Why we are so ‘lucky, lucky, lucky’ to have Kylie Minogue

While it’s okay to be excited about international pop stars, we should realise how lucky, lucky, lucky we are to have Kylie Minogue - our own record-breaking ‘Princess of Pop’, writes Karlie Rutherford.

Cast your mind back to February 2024. Or what is probably better known as the month Taylor Swift mania hit Australia when Swift touched down for her Eras Tour.

Remember the frenzy? The live crosses to Sydney Airport, where journalists were tracking the route of her private jet.

The fans congregated outside her hotel room, hoping to catch even a glimpse of a member of Swift’s entourage let alone the singer herself.

Now let’s return to 2025 - when our very own ‘princess of pop’ Kylie Minogue returned home last month to open her Tension tour.

It was the first leg of a world tour that will see her performing in arenas everywhere from Bangkok to Berlin, including two shows at America’s famed Madison Square Garden in New York, before finishing in Mexico in late August.

Kylie Minogue returned home last month to open her Tension tour. It was the first leg of a world tour. Picture: Supplied by Frontier Touring/Erik Melvin

At age 56, it’s Kylie’s biggest tour since 2011’s Aphrodite: Le Folies Tour and last week I was able to witness one of Australia’s most famous exports in all her glory at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena.

I experienced the same concert-goers’ high as I did at Taylor’s concert, yet one thing struck me - there was no hype.

Of course, Taylor Swift is selling more records right now thanks to her legions of Swifties. But I couldn’t help but be left with a feeling that Australia takes our Kylie for granted.

Walking out of her concert, just like I had Swift’s, my feet were sore but my soul was high. That feeling of joy was back.

Kylie Minoguene is one of the world’s most successful pop stars. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Kylie Minogue has just got on with doing what she loves. Picture: Josh Woning

Kylie reminded me why she’s one of the world’s most successful pop stars, whose long and enviable career has survived peaks and troughs, spiteful critics, health crises (she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006) and constant reinvention. 

From pop, to dance, to country to Indie Rock, our Kylie has done it all.

She’s won two-Grammys, four Brit Awards and eighteen ARIAS. She is the only female artist in the UK charts with chart-topping albums and a top ten single in five consecutive decades. So where was the mania?

While this city seems to be enamoured when overseas singers grace us with their presence, we’ve got our own record-breaking icon right here.

Or is that the reason why we love Kylie? Because despite her success, she’s just a girl from Melbourne, who just gets on with it. Without making a fuss.

My only regret was that my daughter was too young to experience it. I would have loved her first introduction to live music to be an Australian woman, who has put her head down, her boots on, and just got on with doing what she loves.

Or in her own words “swam against the current when it felt like things were going against me”.

Yet I have a feeling there are plenty more Kylie reinventions to experience in the future.

For now, while it’s okay to be excited about an international pop star, we should realise how lucky lucky lucky we are to have our Kylie.

The writer was a guest of Frontier.