Kylie Ann Minogue, AO, OBE (/mɪˈnoʊɡ/; born 28 May 1968), also known mononymously as Kylie, is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. Throughout her career, Minogue has been known for reinventing herself in fashion and music. She is described as a style icon and has been recognised with several honorific nicknames, most notably the "Princess of Pop". Minogue is also recognised as the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time. Born and raised in Melbourne, she has worked and lived in the United Kingdom since the 1990s.[2] Minogue achieved recognition starring in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, where she played tomboy mechanic Charlene Robinson. She came to prominence as a recording artist in the late 1980s and released four bubblegum and dance-pop-influenced studio albums produced by Stock Aitken Waterman and released by PWL. By the time she released her fourth album in the early 1990s, she had amassed several top ten singles in the UK and Australia, including "I Should Be So Lucky", "The Loco-Motion", "Hand on Your Heart", "Better the Devil You Know" and "Step Back in Time". Minogue, however, felt alienated and dissatisfied with the little creative control she had over her music.
In 1992, she left PWL and signed with Deconstruction Records, where she released Kylie Minogue (1994) and Impossible Princess (1997), both of which received positive reviews from critics, with the latter being often described as her most personal and best work. Returning to more mainstream dance-oriented music, Minogue signed to Parlophone and released her disco-influenced seventh studio album Light Years (2000), which was preceded by lead single "Spinning Around". The follow-up, Fever (2001) became her best-selling album to date and was a breakthrough for Minogue in markets where she had little recognition previously. Its lead single, "Can't Get You Out of My Head" became one of the most successful singles of the 2000s, selling over five million units. She continued reinventing her image and experimenting with a range of genres on her next albums, which produced successful singles such as "Slow", "2 Hearts" and "All the Lovers".
Minogue made her film debut in The Delinquents (1989) and portrayed Cammy in Street Fighter (1994). She has also appeared in the films Moulin Rouge! (2001), Jack & Diane, and Holy Motors (2012). In 2014, she appeared as a judge on the third series of The Voice UK and The Voice Australia. Her other ventures include product endorsements, children's books and fashion.
Minogue has sold 70 million records worldwide and has earned numerous awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award, three Brit Awards, 17 ARIA Music Awards, two MTV Europe Music Award and two MTV Video Music Award. She has mounted several successful and critically acclaimed concert tours for which she received a Mo Award for Australian Performer of the Year in 2001 and 2003. Minogue was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year Honours for services to Music.[3] She was appointed by the French government as a Chevalier (knight) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her contribution to the enrichment of French culture. In 2005, while Minogue was on her Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After treatment, she resumed the tour under the title Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour, which critics viewed as a "triumph". Minogue was awarded an honorary Doctor of Health Science (D.H.Sc.) degree by Anglia Ruskin University for her work in raising awareness for breast cancer. On the 25th anniversary of the ARIA Music Awards in 2011, she was inducted by the Australian Recording Industry Association into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
1968–1986: Early life and career beginnings
Kylie Ann Minogue was born on 28 May 1968 in Melbourne, Australia. Her father, Ronald Charles Minogue, is a fifth generation Australian and has Irish ancestry; her mother, Carol Ann Jones, came from Maesteg, Wales.[4] Jones had lived in Wales until age ten when her mother and father, Millie and Denis Jones, decided to move to Australia for a better life.[4] Just before Kylie's birth, Ron qualified as an accountant and worked through several jobs while Carol worked as a professional dancer.[5] Kylie's younger brother, Brendan, is a news cameraman in Australia, while her younger sister Dannii Minogue is also a singer and television host.[6] The Minogue family frequently moved around various suburbs in Melbourne to sustain their living expenses, which Kylie found unsettling as a child. After the birth of Dannii, the family moved to South Oakleigh.[5] Kylie would often stay at home reading, sewing and learning to play the violin and piano.[7] As money was tight, Ron worked as an accountant at a family-owned car company and Carol worked as a tea lady at a local hospital.[5] After moving to Surrey Hills, Melbourne, Minogue attended Studfield Primary School briefly before attending Camberwell Primary School. She went on to Camberwell High School.[8] During her schooling years, Minogue found it difficult to make friends.[9] She got her HSC (graduated high school) with subjects including Arts and Graphics and English.[10][11] Minogue described herself as being of "average intelligence" and "quite modest" during her high school years.[11] Growing up, she and her sister Dannii took singing and dancing lessons.[7]
A ten-year-old Minogue accompanied Dannii to a hearing arranged by the sisters' aunt, Suzette, and, while producers found Dannii too young, Alan Hardy gave Kylie a minor role in soap opera The Sullivans (1979).[6][7] She also appeared in another small role in Skyways (1980).[7] In 1985, she was cast in one of the lead roles in The Henderson Kids.[12] Minogue took time off school to film The Henderson Kids and while Carol was not impressed, Minogue felt that she needed the independence to make it into the entertainment industry.[13] During filming, co-star Nadine Garner labelled Minogue "fragile" after producers yelled at her for forgetting her lines; she would often cry on set.[13] Minogue was dropped from the second season of the show after producer Alan Hardy felt the need for her character to be "written off".[14] In retrospect, Hardy stated that removing her from the showing "turned out to be the best thing for her".[15] Interested in following a career in music, Minogue made a demo tape for the producers of weekly music programme Young Talent Time,[16] which featured Dannii as a regular performer.[17] Kylie gave her first television singing performance on the show in 1985 but was not invited to join the cast. Kylie was cast in the soap opera Neighbours in 1986,[8] as Charlene Mitchell, a schoolgirl turned garage mechanic. Neighbours achieved popularity in the UK, and a story arc that created a romance between her character and the character played by Jason Donovan culminated in a wedding episode in 1987 that attracted an audience of 20 million British viewers.[18][19] Minogue became the first person to win four Logie Awards in one year and was the youngest recipient of the "Gold Logie" as the country's "Most Popular Television Performer", with the result determined by public vote.[20]
1987–1989: Kylie and Enjoy Yourself
During a Fitzroy Football Club benefit concert with other Neighbours cast members, Minogue performed "I Got You Babe" as a duet with actor John Waters, and "The Loco-Motion" as an encore. She was subsequently signed to a recording contract with Mushroom Records in 1987.[21] Her first single, "The Locomotion", spent seven weeks at number one on the Australian singles charts and became the country's highest-selling single in the 1980s.[22] She received the ARIA Award for the year's highest-selling single.[23] Its success resulted in Minogue travelling to England with Mushroom Records executive Gary Ashley to work with producers Stock, Aitken & Waterman. They knew little of Minogue and had forgotten that she was arriving; as a result, they wrote "I Should Be So Lucky" while she waited outside the studio.[24] The song reached number one in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Israel and Hong Kong.[25] Minogue won her second consecutive ARIA Award for the year's highest-selling single, and received a "Special Achievement Award".[26] Minogue's debut album, Kylie was released in July 1988. The album is a collection of dance-oriented pop tunes and spent more than a year on the UK Albums Chart, including several weeks at number one.[27] It went gold in the United States, while the single "The Locomotion" reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart,[28] and number one on the Canadian dance chart.[29] The single "Got to Be Certain" became her third consecutive number one single on the Australian music charts.[30] Later in the year, she left Neighbours to focus on her music career. Minogue also collaborated with Jason Donovan for the song "Especially for You", which peaked at number-one in the United Kingdom and in December 2014 sold its one millionth copy in the UK. Minogue was sometimes referred to as "the Singing Budgie" by her detractors over the coming years.[31] In a review of the album Kylie for AllMusic, Chris True described the tunes as "standard, late-80s ... bubblegum", but added, "her cuteness makes these rather vapid tracks bearable".[32]
Minogue's second album Enjoy Yourself was released in October 1989. The album was a success in the United Kingdom, Europe, New Zealand, Asia and Australia and spawned number one singles "Hand on Your Heart" and "Tears on My Pillow".[27] However, it failed to sell well throughout North America and Minogue was dropped by her American record label Geffen Records. She then embarked on her first concert tour, the Enjoy Yourself Tour, in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and Australia in February 1990. She was also one of the featured vocalists on the remake of "Do They Know It's Christmas?".[33] Minogue's debut film, The Delinquents was released in December 1989. The movie received mixed reviews by critics but proved popular with audiences. In the UK it grossed more than £200,000,[34] and in Australia, it was the fourth-highest grossing local film of 1989 and the highest grossing local film of 1990.[35] From 1989 to 1991, Minogue dated INXS frontman Michael Hutchence.[36]
1990–1992: Rhythm of Love and Let's Get to It
Minogue's third album, Rhythm of Love was released in November 1990 and was described as "leaps and bounds more mature" than her previous albums.[37] Her relationship with Michael Hutchence was also seen as part of her departure from her earlier persona.[38] Its lead single, "Better the Devil You Know" peaked at number two in the UK and four in her native Australia.[27] The making of the "Better the Devil You Know" video was the first time Minogue "felt part of the creative process". She said: "I wasn’t in charge but I had a voice. I’d bought some clothes on King's Road for the video. I saw a new way to express my point of view creatively."[39] Rhythm of Love's second and fourth single, "Step Back in Time" and "Shocked" were both a top ten hit in the UK and Australia.[27] She then embarked on the Rhythm of Love Tour in February 1991.[40]
Minogue's fourth album, Let's Get to It was released in October 1991 and reached number 15 on the UK Albums Chart. It was her first album to fail to reach the top ten.[27] While the first single from the album, "Word Is Out", became her first single to miss the top ten of the UK Singles Chart,[27] subsequent singles "If You Were with Me Now" and "Give Me Just a Little More Time" both reached the top five.[27] In support of the album, she embarked on the Let's Get to It Tour in October. She later expressed her opinion that she was stifled by Stock, Aitken and Waterman, saying, "I was very much a puppet in the beginning. I was blinkered by my record company. I was unable to look left or right."[41] Her first Greatest Hits album was released in August 1992. It reached number one in the United Kingdom[27] and number three in Australia.[42] The singles from the album, "What Kind of Fool" and her cover version of Kool & the Gang's "Celebration" both reached the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart.[27]
1993–1998: Kylie Minogue and Impossible Princess
Minogue's signing with Deconstruction Records in 1993 marked a new phase in her career. Her fifth album Kylie Minogue was released in September 1994 and sold well in Europe and Australia. It was produced by dance music producers the Brothers In Rhythm, namely Dave Seaman and Steve Anderson, who had previously produced "Finer Feelings", her last single with PWL. As of 2015, Anderson continued to be Minogue's musical director.[43] The lead single, "Confide in Me", spent four weeks at number one on the Australian singles chart.[44] The next two singles from the album, "Put Yourself in My Place" and "Where Is the Feeling?", reached the top twenty on the UK Singles Chart,[27] while the album peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart,[27] eventually selling 250,000 copies.[45]
During this period, Minogue made a guest appearance as herself in an episode of the comedy The Vicar of Dibley. Director Steven E. de Souza saw Minogue's cover photo in Australia's Who Magazine as one of "The 30 Most Beautiful People in the World" and offered her a role opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in the film Street Fighter.[46] The film was a moderate success, earning US$70 million in the US,[46] but received poor reviews, with The Washington Post's Richard Harrington calling Minogue "the worst actress in the English-speaking world".[47] She had a minor role in the 1996 film Bio-Dome starring Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin.[48] She also appeared in the 1995 short film Hayride to Hell and in the 1997 film Diana & Me.[49] In 1995, Minogue collaborated with Australian artist Nick Cave for the song "Where the Wild Roses Grow". Cave had been interested in working with Minogue since hearing "Better the Devil You Know", saying it contained "one of pop music's most violent and distressing lyrics".[50] The music video for their song was inspired by John Everett Millais's painting Ophelia (1851–1852), and showed Minogue as the murdered woman, floating in a pond as a serpent swam over her body. The single received widespread attention in Europe, where it reached the top 10 in several countries, and reached number two in Australia.[51] The song won ARIA Awards for "Song of the Year" and "Best Pop Release".[52] Following concert appearances with Cave, Minogue recited the lyrics to "I Should Be So Lucky" as poetry in London's Royal Albert Hall
By 1997, Minogue was in a relationship with French photographer Stéphane Sednaoui, who encouraged her to develop her creativity.[54] Inspired by a mutual appreciation of Japanese culture, they created a visual combination of "geisha and manga superheroine" for the photographs taken for Minogue's sixth album Impossible Princess and the video for "German Bold Italic", Minogue's collaboration with Towa Tei.[55] She drew inspiration from the music of artists such as Shirley Manson and Garbage, Björk, Tricky and U2, and Japanese pop musicians such as Pizzicato Five and Towa Tei.[56] The album featured collaborations with musicians including James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore of the Manic Street Preachers. Impossible Princess garnered some negative reviews upon its release in 1997,[57] but would be praised as Minogue's most personal and best work in retrospective reviews. In 2003, Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani called it a "deeply personal effort" and "Minogue’s best album to date",[57] while Evan Sawdey, from PopMatters, described Impossible Princess as "one of the most crazed, damn-near perfect dance-pop albums ever created" in a 2008 review.[58] Mostly a dance album, Minogue countered suggestions that she was trying to become an indie artist.[59]
Acknowledging that she had attempted to escape the perceptions of her that had developed during her early career, Minogue commented that she was ready to "forget the painful criticism" and "accept the past, embrace it, use it".[53] The music video for "Did It Again" paid homage to her earlier incarnations.[60] Retitled Kylie Minogue in the UK following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, it became the lowest-selling album of her career. At the end of the year, a campaign by Virgin Radio stated, "We've done something to improve Kylie's records: we've banned them."[8] In Australia, the album was a success and spent 35 weeks on the album chart.[61] Minogue's Intimate and Live tour in 1998 was extended due to demand.[62] She gave several live performances in Australia, including the 1998 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras,[62] and the opening ceremonies of Melbourne's Crown Casino,[63] and Sydney's Fox Studios in 1999 (where she performed Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend")[64] as well as a Christmas concert in Dili, East Timor, in association with the United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces.[64] She played a small role in the Australian-made Molly Ringwald 2000 film Cut.
1999–2003: Light Years, Fever and Body Language
In 1999, Minogue performed a duet with the Pet Shop Boys' on their Nightlife album and spent several months in Barbados performing in Shakespeare's The Tempest.[65] She then appeared in the film Sample People and recorded a cover version of Russell Morris's "The Real Thing" for the soundtrack.[65] She signed with Parlophone in April, who wanted to re-establish Minogue as a pop artist.[66][67] Her seventh studio album, Light Years, was released on 25 September 2000.[68] NME magazine called it a "fun, perfectly-formed" record, which saw Minogue "dropping her considerable concern for cool and bouncing back to her disco-pop roots".[69] It was a commercial success, becoming Minogue's first number-one album in her native Australia.[70][71] The lead single, "Spinning Around", debuted atop the UK Singles Chart in July, making her only the second artist to have a number-one single in three consecutive decades (after Madonna).[72][73] Its accompanying video featured Minogue in revealing gold hotpants, which came to be regarded as a "trademark".[74] Three other singles—"On a Night Like This", "Kids" (with Robbie Williams), and "Please Stay"—peaked in the top ten in the United Kingdom.[27][75]
An elaborate art book titled Kylie, featuring contributions by Minogue and creative director William Baker, was published by Booth-Clibborn in March 2000.[76][77] At the time, she began a romantic relationship with model James Gooding.[78] In October, Minogue performed at both the closing ceremonies of 2000 Sydney Olympics and in the opening ceremony of the Paralympics.[79][80] Her performance of ABBA's "Dancing Queen" was chosen as one of the most memorable Olympic closing ceremony moments by Kate Samuelson of TNT.[81] The following year, she embarked on the On a Night Like This Tour, which was inspired by the style of Broadway shows and the musicals of the 1930s.[82][83] She also made a brief cameo as The Green Fairy in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!,[84] which earned her an MTV Movie Award nomination in 2002.[85] "Spinning Around" and Light Years consecutively won the ARIA Award for Best Pop Release in 2000 and 2001.
In 1992, she left PWL and signed with Deconstruction Records, where she released Kylie Minogue (1994) and Impossible Princess (1997), both of which received positive reviews from critics, with the latter being often described as her most personal and best work. Returning to more mainstream dance-oriented music, Minogue signed to Parlophone and released her disco-influenced seventh studio album Light Years (2000), which was preceded by lead single "Spinning Around". The follow-up, Fever (2001) became her best-selling album to date and was a breakthrough for Minogue in markets where she had little recognition previously. Its lead single, "Can't Get You Out of My Head" became one of the most successful singles of the 2000s, selling over five million units. She continued reinventing her image and experimenting with a range of genres on her next albums, which produced successful singles such as "Slow", "2 Hearts" and "All the Lovers".
Minogue made her film debut in The Delinquents (1989) and portrayed Cammy in Street Fighter (1994). She has also appeared in the films Moulin Rouge! (2001), Jack & Diane, and Holy Motors (2012). In 2014, she appeared as a judge on the third series of The Voice UK and The Voice Australia. Her other ventures include product endorsements, children's books and fashion.
Minogue has sold 70 million records worldwide and has earned numerous awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award, three Brit Awards, 17 ARIA Music Awards, two MTV Europe Music Award and two MTV Video Music Award. She has mounted several successful and critically acclaimed concert tours for which she received a Mo Award for Australian Performer of the Year in 2001 and 2003. Minogue was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year Honours for services to Music.[3] She was appointed by the French government as a Chevalier (knight) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her contribution to the enrichment of French culture. In 2005, while Minogue was on her Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After treatment, she resumed the tour under the title Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour, which critics viewed as a "triumph". Minogue was awarded an honorary Doctor of Health Science (D.H.Sc.) degree by Anglia Ruskin University for her work in raising awareness for breast cancer. On the 25th anniversary of the ARIA Music Awards in 2011, she was inducted by the Australian Recording Industry Association into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
1968–1986: Early life and career beginnings
Kylie Ann Minogue was born on 28 May 1968 in Melbourne, Australia. Her father, Ronald Charles Minogue, is a fifth generation Australian and has Irish ancestry; her mother, Carol Ann Jones, came from Maesteg, Wales.[4] Jones had lived in Wales until age ten when her mother and father, Millie and Denis Jones, decided to move to Australia for a better life.[4] Just before Kylie's birth, Ron qualified as an accountant and worked through several jobs while Carol worked as a professional dancer.[5] Kylie's younger brother, Brendan, is a news cameraman in Australia, while her younger sister Dannii Minogue is also a singer and television host.[6] The Minogue family frequently moved around various suburbs in Melbourne to sustain their living expenses, which Kylie found unsettling as a child. After the birth of Dannii, the family moved to South Oakleigh.[5] Kylie would often stay at home reading, sewing and learning to play the violin and piano.[7] As money was tight, Ron worked as an accountant at a family-owned car company and Carol worked as a tea lady at a local hospital.[5] After moving to Surrey Hills, Melbourne, Minogue attended Studfield Primary School briefly before attending Camberwell Primary School. She went on to Camberwell High School.[8] During her schooling years, Minogue found it difficult to make friends.[9] She got her HSC (graduated high school) with subjects including Arts and Graphics and English.[10][11] Minogue described herself as being of "average intelligence" and "quite modest" during her high school years.[11] Growing up, she and her sister Dannii took singing and dancing lessons.[7]
A ten-year-old Minogue accompanied Dannii to a hearing arranged by the sisters' aunt, Suzette, and, while producers found Dannii too young, Alan Hardy gave Kylie a minor role in soap opera The Sullivans (1979).[6][7] She also appeared in another small role in Skyways (1980).[7] In 1985, she was cast in one of the lead roles in The Henderson Kids.[12] Minogue took time off school to film The Henderson Kids and while Carol was not impressed, Minogue felt that she needed the independence to make it into the entertainment industry.[13] During filming, co-star Nadine Garner labelled Minogue "fragile" after producers yelled at her for forgetting her lines; she would often cry on set.[13] Minogue was dropped from the second season of the show after producer Alan Hardy felt the need for her character to be "written off".[14] In retrospect, Hardy stated that removing her from the showing "turned out to be the best thing for her".[15] Interested in following a career in music, Minogue made a demo tape for the producers of weekly music programme Young Talent Time,[16] which featured Dannii as a regular performer.[17] Kylie gave her first television singing performance on the show in 1985 but was not invited to join the cast. Kylie was cast in the soap opera Neighbours in 1986,[8] as Charlene Mitchell, a schoolgirl turned garage mechanic. Neighbours achieved popularity in the UK, and a story arc that created a romance between her character and the character played by Jason Donovan culminated in a wedding episode in 1987 that attracted an audience of 20 million British viewers.[18][19] Minogue became the first person to win four Logie Awards in one year and was the youngest recipient of the "Gold Logie" as the country's "Most Popular Television Performer", with the result determined by public vote.[20]
1987–1989: Kylie and Enjoy Yourself
During a Fitzroy Football Club benefit concert with other Neighbours cast members, Minogue performed "I Got You Babe" as a duet with actor John Waters, and "The Loco-Motion" as an encore. She was subsequently signed to a recording contract with Mushroom Records in 1987.[21] Her first single, "The Locomotion", spent seven weeks at number one on the Australian singles charts and became the country's highest-selling single in the 1980s.[22] She received the ARIA Award for the year's highest-selling single.[23] Its success resulted in Minogue travelling to England with Mushroom Records executive Gary Ashley to work with producers Stock, Aitken & Waterman. They knew little of Minogue and had forgotten that she was arriving; as a result, they wrote "I Should Be So Lucky" while she waited outside the studio.[24] The song reached number one in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Israel and Hong Kong.[25] Minogue won her second consecutive ARIA Award for the year's highest-selling single, and received a "Special Achievement Award".[26] Minogue's debut album, Kylie was released in July 1988. The album is a collection of dance-oriented pop tunes and spent more than a year on the UK Albums Chart, including several weeks at number one.[27] It went gold in the United States, while the single "The Locomotion" reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart,[28] and number one on the Canadian dance chart.[29] The single "Got to Be Certain" became her third consecutive number one single on the Australian music charts.[30] Later in the year, she left Neighbours to focus on her music career. Minogue also collaborated with Jason Donovan for the song "Especially for You", which peaked at number-one in the United Kingdom and in December 2014 sold its one millionth copy in the UK. Minogue was sometimes referred to as "the Singing Budgie" by her detractors over the coming years.[31] In a review of the album Kylie for AllMusic, Chris True described the tunes as "standard, late-80s ... bubblegum", but added, "her cuteness makes these rather vapid tracks bearable".[32]
Minogue's second album Enjoy Yourself was released in October 1989. The album was a success in the United Kingdom, Europe, New Zealand, Asia and Australia and spawned number one singles "Hand on Your Heart" and "Tears on My Pillow".[27] However, it failed to sell well throughout North America and Minogue was dropped by her American record label Geffen Records. She then embarked on her first concert tour, the Enjoy Yourself Tour, in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and Australia in February 1990. She was also one of the featured vocalists on the remake of "Do They Know It's Christmas?".[33] Minogue's debut film, The Delinquents was released in December 1989. The movie received mixed reviews by critics but proved popular with audiences. In the UK it grossed more than £200,000,[34] and in Australia, it was the fourth-highest grossing local film of 1989 and the highest grossing local film of 1990.[35] From 1989 to 1991, Minogue dated INXS frontman Michael Hutchence.[36]
1990–1992: Rhythm of Love and Let's Get to It
Minogue's third album, Rhythm of Love was released in November 1990 and was described as "leaps and bounds more mature" than her previous albums.[37] Her relationship with Michael Hutchence was also seen as part of her departure from her earlier persona.[38] Its lead single, "Better the Devil You Know" peaked at number two in the UK and four in her native Australia.[27] The making of the "Better the Devil You Know" video was the first time Minogue "felt part of the creative process". She said: "I wasn’t in charge but I had a voice. I’d bought some clothes on King's Road for the video. I saw a new way to express my point of view creatively."[39] Rhythm of Love's second and fourth single, "Step Back in Time" and "Shocked" were both a top ten hit in the UK and Australia.[27] She then embarked on the Rhythm of Love Tour in February 1991.[40]
Minogue's fourth album, Let's Get to It was released in October 1991 and reached number 15 on the UK Albums Chart. It was her first album to fail to reach the top ten.[27] While the first single from the album, "Word Is Out", became her first single to miss the top ten of the UK Singles Chart,[27] subsequent singles "If You Were with Me Now" and "Give Me Just a Little More Time" both reached the top five.[27] In support of the album, she embarked on the Let's Get to It Tour in October. She later expressed her opinion that she was stifled by Stock, Aitken and Waterman, saying, "I was very much a puppet in the beginning. I was blinkered by my record company. I was unable to look left or right."[41] Her first Greatest Hits album was released in August 1992. It reached number one in the United Kingdom[27] and number three in Australia.[42] The singles from the album, "What Kind of Fool" and her cover version of Kool & the Gang's "Celebration" both reached the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart.[27]
1993–1998: Kylie Minogue and Impossible Princess
Minogue's signing with Deconstruction Records in 1993 marked a new phase in her career. Her fifth album Kylie Minogue was released in September 1994 and sold well in Europe and Australia. It was produced by dance music producers the Brothers In Rhythm, namely Dave Seaman and Steve Anderson, who had previously produced "Finer Feelings", her last single with PWL. As of 2015, Anderson continued to be Minogue's musical director.[43] The lead single, "Confide in Me", spent four weeks at number one on the Australian singles chart.[44] The next two singles from the album, "Put Yourself in My Place" and "Where Is the Feeling?", reached the top twenty on the UK Singles Chart,[27] while the album peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart,[27] eventually selling 250,000 copies.[45]
During this period, Minogue made a guest appearance as herself in an episode of the comedy The Vicar of Dibley. Director Steven E. de Souza saw Minogue's cover photo in Australia's Who Magazine as one of "The 30 Most Beautiful People in the World" and offered her a role opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in the film Street Fighter.[46] The film was a moderate success, earning US$70 million in the US,[46] but received poor reviews, with The Washington Post's Richard Harrington calling Minogue "the worst actress in the English-speaking world".[47] She had a minor role in the 1996 film Bio-Dome starring Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin.[48] She also appeared in the 1995 short film Hayride to Hell and in the 1997 film Diana & Me.[49] In 1995, Minogue collaborated with Australian artist Nick Cave for the song "Where the Wild Roses Grow". Cave had been interested in working with Minogue since hearing "Better the Devil You Know", saying it contained "one of pop music's most violent and distressing lyrics".[50] The music video for their song was inspired by John Everett Millais's painting Ophelia (1851–1852), and showed Minogue as the murdered woman, floating in a pond as a serpent swam over her body. The single received widespread attention in Europe, where it reached the top 10 in several countries, and reached number two in Australia.[51] The song won ARIA Awards for "Song of the Year" and "Best Pop Release".[52] Following concert appearances with Cave, Minogue recited the lyrics to "I Should Be So Lucky" as poetry in London's Royal Albert Hall
By 1997, Minogue was in a relationship with French photographer Stéphane Sednaoui, who encouraged her to develop her creativity.[54] Inspired by a mutual appreciation of Japanese culture, they created a visual combination of "geisha and manga superheroine" for the photographs taken for Minogue's sixth album Impossible Princess and the video for "German Bold Italic", Minogue's collaboration with Towa Tei.[55] She drew inspiration from the music of artists such as Shirley Manson and Garbage, Björk, Tricky and U2, and Japanese pop musicians such as Pizzicato Five and Towa Tei.[56] The album featured collaborations with musicians including James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore of the Manic Street Preachers. Impossible Princess garnered some negative reviews upon its release in 1997,[57] but would be praised as Minogue's most personal and best work in retrospective reviews. In 2003, Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani called it a "deeply personal effort" and "Minogue’s best album to date",[57] while Evan Sawdey, from PopMatters, described Impossible Princess as "one of the most crazed, damn-near perfect dance-pop albums ever created" in a 2008 review.[58] Mostly a dance album, Minogue countered suggestions that she was trying to become an indie artist.[59]
Acknowledging that she had attempted to escape the perceptions of her that had developed during her early career, Minogue commented that she was ready to "forget the painful criticism" and "accept the past, embrace it, use it".[53] The music video for "Did It Again" paid homage to her earlier incarnations.[60] Retitled Kylie Minogue in the UK following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, it became the lowest-selling album of her career. At the end of the year, a campaign by Virgin Radio stated, "We've done something to improve Kylie's records: we've banned them."[8] In Australia, the album was a success and spent 35 weeks on the album chart.[61] Minogue's Intimate and Live tour in 1998 was extended due to demand.[62] She gave several live performances in Australia, including the 1998 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras,[62] and the opening ceremonies of Melbourne's Crown Casino,[63] and Sydney's Fox Studios in 1999 (where she performed Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend")[64] as well as a Christmas concert in Dili, East Timor, in association with the United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces.[64] She played a small role in the Australian-made Molly Ringwald 2000 film Cut.
1999–2003: Light Years, Fever and Body Language
In 1999, Minogue performed a duet with the Pet Shop Boys' on their Nightlife album and spent several months in Barbados performing in Shakespeare's The Tempest.[65] She then appeared in the film Sample People and recorded a cover version of Russell Morris's "The Real Thing" for the soundtrack.[65] She signed with Parlophone in April, who wanted to re-establish Minogue as a pop artist.[66][67] Her seventh studio album, Light Years, was released on 25 September 2000.[68] NME magazine called it a "fun, perfectly-formed" record, which saw Minogue "dropping her considerable concern for cool and bouncing back to her disco-pop roots".[69] It was a commercial success, becoming Minogue's first number-one album in her native Australia.[70][71] The lead single, "Spinning Around", debuted atop the UK Singles Chart in July, making her only the second artist to have a number-one single in three consecutive decades (after Madonna).[72][73] Its accompanying video featured Minogue in revealing gold hotpants, which came to be regarded as a "trademark".[74] Three other singles—"On a Night Like This", "Kids" (with Robbie Williams), and "Please Stay"—peaked in the top ten in the United Kingdom.[27][75]
An elaborate art book titled Kylie, featuring contributions by Minogue and creative director William Baker, was published by Booth-Clibborn in March 2000.[76][77] At the time, she began a romantic relationship with model James Gooding.[78] In October, Minogue performed at both the closing ceremonies of 2000 Sydney Olympics and in the opening ceremony of the Paralympics.[79][80] Her performance of ABBA's "Dancing Queen" was chosen as one of the most memorable Olympic closing ceremony moments by Kate Samuelson of TNT.[81] The following year, she embarked on the On a Night Like This Tour, which was inspired by the style of Broadway shows and the musicals of the 1930s.[82][83] She also made a brief cameo as The Green Fairy in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!,[84] which earned her an MTV Movie Award nomination in 2002.[85] "Spinning Around" and Light Years consecutively won the ARIA Award for Best Pop Release in 2000 and 2001.
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