Kylie Minogue: Happy 25 years at the top

When Kylie Ann Minogue first entered the national consciousness as a bubbly schoolgirl turned mechanic Charlene on Australian soap Neighbours in 1986, few would have guessed that over a quarter of a century later she would be a pop icon.

Even after early hits ‘Locomotion’ and ‘Especially for You’, her emergence as one of the dominant pop artists of the next two decades seemed a little implausible, surely here was just another teen idol destined to fade as her audience and she grew up?

Yet there was a more mature edge to Kylie that the wider world had yet to see, one that would serve her well later in her career. Even though her move in the 1990s towards a more adult image did not garner universal critical acclaim, it sowed the seeds of the emergence of Kylie as the pop princess, which was cool to like.

2000’s ‘Light Years’ was where the Kylie Minogue most will know today really emerged. Full of disco inspired anthems like ‘Spinning Around’ and ‘On a Night Like This’, it marked the moment where she embraced both sides of herself as an artist; the star with a mainstream appeal who wanted to be more than an inoffensive pretty face.

This continued with the release of her next album ‘Fever’ in 2001. At times that autumn it seemed as if the only place you could avoid her infectious single ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’ would’ve been to blast yourself into space. Even then you’d have probably encountered an alien race that couldn’t resist its catchy dance-pop beat.

After this huge success, she continued putting out blockbuster singles and albums that combined her mainstream credentials with irreverence and a dark sense of fun. Songs like ‘Slow’ which breezed to No. 1 despite being risqué in their content and genuinely musically intriguing.

Next was the cementing of her place in pop royalty by becoming a much heralded live act: the ‘Showgirl’ tour setting the bar for bombastic performances that are now regarded as an essential part of any singer’s repertoire.

So happy 25 years at the top Kylie. You’ve had your ups and downs but perhaps it has been precisely this that has enabled you to become that rare thing; a former teen idol who has endured to become a genuine icon of pop music.

Mark Worgan
Photo: Courtesy of Specsavers