in itself. Kylie
once again was in the limelight. and in September
2001, she released a new single and undoubtedly
one of the catchiest singles ever and accompanied
by a very sexy video, Can't Get You Out Of
My Head is still number 1 as I am typing
this so I cannot say for how long it was
number one but it has hit number 1 in Australia,
UK, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Macedonia and Holland and
is in the top 10 everywhere else in Europe
and Asia. Can't Get You Out Of My head is
from the album 'Fever' which has hit the
Australian and UK number 1 and is her fastest
selling number 1. The only market which she
has not conquered is US and now it's just
a matter of time. |