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By wearing Kylie's name on her
T-Shirt at the 2000 MTV Europe Music Awards, even
Madonna knows that Kylie Minogue is quite a
contender for the title 'Queen if pop' and at 32,
entertaining the world for over 14 years, she
certainly deserves the title. 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. People are uncertain about her title as
Princess of pop but in her own words 'They can kiss
my hotpants'
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