For 25 years she couldn’t get it out of her head, now Kylie Minogue’s big in America

Four decades after she rose to fame playing a mechanic in Neighbours, Kylie Minogue, 55, is preparing to conquer America.

Minogue will play at Voltaire, a new 1000-capacity venue at the Venetian resort in Las Vegas. Picture: Redferns/Getty Images/The Times

Four decades after she rose to fame playing a mechanic in an Australian TV soap opera, Kylie Minogue is preparing to conquer America.

In November the singer will begin a series of shows at Voltaire, a new 1000-capacity venue at the Venetian resort in Las Vegas. She will become the latest in a long line of musical giants to take up residencies in the desert city, from Liberace to Elvis and Celine Dion to Adele. Unlike the rest of them, though, Minogue has never enjoyed sustained success in the United States. Can she do it now, at 55?

To date she has only had two songs in the top 10 of the US singles chart – her 1987 debut single, The Loco-Motion and, almost 25 years later, Can’t Get You Out of My Head – and has not toured in North America since 2011.

Minogue has previously taken the view that it is better the devil you know when it comes to international superstardom. She admitted in 2002 that she did not “know if I have the drive and enthusiasm to break in America” and that she had “resigned myself to the fact that America wouldn’t be like the rest of the world for me. I’m anonymous there – which, I must confess, I kind of like”.

At 55, Kylie Minogue is heading to Las Vegas. Picture: Getty Images/The Venetian Resort Las Vegas

The disparity dates back almost to the beginning of her music career. The Loco-Motion shot to the top of the Australian singles chart and reached two and three, respectively, in the UK and US, shortly after she made her name as Charlene Mitchell on Neighbours. At the time she was working with the producer trio Stock Aitken Waterman (Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman), who brought out her first four albums.

Her fortunes diverged on either side of the Atlantic after The Loco-Motion’s success. Her debut album reached the top of the British chart but only 53 in America. Enjoy Yourself, Minogue’s second LP, released in 1989, again hit No. 1 in the UK but failed to chart in America when it was released by US label Geffen the following year. After that none of her records got a release stateside until 2001.

In hindsight, Minogue did not fit with the label’s other artists, such as Aerosmith and Guns N’ Roses. “Geffen wasn’t really the label for Kylie,” said Waterman, who co-produced the album. “Record companies are important because if they don’t get the artist there is no point in putting them out.”

She was also still on Neighbours so could not tour US radio stations and chat shows. “The business is fraught with problems and is littered with dramatic failures,” Stock said.

Minogue in her video for I Should Be So Lucky, which is now a musical developed by her former producers, Stock, Aitken and Waterman. Picture: Stock Aitken Waterman/The Times

“Everything has to be right: the marketing, the promotion, the video, the actual distribution in record stores, making sure you’ve got press line-up. If one of them falls over, you can lose the whole project.”

Stock, Aitken and Waterman have developed a musical, I Should Be So Lucky, that draws on the back catalogue of Minogue and artists such as Rick Astley and Donna Summer. It is set to tour the UK from November but the trio do not yet have plans to export it to America.

Minogue went on her first North American tour in 2009, playing only nine dates.

“On a purely financial, boring logistical note, it’s not something that bean counters would say, ‘Yeah, that’s a great idea!’ ” she told Rolling Stone in 2018. “But at this point in my life and my career, I think, ‘Man, I really wanna go and see these people! Find a way and make it happen!’ ”

While she has had a monopoly on the Kylie name in Britain and Australia, she has been overshadowed in America by Kylie Jenner, the supermodel member of the Kardashian family. They got into a copyright spat in 2015 when Jenner tried to trademark the name Kylie. The dispute was settled after two years.

Kylie Jenner tried to trademark the name Kylie and became involved in a copyright dispute with Minogue. Picture: WWD/Penske Media/Getty Images/The Times

In recent years Minogue has tried to assert herself more in America. Padam Padam, which she released in May, has been a global viral hit, especially with children on TikTok and among gay fans, who have adopted it as a Pride anthem. Having performed it on American Idol, Minogue reached the top 10 of the American dance chart.

“It feels good,” Minogue told the reality TV host Andy Cohen earlier this year. “I think Padam has really given me a chance to reach everyone.”

What has never been in doubt is Minogue’s work ethic and ability to reinvent herself.

“She sits there and you wouldn’t know she’s in a room,” Waterman said. “When you bring a camera or a journalist into a room she lights up.

“She is instant and it’s unbelievable how she’s managed to do that throughout her career. She knows when to move on, to do things differently. She’s not frightened to try things that are quite shocking. She’s obviously convinced Vegas will work.”

She should be so lucky.

The Sunday Times