Kim Wilde in the 80’s and performing in London 2026 (Image: Getty)
It is just over 45 years since Kim Wilde stormed the charts with her enduring smash hit single Kids In America. The song launched her phenomenal career, which is still going strong.
However, despite decades of much loved hits, she acknowledged her longevity surprises her in an exclusive chat with Express.
The 65-year-old mum of two is glowing as she talks, thanks to adopting a healthier lifestyle in recent years. This, coupled with her love of gardening, has instilled a glow which belies her years.
She smiles as she reflects on the hit song which reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1981: “At that time I didn’t think too about much about the future. I was 20 years old.
“I’m a huge Olivia Newton John fan but I remember as a kid hearing she was 30, and thinking to myself, ‘well, she had a good career’. I thought 30 was old age and she did well up until then.
“I had such a different perception of what age meant then. If you told me then I’d still be singing a huge hit I had when I was 20, I probably wouldn’t have believed it.
“I don’t always understand quite why people would want to come and see a 65-year-old woman running around, singing Kids in America sometimes, but I’m very grateful they do,” she laughs adding: “And I do love doing it. Maybe that’s why they come and see me, because they can see how much I love performing.”
Kim Wilde performs at the Roundhouse Rise Up 20 Gala (Image: Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty Images for the Roundhouse)
Read more: Kim Wilde admits ‘I don’t want to live with pain’ in huge health update
KIM WILDE MARCH 2026 (Image: -)
While attitudes towards aging is a huge topic she claims “blissfully unaware” of some of the labels associated with the passage of time.
“I don’t really do much social media. I don’t read much press. I don’t read very much at all actually.
“I’m mostly in the garden, being a gardener and looking after my house, or writing songs and performing or listening to music,” she admits. “So I’m not too aware of people’s perception of older women.
“Although from what I do see there seems to be a more of an appreciation for growing older gracefully, and more of a focus on women being in their 40s or even in their 60s and it not being a big deal.
“When I was younger, those ages were the ages of grandmothers. But now you can be a grandmother, and you can still want to rock out,” she smiles.
Kim has been set a good example about aging in the industry by her 1960s rock and roll heart throb father Marty Wilde, who is still going strong at 87.
Speaking fondly of the family patriarch she gushed: “I’m really proud my dad’s got a new album out and a new single. He still jumps in the car, does a gig, and comes back, writes a new song. He’s still so excited about music. He’s like a teenager, and inside he still feels like that kid that fell in love with rock and roll back in 1957.”
Kim is equally excited by her work and is positively giddy as she talks about her upcoming tour with fellow 1980s pop princess Tiffany which will take place in March next year.
“It’s a celebration of a very long career and it’s a singles tour, and I’m going to be all over the UK.
“I love performing for my home crowd. There’s something very special about that, celebrating all these years of loving pop music and still making new pop music.
“The last two singles on our last album were both A-listed on BBC Radio Two. so I think that’s a great achievement, after so many years of being involved in making pop music.”
Kim Wilde performing live at the Adelboden Live Festival (Image: Peter Frauchiger/Future Image/Cover Images)
KIM WILDE MARCH 2026 (Image: -)
Touring does look very different these days though. In 2023 she suffered back issues which affected her mobility for four months and in July 2024 she told this publication she felt “lucky just to be able to get out of bed in the morning.”
“I’ve been down a bad back situation where I’ve had to work very hard to get my mobility back. So I’m very so grateful for all of it,” she said at the time.
This led to a shift in mindset regarding her health and she says she feels, looks and sings better now than she did four decades ago.
“As you get older, you definitely have to take even more care of yourself – that’s certainly true for me.
“I gave up alcohol about nearly 10 years ago. That’s had a really, very profoundly positive impact on my mental and physical health.
“I have a personal trainer who I work with a couple of times a week. I’m not obsessive about what I eat, but I’m very mindful about it.
“That doesn’t mean that I won’t be stuffing my face with easter eggs this Easter,” she giggled before turning serious again: “I look after myself better now at 65 probably than I did at 45 or 25.”
When she isn’t touring or recording Kim confesses she lives a relatively quiet life. “Gardening is a big part of it – I have a polytunnel in the garden, and I’m growing vegetables, and that takes quite a lot of extra time that I might have.
“And I’ve got dogs that need looking after and I have lovely friends that I spend time with, and I do a bit of cooking.
“And I love playing backgammon with my daughter – just really simple things. Going down the pub to do a pub quiz. I like that,” she said.
She becomes more coy when asked about romance. The singer and her husband of 25 years Hal Fowler announced their divorce in December 2022 after revealing they separated amicably by agreement in 2021.
“Well, I still believe in love,” she teased. “And I never say never to that happening for me again.”
Kim Wilde’s singles tour will take place in March 2027 with support from Tiffany. Tickets are on sale now from www.kimwilde.com/