'''Kylie Ann Minogue''' (born May 28 1968) is an Australian singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Minogue rose to prominence in the late 1980s, as a result of her role in the Australian television soap opera ''Neighbours'', before she commenced her career as a pop recording artist. She has been called the "Queen of Pop",
[http://entertainment.iafrica.com/news/284370.htm Kylie proves she's queen of pop. Iafrica.com, 10th November 2003. Retrieved August 16th 2006] and is Europe and Australia's best selling female artist since her arrival on the scene in 1987.
[http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/bio/index.jsp?&cr=artist&or=ASCENDING&sf=length&pid=5213&kw=Kylie Billboard.com - Biography - Kylie Minogue. Billboard.com, Retrieved September 9th 2006]Signed to a contract by British songwriters and producers Stock, Aitken & Waterman, she achieved a string of hit records throughout the world, but her popularity began to decline by the early 1990s, leading her to part company from Stock, Aitken & Waterman in 1992. For several years she attempted to establish herself as an independent performer and songwriter, distancing herself from her earlier work. Her projects were widely publicised, but her albums failed to attract a substantial audience and resulted in the lowest sales of her career.
In 2000, Minogue returned to popularity as a dance-pop artist and became well-known for her provocative music videos and expensively mounted stage shows. She has established one of the longest and most successful careers as a performer in contemporary pop music, and in Europe and Australia, she has become one of her generation's most recognisable celebrities and sex symbols. In Australia, after being dismissed early in her career by some critics, she has been acclaimed for her achievements; she holds the record for the highest concert ticket sales for a female performer,
[ http://www.frontiertouring.com.au/artists/kylie/ftco_kylie.html ''Frontier Touring Company'' official site Retrieved September 2, 2006. ] and has attained nine number-ones on the ARIA singles chart.
Childhood and beginning
Kylie Minogue was born in Melbourne, Australia, to an Australian father, Ron Minogue, and a Welsh-born mother, Carol Jones who had immigrated as a child from Maesteg, Wales in 1955 to Townsville, Queensland. Kylie is the eldest of three children; her sister Dannii Minogue (born Danielle Jane Minogue) is also a pop singer, and her brother, Brendan, works as a news cameraman in Australia. The Minogue sisters began their careers as children on Australian television, and from the age of 11, Kylie Minogue appeared in soap operas such as ''Skyways'', ''The Sullivans'' and ''The Henderson Kids''. Dannii Minogue became successful as a regular performer on the weekly music programme ''Young Talent Time'', in which Kylie gave her first singing performance in 1983. Kylie was overshadowed by her younger sister until achieving success in 1986 with her role in the soap
