Kylie Minogue has achieved that rare status – she is instantly recognised by just her first name. She is internationally successful not only as a chart topping pop singer, songwriter and actress, but also as a fashion icon, designer, entrepreneur, actress and philanthropist.

Born in Melbourne in 1968, Kylie began her acting career in 1976 as a child in the TV drama series The Sullivans. She went on to achieve national recognition as Charlene in Neighbours. She made her feature film debut in The Delinquents (1989), which became a box-office hit in Australia and the UK. Her subsequent screen work has included Moulin Rouge! (2001), guest appearances on Kath & Kim (2004) and Doctor Who (2007) and the critically acclaimed Holy Motors which featured at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012.

As a singer, Kylie appeared with sister Dannii on Young Talent Time in 1985. In 1987 she signed with Mushroom Records and exploded onto the music scene. Her first release, ‘The Loco-Motion’, became the highest selling Australian single of the decade, and led to a contract with UK based songwriters and producers Stock, Aitken & Waterman. She made history with her 1988 debut album, Kylie, which entered the charts at #1 and became the first album by a female solo artist to exceed sales of two million in the UK; it ultimately went seven-times platinum. She had similar success with the single ‘I Should Be So Lucky’. Both it and the Kylie album sold millions across Europe, Asia and Australasia.

The next two years saw Kylie’s worldwide music career take off, releasing an incredible 13 UK Top Ten singles. In 1992 she established herself as a liberated performer. She had huge hits with the single ‘Confide in Me’ and with ‘Where the Wild Roses Grow’, the latter a duet with Nick Cave. Kylie took creative control over her next album, Impossible Princess. In 1998 she was a guest of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras; the following year she sang at the opening of Fox Studios in Sydney, and for the United Nations forces in East Timor. She returned to musical prominence in 2000 with the single ‘Spinning Around’ from the album Light Years, which she performed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics closing ceremony.

In 2001 Kylie returned to the US Top 10 with the global smash single “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” from her album Fever. The song reached #7 on Billboard’s Hot 100, while both the song and the album received Platinum certification. Another Fever single, ‘Come Into My World’ earned her a coveted Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording; since then she has been nominated for four further Grammys, including Best Dance Recording and Best Electronic/Dance Album.

Kylie’s countless other awards reflect her international star status: she has received BRIT Awards, ARIA Awards, German Bambi Awards, Ivor Novello Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, MTV Asia Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards, MTV Movie Awards, Mo Awards, Much Music Video Awards, NME Awards, NRJ Music Awards, Q Awards, Top of the Pops Awards, and many more.

Kylie has continued to wow her fans performing to sell-out crowds throughout the world in spectacular live shows time and time again. In 2006 she wowed with Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour. Her tenth album, X, was followed by the KylieX2008 tour. In 2009 she made her first US concert tour. The 2011 Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour was Kylie’s biggest tour to date also earning her the Helpmann Award for ‘Best Australian Contemporary Concert’.

Kylie has donated her costumes and other memorabilia to Arts Centre Melbourne’s Performing Arts Collection. It formed the basis of a major exhibition which was presented around Australia in 2005 and subsequently was the first popular culture exhibition shown at the V & A Museum in the UK. In 2008 Kylie was awarded an Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and the Order of the British Empire in recognition of her ‘services to music’. In Australia in 2011 she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

Despite more than two decades in the international spotlight and selling more than 70 million records worldwide, Kylie says she’s ‘Just getting started’.