2018: A Kylie memorable year!
In 2017, Kylie Minogue signed to BMG Rights Management, the company that was formed out of the remains of the former Bertelsmann Music Group (1986-2007), with whom Kylie was signed to during most of the 1990’s when BMG bought deconstruction Records. Since 2000 she had released her music through Parlophone Records, but after the marketing disaster that surrounded her 2014 album “Kiss Me Once“, it was time for a change.
Just what would that mean and what would it bring? We didn’t have long to find out. No sooner had the Christmas trees of 2017 been packed away, we found out that we were all going “Dancing“.
Released on 19th January, this was the first new single from Kylie since her Christmas albums of 2015/2016, and “Dancing” didn’t disappoint. It had beat, umphf and enough thigh slapping to get any line dance in gear. Kylie travelled the world promoting the single, appearing on British TV with Ant and Dec on their ratings raker Saturday Night Take Away.
The single was just was the doctor prescribed and took to the charts the world over, topping the US dance chart (her fourteenth No.1), gaining a Gold certificate in Australia and topping 200,000 sales in the UK, her biggest seller since “All The Lovers” eight years earlier. On her first visit to The States to promote the single, she appeared on James Corden’s Late Late Show and gave a superb performance that got America hooked.
Once “Dancing” was established we learnt that her fourteenth studio album would be called “Golden” and was being released at the beginning of April, yippeeeee! The ‘tag’ being “we are not young. We are not old. We are golden. And that’s who we are”.
But just to whet everyone’s appetite, and without any leaking this time, we got a second single in March, the high-octane hoedown that is “Stop Me From Falling” – altogether now “for youuuuuuuuuuu”! The single quickly followed “Dancing” up the charts across Europe, Australia and South America, where it benefited from input from Cuban duo Gente De Zona. Promotion of “Stop Me From Falling” extended to two videos. The first was filmed during the exclusive preview concerts given by Kylie in London, Paris, Barcelona and Berlin.
The second was filmed in February in Cuba with Gente De Zona and saw Kylie in full party mood, taking to the streets and getting everyone up on the bar for a jolly good dance. This video wasted no time at all in gaining tens of millions of views on YouTube.
“Golden” soon followed and it’s 12 or 16 tracks (depending on which version you bought) had something for everyone. Dance, country, ballads, a duet AND a song about a car! “Golden” Topped the charts in the UK, Australia and Ireland and made the top ten in a further twelve countries worldwide. It entered the Billboard 200 at No.64 and No.4 on the Independent chart. Within two months it had gone from a Silver certification (60,000 copies) in the UK to Gold certified (for sales of 100,000 copies) and with over 370,000 sold globally to date, it becomes her most successful long player since “Aphrodite” in 2010.
In May Kylie celebrated her 50th birthday and released the album’s title track as a single (the first time ever the title track of a Kylie album has been released) together with a video that was also filmed in Cuba in February.
Kylie continued to promote heavily during the Spring and Summer making any number of appearances. She returned to the States in June to perform at New York Pride and back in the UK, she appeared on Sounds Like Friday Night music show where she sang “Stop Me From Falling” and gave an outstanding and emotional performance of the album track “Radio On”, that left no eye in the house dry and nobody under any illusion that Kylie cannot sing.
With a tour of the UK and Europe announced for September through to November, Kylie spent much of the Summer in rehearsals, releasing a slightly edited version of “A Lifetime To Repair” in August together with a lyric video. At the beginning of September, she took to the stage in London’s Hyde Park as the star turn of BBC Radio 2’s Festival of Music and that evening gave a world class performance to an audience of over 50,000 people, wheeling out her former Neighbours co-star Jason Donovan to deafening, sustained applause for their 1988 duet “Especially For You” AND Rick Astley to perform “I Should Be So Lucky”/”Never Gonna Give You Up” and a stadium perfect rendition of her 2000 duet with Robbie Williams, “Kids”.
“Golden” took to the concert halls of the UK later that month as Kylie gave a two hour plus showcase of her thirty year career, blending many of “Golden”s tracks with old favourites and big hits. She took the show across Europe during November and once again played to packed theatres and venues. Her duet with Jack Savoretti, “Music’s Too Sad Without You“, was released as the album’s fifth single with added Christmas jingling and this was promoted heavily in the UK with two key performances first on The Jonathan Ross Show and then with comedian Michael McIntyre on his Saturday night show the following week. Both performances pushed the single up the airplay and download charts with the album surpassing sales of 130,000 copies in the UK at the same time.
And it doesn’t stop there. Kylie will be taking to the stage in Australia in March 2019 to play “Golden” and has a number of shows and festivals booked back in the UK in the Summer, all of which sold out within minutes of tickets going on sale! But what next? Who knows, maybe Kylie will premier some new music at any of these shows in anticipation of a new album very soon…?! Oh and if you’re missing DanceKylie, 2018 catered for that too with her collaboration with DJ and producer Sigala on the track “What You Waiting For?” from his debut album “Brighter Days” which was released in late September.
So tell me…what are YOU waiting for?
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