Kim Petras on headlining Sydney World Pride and her drunken Madonna encounter
World Pride headliner Kim Petras is living her dreams – among them, a “very drunk” meeting with the Queen of Pop, Madonna.
It’s been four years since singer Kim Petras last visited our shores, performing at the 2019 Sydney Mardi Gras. She has fond memories of that visit – namely, meeting her idol, Kylie Minogue.
“I’m a Kylie Minogue stan [stalker/fan], before I am anything else. It was the craziest thing ever. Literally the first restaurant I went to in Sydney, Kylie Minogue was there. Then we met at Mardi Gras, and it was very camp,” Petras told me in the latest episode of news.com.au’s I’ve Got News For You podcast.
Back then, Petras was still something of a cult proposition, releasing killer single after killer single to a niche, mostly queer, fanbase.
All that changed last year, when she teamed up with Sam Smith for their worldwide number one hit Unholy. Its success was groundbreaking: Sam, a non-binary artist, and Kim, a transgender woman, topping the Billboard Hot 100.
It’s also just a flat-out weird song (sample lyric: “Mummy don’t know Daddy’s getting hot / At the body shop, doing something unholy”).
“I mean, the last project I dropped before unholy was Slut Pop, which was an extreme dirty record, which I love,” Kim said, explaining that she’s influenced by the racy music she listened to in her own youth.
“I remember when [Moulin Rouge hit] Lady Marmalade came out, I was like, ‘That’s it, I want to be a callgirl,’” the 30-year-old said.
“Those are the coolest songs, man! I never felt cooler than listening to songs that my parents didn’t want me to listen to, or my teachers in school didn’t want me to listen to.”
As the song conquered the charts and Kim’s fame grew, she’s had more of those pinch-me meetings with some of her own pop idols. Most recently: Queen of Pop Madonna. The pair bumped into each other at a party after Kim performed on Saturday Night Live.
“I was honestly very drunk, and I was just like: ‘You are the blueprint of every pop artist that’s ever been. No one’s ever done it like you. I was pretending you were my friend when I was a kid. And I was just going on and on and on and on,” she said.
Madonna accepted the drunken fangirling graciously – and, perhaps sensing Kim might not remember the meeting the next morning, suggested they get a photo together.
“I’m really glad that she did that … I feel like she knew I was just drunk and I was gonna just keep going,” she said with a laugh.
“I’m so lucky. I’m truly like a product of the progress that she’s really created and keep doors open for so long for someone like me to exist. So I’m still crying about that happening, to be honest.”
Kim Petras plays Rainbow Republic, the closing concert of Sydney World Pride, on Sunday March 5. Her new single Brr is out now.
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