Born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1968, Kylie Minogue began an acting career at the age of 11 when she appeared in the Australian television shows Skyways and The Sullivans, but it was not until she left high school in 1986 that she landed the role she became famous for – Charlene in Neighbours.
In 1987, at the age of 19, she made her live singing debut performing the old Little Eva song Locomotion at the opening of a major football game in Sydney. Released as a single, it raced to #1 down-under for seven weeks.
With Neighbours being one of the most popular programs on British television (go figure), Bananarama producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman invited Kylie to their London recording studios. International stardom was assured.
With the S/A/W factory behind her, Kylie took the #1 spot in Britain (and four other countries) with I Should Be So Lucky, which all the major record companies had turned down before it was released on Pete Waterman’s own PWL label.
Kylie’s second single, Got To Be Certain, reached #2 in the UK in 1988, and #1 in Australia, Belgium, Israel, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Finland, together with Top 10 positions throughout Europe and Asia.
Her self-titled debut album (July 1988) continued the success story, eventually selling 7,000,000 copies. At the same time, re-releases of Locomotion and I Should Be So Lucky in the USA established Kylie as a star on both sides of the Atlantic.
With the release of her duet with Neighbours co-star Jason Donovan, Especially For You, in November 1988, Kylie became the first female artist ever to have her first five singles all go silver This brought Kylie’s single sales in the UK to well over 2 million and gave her her second UK #1.
In 1989, Kylie starred in her first movie – the 1950s-based film The Delinquents, and with the release of Hand On Your Heart in May 1989 (the first single from her second album), Kylie enjoyed her third #1 in the UK.
The single Wouldn’t Change A Thing debuted at #2 in the UK in July and remained there for two weeks, thus creating history again for Kylie with all of her seven singles, album and video charting at either # 1 or #2 in the UK.
Kylie’s second album Enjoy Yourself was released in October and entered the UK chart at #1 with triple platinum sales.
At the end of December Kylie flew into the UK to take a place normally reserved for royalty by turning on the Regent Street Christmas lights and caused chaos in central London. She also drew a crowd of 20,000 in Leicester Square when she attended the world premiere of The Delinquents.
April 1990 saw the release of a new single – Better The Devil You Know – and with it, a controversial video showing a much more mature and sophisticated Kylie Minogue. Her much-awaited third album Rhythm Of Love was released in November 1990.
