{"id":679829,"date":"2026-05-19T02:06:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T02:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/679829\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T02:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T02:06:12","slug":"kylie-minogue-on-career-spanning-doco-michael-hutchence-nick-cave-and-the-afl-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/679829\/","title":{"rendered":"Kylie Minogue on career-spanning doco, Michael Hutchence, Nick Cave and the AFL"},"content":{"rendered":"

She has reigned as certified Australian pop royalty across five decades, rising from homegrown TV sensation to worldwide chart domination.<\/p>\n

As with any storied superstar, however, the dazzling professional highs inevitably come with some squirming middles and difficult lows. And Minogue’s career is no exception.<\/p>\n

“It was all of that and everything in between,” Minogue tells ABC News Breakfast on the eve of a career-spanning documentary.<\/p>\n

Titled simply KYLIE and landing in three parts on Netflix this week, the docuseries delves deep, with Minogue herself opening up her own photos and home movie archives to filmmakers.<\/p>\n

“It involved a little bit of bravery. I’m not going to lie,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Just saying yes to the entire project and then having to sit through \u2026 some of it,” she confesses. “But I think it’s a good representation of everything that’s transpired.”<\/p>\n

From recording in the studio to her iconic music videos and performing to epic crowds at arenas and Glastonbury festival, the docuseries features plenty of Minogue’s triumphant milestones.<\/p>\n

Continually reinventing herself and producing numerous hits that have made her Australia’s highest-selling female artist, KYLIE aims to celebrate its namesake’s enduring influence and popularity. But it does not shy away from the tougher stuff, either.<\/p>\n

Behind the hits<\/p>\n

Minogue was the subject of intense scrutiny from the beginning, facing down vicious media headlines dismissing her as “talentless” and “the singing budgie” during her transition from playing “Charlene” on TV series Neighbours to a career in music.<\/p>\n

In the trailer, she speaks candidly of her frustrations with media backlash and feeling “removed” from her body in the wake of being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005.<\/p>\n

“We didn’t know if she was ever going to be well again,” her sister, Dannii Minogue, remarks in one clip. “I just wanted to be with my sister \u2026 music kept us going.”<\/p>\n

Loading Instagram content<\/p>\n

Dannii is far from the only celebrity talking head to appear. Neighbours co-star and collaborator Jason Donovan, Peter Waterman of ’80s hit-making songwriting team Stock Aitken Waterman, and fellow Australian music royalty<\/a> Nick Cave also feature.<\/p>\n

The wild story behind Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue’s iconic pairing<\/a><\/p>\n

Photographer Tony Mott on how an awful situation turned into a brilliant opportunity.<\/p>\n

Minogue was thrilled to see Cave, her singing partner on 1996’s gothic duet Where The Wild Roses Grow<\/a>, speak so eloquently about her.<\/p>\n

“I just couldn’t believe he nailed it and was so generous, so profound, so Nick.”<\/p>\n

She says Cave’s “incredible” influence on her career is “beautifully portrayed in the documentary” as “someone that just saw something else in me that allowed me to have the kind of faith, I guess”.<\/p>\n

“To have someone that’s there by your side \u2026 Knowing that he’s there and knowing that I could call him for advice is amazing.”Better the Devil You Know<\/p>\n

Another major influence on Minogue’s career was her relationship with late INXS frontman Michael Hutchence, whose impact she still reflects fondly on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We all know what an amazing person he was,” she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I’m sure he lights up everybody in a similar way. But for me, I was 21, 22 years old when we met and when we started dating. What an age, what a time.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The pairing of rock’s edgy “bad boy” and pop’s “good girl”<\/a> was a highly publicised romance that ran from 1989 to 1991, at the height of INXS\u2019s fame.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Kylie Minogue and Michael Hutchence share an intimate moment in a personal photo. (Supplied: Madman)<\/p>\n

Minogue says the frontman introduced her to “the greater world” of art, literature and the rock star lifestyle.<\/p>\n

“He taught me about being a person: about looking for and appreciating more in life and the finer things in life. He’s quite epicurean, so well versed, he was like a Byron. He was that kind of type,” she says.<\/p>\n

“Also, a rock star, also funny, also just a good human.<\/p>\n

“I talk in the documentary about him teaching me that it’s OK to be still. I was doing cartwheels and all sorts. I had no [career] lessons. I basically learned like ‘You’re on the stage. Go!’ I still have a glow talking about him.”<\/p>\n

Hutchence was a major catalyse for Minogue’s creativity, emboldening her to shed her clean-cut pop persona and embrace her artistry, exploring more sophisticated topics and more-varied sounds.<\/p>\n

Reinvention has been a significant part of the Kylie playbook ever since, ensuring her longevity.<\/p>\n

\"Kylie<\/p>\n

Kylie Minogue retains the title of our nation’s highest-selling female artist, with five consecutive number one albums to her name.\u00a0 (Pool via Reuters: Jan Pitman)<\/p>\n

She holds the rare distinction of being one of only four Australian artists to achieve Top 10 albums across five consecutive decades (alongside AC\/DC, Midnight Oil and Kate Ceberano).<\/p>\n

That includes her back-to-back, chart-topping albums Tension<\/a> and 2024 sequel Tension II<\/a>, buoyed by the runaway success of Padam Padam.<\/p>\n

A TikTok-approved queer anthem<\/a>, the mega-hit single earned Minogue her first ARIA<\/a> and Grammy award wins<\/a> in 20 years, and a record-breaking appearance in triple j’s Hottest 100<\/a> after 27 years.<\/p>\n

In a sign of her enduring popularity, Minogue’s iconic 2001 hit Can’t Get You Out Of My Head was voted in at #27 in the Hottest 100 of Australian Songs<\/a> (topped by her former beau’s band<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, her hot pants-boosted 2000 hit Spinning Around<\/a> came in at #101, while her 1997 Impossible Princess stand-out Did It Again became Paul Kelly’s muse for his return to Like A Version last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bracing for Kylie kick-off<\/p>\n

Helmed by Emmy- and BAFTA-winning director Michael Harte and John Battske’s Ventureland productions, the same team behind Netflix’s recent docuseries on footballing legend David Beckham, KYLIE arrives ahead of Minogue returning home to headline the AFL grand final’s pre-game entertainment in September.<\/p>\n

Minogue to lead AFL pre-grand final entertainment<\/a><\/p>\n

Australian pop superstar Kylie Minogue is named to headline the men’s AFL grand final pre-match entertainment.<\/p>\n

It’s a deal reportedly decades in the making, so does she feel the pressure?<\/p>\n

“That big moment coming? Brace, breathe,” she responds in mock panic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s soon! I’m like, ‘May, June, July, August, September’\u2026 uh-huh!”<\/p>\n

We can expect plenty of the hits that have made her Australia’s highest-selling female artist, naturally, but there’s still details to be finalised.<\/p>\n

“No, I don’t have everything sorted,” she admits. “We’re chipping away at it,” she says.<\/p>\n

\"pop<\/p>\n

Kylie Minogue is the first Australian music headliner at the AFL grand final in five years.\u00a0 (Supplied: AFL)<\/p>\n

“It obviously is an event and a performance that’s \u2026 really loaded with challenges.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

But she’s currently a healthy mix of nerves and fevered anticipation.<\/p>\n

“What I keep reminding myself is it’s gonna be 90,000 plus people on the day of days.<\/p>\n

“As a Melburnian, even when we went to do the promo and I teed [the ball] out to the middle of the MCG in full latex and high heels, which took a minute; there was no-one at the MCG, and yet you feel the energy.<\/p>\n

“It’ll be that day only, it’s not like a show that you can develop, and it can find its way. That will be it. So, I’m super excited. And of course there’s a lot to do.”<\/p>\n

Kylie will stream on Netflix from Wednesday, May 20. Kylie Minogue headlines the AFL grand final pre-game entertainment on Saturday, September 26.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"She has reigned as certified Australian pop royalty across five decades, rising from homegrown TV sensation to worldwide…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":679413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,23322,134,327424,327422,63496,327427,327426,327423,327425,427],"class_list":["post-679829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-djfrontpage","tag-entertainment","tag-kylie-and-michael-hutchence","tag-kylie-documentary","tag-kylie-minogue","tag-kylie-minogue-afl","tag-kylie-minogue-afl-grand-final","tag-kylie-minogue-netflix-documentary","tag-kylie-minogue-nick-cave","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}