Although she's only managed one hit in the U.S. since her arrival as a singer in 1987, Kylie Minogue is both Australia and Europe's biggest selling female pop singer over that period and a pop culture icon in those areas. Her image on the cover of magazines is guaranteed to produce extra sales. But a singing career was never what Minogue had in mind for herself.

Minogue was born on May 28, 1968, in Melbourne. In 1979, she began her acting career in the Australian TV drama series Skyways, eventually gaining a starring role in a children's series, The Henderson Kids, before achieving national fame in the five-days-a-week soap opera Neighbours.

Someone hit on the idea of submitting a tape of the performance to local record company, Mushroom, who didn't think much of the demo, but saw the potential in releasing a single by the extremely popular young TV star. In their wildest dreams no one imagined a national number one record with the recorded version of "Loco-Motion" (July 1987).

A romantic relationship with INXS singer Michael Hutchence had encouraged her to experiment musically. While the backbone of both albums was the Brothers in Rhythm team Minogue was keen to work with a variety of people. One unlikely collaboration saw a duet with Nick Cave, especially written by Cave for his Murder Ballads album. "Where the Wild Flowers Grow" featured a nude Minogue floating dead in the water for its video.

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