|
Kylie returns with new hit song
05/11/2007 16:48 - (SA)
London - Australian pop star Kylie
Minogue caps her comeback from breast cancer with the digital
release on Monday of a track from her first studio album in four
years.
2 Hearts hits the shelves a week later, while X, the
diminutive singer's 10th studio album, goes on sale on November 26.
2 Hearts has already been branded a "surefire No 1" by the
Sun tabloid, reflecting Minogue's huge popularity in Britain
where she has transformed herself from a 1980s soap star into an
international fashion icon and top-selling artist.
Her battle with breast cancer after she was diagnosed with
the disease in May, 2005, has enhanced her image.
"If Kylie won admiration for her pop success, her courage
and dignity in the face of her 2005 battle against breast cancer
earned the public's enduring respect," Hello magazine said in
its profile of the star.
Minogue, 39, was forced to suspend her "Showgirl Tour" and
underwent surgery in Melbourne.
Chemotherapy
Her surgeon expressed confidence
that the disease had been found early enough to allow for a
"complete recovery".
She underwent a course of chemotherapy in Paris where her
then boyfriend, French actor Olivier Martinez, has a home.
"When you are stripped of everything and you have to grow
your eyelashes back, grow your hair back, it's astonishing," she
told Glamour magazine in a recent interview.
"It's hard to express what I've learnt from that, but a deep
psychological and emotional shift has obviously taken place."
During her recovery Minogue penned a children's book and
made occasional public appearances before returning to the stage
in Sydney a year ago to resume her tour.
World tour
Since then she has faced the full glare of the media with
red carpet appearances, and with the album release, a DVD
documentary and an hour-long programme on British television, it
may soon be a case of "Can't get her out of the headlines".
A spokesperson said she had discussed the possibility of a
world tour in 2008 with her creative director William Baker.
"They have definitely discussed that idea, but it is only
one of several ideas," he said.
Celebrity commentators believe Minogue's success, like
Madonna's, is partly down to her ability to reinvent herself.
She started in the 1980s as a performer of manufactured pop,
with hits including I Should Be So Lucky and Especially For
You, before cultivating a more sophisticated edge with ventures
like a macabre duet Where the Wild Roses Grow with Nick Cave.
The influence of disco made her music more camp and cool,
and a raunchy lingerie advertisement showed she was not afraid
to flaunt her figure.
Social networking site
For her 2 Hearts video, Minogue adopts a Marilyn Monroe
look, and a newspaper reported on Sunday she had launched her
own social networking site in a bid to harness the internet to
sell music and broaden her fan base.
According to the Official Charts Company, she is one of only
four female solo acts to have four or more number one British
albums, and among women, only Madonna has had more top ten
singles. Minogue's global album sales are around 40 million.
Interest in her personal life is intense, but since
splitting with Martinez she has said little other than to
express an interest in one day having a family.
- Reuters
|
South Africa
