Radio 2 may refer to:

BBC Radio 2, a British national music radio station

RTÉ 2fm, an Irish music radio station originally known as Radio 2

Radio 2 (Australia): an Australian radio station

Radio 2 (Belgium), a Belgian radio station

CBC Radio 2, a Canadian radio station

Radio 2 (Netherlands), a Dutch radio station

Rai Radio 2, an Italian radio station

CyBC Radio 2, Cyprus national radio

Radio Dos, a Costa Rican radio station

Radio 2, a UAE English music radio station covering Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the northern Emirates

fr:Radio 2 nl:Radio 2

Coordinates	42°40′40″N88°16′41″N
Name	Ken Bruce
Birth name	Kenneth Robertson Bruce
Birth date	February 02, 1951
Birth place	Glasgow, Scotland
Show	The Ken Bruce Show
Station	BBC Radio 2
Timeslot	9:30am - 12:00pm weekdays
Show2	Friday Night is Music Night
Timeslot2	8.00 pm Fridays
Style	Live music
Country
Web	The Ken Bruce Show

Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a British broadcaster known for his programme on BBC Radio 2, which is broadcast on weekdays from 9:30am until 12 noon.

Early life and career

Bruce attended Hutchesons' Grammar School, Glasgow, before training to be a chartered accountant. He began his broadcasting career with the ''Hospital Broadcasting Service'' in Glasgow.

He then went on to become a staff announcer for BBC Radio 4 Scotland and then BBC Radio Scotland when it fully went on air in 1978. He also presented a Saturday morning show for the station.

In 1980 he took on the mid-morning slot then in 1983 the own daily afternoon show and was involved in a range of current affairs programmes. He presented the ''Ken Bruce Show'' on the BBC World Service in the late 1980s.

Radio 2

History

Bruce has presented different shows on BBC Radio 2. He first joined in 1982, as a stand in presenter, mainly covering Ray Moore on the Early show, as well as presenting shows on BBC Radio Scotland on a line from studios in London.

Bruce took over a regular show on Radio 2 in 1984, taking over Saturday late night show from 11 pm-1 am. He would do this in addition to his show on BBC Radio Scotland.

In January 1985, he took over the breakfast show from Terry Wogan from 8:00-10:30 am. He originally took over mid-mornings in March 1986 but moved to Monday-Thursday late night in April 1990. In January 1991 Bruce presented the early-morning show. He has been in his mid-morning slot since early 1992, following Terry Wogan. He now follows Chris Evans at 9:30am and handing over to Jeremy Vine at noon.

He has been BBC Radio 2's commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest since 1988.

Programme format and features

The emphasis on Bruce's show is music. There are regular live performances on air. Competitions are usually music-based and a love song and dedications feature at 10:15 am. A music news slot with either Julie Cullen or Matt Everett (alternating weeks) appears at about 11:10am on Thursdays. Other regular features include the ''Record of the Week'' and the ''Album of the Week'' and the ''Tracks of My Years'', where a celebrity picks two songs each day that have a particular meaning. ''The Love Song'' is played at 10:15am each day, preceded by dedications, although a number of songs in the rotation are not love songs in a romantic sense (e.g. "At Seventeen" by Janis Ian, "The Greatest Love Of All" by George Benson).

The show also includes the daily quiz, PopMaster. It previously included a number of other competitions such as ''Spin It to Win It'' and ''Words Don't Come Easily'', although these were dropped in 2007 when the BBC carried out an internal enquiry into possible abuse of phone-ins (despite no allegation of impropriety against Radio 2). PopMaster quiz returned to Bruce's show in January 2008 with new jingles and a modified selection procedure where listeners had to register first and if successful the production team call back to ask three questions. However the selection procedure has now reverted to would-be participants telephoning the station between 9 am 10am and being entered into a random draw.

Bruce maintains a bantering relationship with the traffic presenter, typically Lynn Bowles, the two teasing each other and responding to listeners' comments. Such comments are read throughout the programme, generally on a theme of the day, such as a news story. Recurring themes include the appearance of Bruce on the studio webcam, Lynn Bowles' involvement with Land Rover and the information included on this Wikipedia profile, with contributors highlighting alterations that have been made; on occasions according to this page, he has become a Knight of the Realm, had a significant number of children, is of limited stature, received an inflated salary and loves caravanning. This cycle of spurious edits being discussed on air has caused the page to be locked due to vandalism on numerous occasions.

Although the programme's playlist is almost exclusively rock, pop and soul from the 1970s onwards, until early 2008 its Radio Data System flag identified it as programme type 12, "M.O.R.". It is now identified as programme type 10, "Pop music".

On 3 August 2006, it was announced that Ken Bruce had added 245,000 listeners, bringing his overall ratings to a record 6.64 million.

Frequent stand-in presenters when Bruce is absent have included Richard Allinson, Simon Mayo and Aled Jones. Zoe Ball now appears to be Bruce's regular stand-in, having covered the show during his holiday in April 2009, when Bruce was in Moscow for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 and again in August 2009. The comedian and impressionist Rob Brydon, who is noted for his characterisation of Bruce, sat in for him on 25 August 2008 and again on 1 April 2011 when Brydon impersonated Bruce throughout. Bruce took his first day off sick in 23 years on Wednesday 10 September 2008. On that occasion the show was presented by Richard Allinson.

PopMaster

Normally, the daily ''PopMaster'' quiz, with questions set by music expert Phil Swern, offers a DAB radio for successfully completing the "3 in 10" bonus round. If the listener fails, they are awarded an MP3 player (replacing the previous consolation prize of a 'Flipper' radio). An earlier consolation prize, a 'Space' radio, has been known to appear on eBay, to Bruce's amusement. The losing contestant is given a CD wallet.

The public phone-in ''PopMaster'' quiz was last aired, prior to its suspension, on 18 July 2007. A celebrity version was introduced on 20 July 2007, and continued until 18 January 2008. "3 in 10" was not played in the celebrity version and there was no tie-breaker in the event of a draw. It was rumoured that members of the public would be able to play again before Christmas 2007, however this did not happen. Following an announcement by Bruce on 7 January 2008, the normal format returned on 21 January 2008. The game returned with new dramatic, orchestral and guitar based jingles.

Notable events

While Bruce was on holiday in August 2007, he was briefly replaced by Davina McCall. This attracted more than 150 complaints from listeners.

During his show on 21 April 2008, theatre producer Bill Kenwright told Bruce that Elvis Presley once visited London in 1958 and was taken on a tour of the city by Tommy Steele. It was believed that Presley had never visited England and the claim caused considerable controversy.

In November 2008, there were several newspaper reports that Bruce would be replaced in the Radio 2 mid-morning slot by fellow DJ (and sometime stand-in for Bruce) Simon Mayo in 2011. This prompted Daily Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn to call for a campaign to have the decision reversed, to ''“save him for the nation”''. The BBC did not comment on whether there was any truth in the rumour, other than to highlight that Bruce had recently signed a new contract to remain at the station for another 2 years.

In December 2008, a crew of fishermen were listening to Bruce's programme and were inadvertently relaying it to every ship and coastguard station for miles around. It was not possible to contact the vessel, so a request was made to Bruce and duly said: "If you are on a ship near the Small rocks, please turn me off."

Also at the end of 2008, duetting with Steve Wright's 'Ask Elvis', Bruce recorded a version of the Andy Stewart song “Donald, Where’s yer Troosers?” for the ''Bandaged'' CD created to raise money for the charity BBC Children in Need. This has now been released as a download for BBC Children in Need.

In December 2008, Ken was officially inducted into the Radio Academy Hall of Fame.

On April Fools' Day 2011, Bruce's radio show was presented by comedian Rob Brydon impersonating Bruce throughout. Brydon interviewed "Sir Terry Wogan" (impersonated by Peter Serafinowicz), and Bruce himself appeared at the end of the show as his "brother Kenn with two Ns".

Other appearances

Ken Bruce has presented BBC Proms in the Park for numerous years. He is also Radio 2's regular commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest, also presenting the Eurovision Song Contest Previews from 1989-1991 on BBC1. He is one of the regular presenters of the long-running ''Friday Night is Music Night''.

He occasionally makes appearances in the "Dictionary Corner" on Channel 4's ''Countdown'', the latest being during the week of 11 April 2011. When the original presenter Richard Whiteley died in 2005, Bruce said: "[he was] such a nice man - that was the defining quality of him, a genuinely nice man. And he had no real ego."

In November 2007, he appeared on a Never Mind the Buzzcocks special for Children in Need.

Bruce holds a Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV) driving licence and is the co-owner of a Routemaster (one of London's red buses) with Charles Nove, Alan Dedicoat, Steve Madden and David Sheppard. He has referred to the buses as "a fantastic piece of engineering and such fun to have".

Along with Lynn Bowles, he took part in Ready, Steady, Cook, broadcast on BBC Two on 3 March 2008.

Personal life

Bruce has four sons and two daughters, his latest son born in February 2008. He lives with his third wife in Oxfordshire. One of Ken's sons is autistic and Ken is an active charity campaigner for autism. When driving his family in his car, he allows his dog to sit in the front passenger seat, while his wife and children are confined to the back.

In April 2006, ''The Daily Telegraph'' reported that Bruce received a salary of £194,000 for his radio show.

Bruce is a fan of Rangers F.C., and occasionally remarks on their fortunes during his show.

He was described as an "old fool" by ex Radio 2 presenter Sarah Kennedy in 1999. Some nine years later, in October 2008, he retaliated by saying the Fleetwood Mac song "Sara" was written about Kennedy in 1926.

His autobiography was published on 4 September 2009, entitled ''The Tracks of My Years: The Autobiography''.

On air, he frequently claims to be a drummer, but is unknown if this is true or what level of success he has achieved. There is an image of Ken sporting a 5-inch mohawk in his younger days, which is currently circulating the internet.

References

External links

Category:1951 births Category:British radio DJs Category:British radio personalities Category:BBC Radio 2 presenters Category:Eurovision Song Contest commentators Category:People from Glasgow Category:Living people Category:United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest Category:People educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School

Coordinates	42°40′40″N88°16′41″N
Name	Sir Terry Wogan
Birth date	August 03, 1938
Birth place	Limerick, Ireland
Show	Weekend Wogan
Station	BBC Radio 2
Timeslot	Sunday: 11:00 – 12:59
Country	United Kingdom
spouse(s)	Helen Wogan, Lady
Website	}}

Sir Michael Terence "Terry" Wogan KBE DL (born 3 August 1938) is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career. Before he retired from the weekday breakfast programme ''Wake Up to Wogan'' on BBC Radio 2 on 18 December 2009, Sir Terry had a regular 8 million listeners, making him the most listened-to radio broadcaster of any European nation. He began his career at Raidió Teilifís Éireann where he presented shows such as ''Jackpot'' in the 1960s.

Wogan has been a leading media personality in the UK since the late 1960s and is often referred to as a national treasure. He is perhaps best known in the United Kingdom for his BBC1 chat show ''Wogan'', for his work presenting ''Children in Need'', as the host of ''Wake Up to Wogan'', the original host of the BBC game show ''Blankety Blank'' (before being replaced by Les Dawson), a presenter of ''Come Dancing'' in the 1970s, and as the BBC's commentator for the ''Eurovision Song Contest'' on radio and television from 1971 to 2008. Wogan started a primetime weekend show on Radio 2 from 14 February 2010.

Early life

Terry Wogan, the son of a grocery store manager in Limerick City, was educated at the Jesuit school of Crescent College from the age of eight. He experienced a strongly religious upbringing, later commenting that "There were hundreds of churches, all these missions breathing fire and brimstone, telling you how easy it was to sin, how you'd be in hell. We were brainwashed into believing." Despite this, he has often expressed his fondness for the city of his birth, commenting on one occasion that "Limerick never left me, whatever it is, my identity is Limerick."

At the age of 15, after his father was promoted to general manager, Wogan moved to Dublin with his family. While living in Dublin, he attended Crescent College's sister school, Belvedere College. He participated in amateur dramatics and discovered a love of rock music. After graduating from Belvedere in 1956, Wogan had a brief career in the banking profession, joining the Royal Bank of Ireland. He later joined the national broadcaster of Ireland, RTÉ (Raidió Teilifís Éireann) as a newsreader and announcer, after seeing an advert in a newspaper advertising announcer positions.

Personal life

On 25 April 1965, Wogan married Helen Joyce, with whom he has three children: Alan (born 1967); Mark (born 1970); and Katherine (born 1972), married to The Hon. Henry Cripps (the eldest son of Michael Cripps, 5th Baron Parmoor). Wogan and his wife Helen currently live in Taplow, south Buckinghamshire, near Maidenhead. The couple have a holiday home in Gascony, south-west France.

Radio work

Early career

Wogan conducted interviews and presented documentary features during his first two years at Raidió Teilifís Éireann, before moving to the light entertainment department as a disc jockey and host of TV quiz and variety shows such as ''Jackpot'', a top rated quiz show on RTÉ in the 1960s. When the show was dropped by RTÉ TV in 1967, Wogan approached the BBC for extra work. He began working for BBC Radio, initially 'down the line' from London, first broadcasting on The Light Progamme on Tuesday 27 September 1966. On the inauguration of BBC Radio 1, he presented the Tuesday edition of ''Late Night Extra'' for two years, commuting weekly from Dublin to London. After covering Jimmy Young's mid-morning show throughout July 1969, he was offered a regular afternoon slot from 3 to 5 p.m. This was officially on BBC Radio 1, but lack of funding meant that it was also broadcast on BBC Radio 2.

In April 1972, he took over the breakfast show on BBC Radio 2, swapping places with John Dunn, who briefly hosted the afternoon show. By this time, Radio 1 and Radio 2 had diverged sufficiently to allow separate programming, and Wogan enjoyed unprecedented popularity, achieving audiences of up to 7.6 million. His seemingly ubiquitous presence across the media meant that he frequently became the butt of jokes by comedians of the time, among them The Goodies and The Barron Knights. Wogan was eminently capable of self-parody too, releasing a vocal version of the song "The Floral Dance" during this time, by popular request from listeners who enjoyed hearing him sing over the instrumental hit by the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band. His version reached number 21 in the UK Singles Chart. A follow-up single, entitled "Me and the Elephant", and an eponymous album were also released, but did not chart.

In December 1984, Wogan left his breakfast show to pursue a full-time career in television. He was replaced on radio by Ken Bruce, followed shortly afterwards by Derek Jameson and finally Brian Hayes.

Return to radio

In January 1993, he returned to BBC Radio 2 to present the breakfast show, then called ''Wake Up to Wogan''. His tendency to go off on rambling, esoteric tangents, often including banter with his then producer, Paul Walters, seems to have become popular with both younger and older listeners. The show was highly interactive with much of the entertainment coming from letters and emails sent in by listeners (many of whom adopt punning pseudonyms, such as Edina Cloud, Lucy Lastic, Mick Sturbs or Hellen Bach, for the purpose) with an often surrealistic bent. One memorable occasion involved Wogan reading out an email from someone using the name "Tess Tickles", without realising what the name was referring to, prompting Paul Walters' standard reply in such situations – "I only print 'em!"

As his radio show was considered to attract older listeners, Wogan jokingly refers to his fans as "TOGs", standing for ''Terry's Old Geezers'' or ''Terry's Old Gals'', whilst "TYGs" are ''Terry's Young Geezers/Gals'' who he jokes are forced to listen to him because of their parents' choice of radio station. Wogan is referred to as ''The Togmeister'' on his own programme by himself and members of his production team, and he refers to the podcast of his show as a 'togcast' in keeping with the acronyms described above.

There were also running jokes involving Wogan's newsreader colleagues Alan Dedicoat (nicknamed 'Deadly' after the spoonerism 'Deadly Alancoat'), Fran Godfrey and John Marsh (nicknamed 'Boggy'). Marsh once told Wogan on air that his wife was called Janet, and a series of "Janet and John" stories followed, read by Wogan during the breakfast show. These are a pastiche of children's learn-to-read stories but are littered with humorous sexual double-entendres which often led to Wogan and Marsh breaking into uncontrollable laughter. Five CDs, the first with fourteen stories, the second with sixteen, the third with eighteen (two never broadcast), the fourth with eighteen and the fifth with nineteen (one never broadcast), have been sold by listeners in aid of Children in Need, and have raised an enormous amount for the campaign (to date: over £3 million from all sales of related TOG/TYG products). A long-running campaign by Wogan criticising the British government for levying VAT on these CDs eventually led to a government rebate of £200,000.

Another feature of the programme was Wogan's exchanges with “the Totty from Splotty “ – Lynn Bowles, the Welsh traffic reporter from Splott, Cardiff – which often involved reading limericks from listeners cut short after 1 or 2 lines as risqué innuendo in the later lines was telegraphed.

Through his show Wogan is also widely credited with launching the career of singer Katie Melua after he repeatedly played her debut single, "The Closest Thing to Crazy", in late 2003. When she performed on Children in Need in 2005, Wogan jokingly said to Melua, "You owe it all to me, and maybe a little to your own talent". He has, however, made no secret that the credit for discovering her lies with his long time producer, Paul Walters.

In 2005, it was reported that his breakfast show ''Wake Up to Wogan'' attracted an audience of eight million. According to figures leaked to British newspapers in April 2006, Wogan was the highest paid BBC radio presenter at that time, with an £800,000 a year salary. In an interview with Britain's ''Hello'' magazine in its 30 May 2006 issue, Wogan confirmed this, saying, "The amount they said was true and I don't give a monkey's about people knowing it. Nor do I feel guilty. If you do the maths, factoring in my eight million listeners, I cost the BBC about 2p a fortnight. I think I'm cheap at the price".

On 23 May 2005, Wogan broke strike picket lines to present his show. The strike by BBC staff was a protest over announced job cuts. Reportedly, he gave them a smile and wished them all well. He explained on air that the reason for doing so was that he is contracted to host ''Wake up to Wogan'' and hence is not directly employed by the BBC, and so could not legally strike with their employees.

Wogan was forced off air on 16 February 2007 when steam from a nearby gym set off fire alarms. For 15 minutes an emergency tape played non stop music. On returning, Wogan read out several light hearted comments from listeners saying that they thought he had died with his sudden disappearance and the playing of such sentimental music.

On 7 September 2009, Wogan confirmed to his listeners that he would be leaving the breakfast show at the end of the year with Chris Evans taking over. ''The Times'' published an ode to Terry: "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone. Terry Wogan is abandoning his microphone", and novelist Allison Pearson commented: "Heard the one about the Irishman who reminded the British of what they could be at their best? His name was Terry Wogan." Terry Wogan presented his final Radio 2 breakfast show on 18 December 2009.

It was announced that Wogan would return to Radio 2 from 14 February 2010 to host a live weekly two hour Sunday show on Radio 2, featuring live musical performance and guests, between 11.00 am and 1.00pm. The show, titled ''Weekend Wogan'' was hosted in front of a live audience in the Radio Theatre at BBC Broadcasting House until the 4th series where he returned to the studio. Some 30,000 people applied for 300 tickets to be in the audience. Wogan's first guests on his new show were the actor Sir Ian McKellen and jazz singers Norah Jones and Jamie Cullum. The programme did feature a house band (Elio Pace).

Television work

Children in Need

In 1980, the BBC's charity appeal for children was first broadcast as a telethon called Children In Need, with Wogan presenting alongside Sue Lawley and Esther Rantzen. Wogan has been the presenter of this annual event ever since.

He has campaigned extensively for the charity and often involves himself via auctions on his radio show, or more directly by taking part in well-publicised sponsored activities. The BBC Children In Need 2006 programme trailer featured Wogan in a wrestling ring, supported by various television personalities. His opponent (Ken Bruce) appeared confident in defeating him, until Terry removes his shirt to reveal the physique of a bodybuilder. He has since joked on his BBC Radio 2 programme that the media had got it wrong, and that his body was superimposed on somebody else's head.

He is reported to be the only celebrity paid for his participation in Children in Need, having received a fee every year since 1980 (£9,065 in 2005). Wogan, however, has stated that he would "quite happily do it for nothing" and that he "never asked for a fee". The BBC stated that the fee had "never been negotiated". Wogan's fee has been paid from BBC resources and not from the Children in Need charity fund. There is no record, however, of Wogan ever having repaid his fee from previous years.

His first and only appearance on the popular panel comedy show QI was in the 2008 episode for Children in Need, 'Families'.

Eurovision Song Contest

In 1971 and from 1974 until 1977, and again in 1979, Wogan provided the BBC's radio commentary for the Eurovision Song Contest. He became better known for his television commentary, which he handled first in 1973 and then again in 1978. From 1980 until 2008, he provided the BBC's television commentary every year and became famous for his sardonic and highly cynical comments. He also co-hosted the contest, in 1998 with Ulrika Jonsson, live from Birmingham. From 1977 until 1996 Wogan hosted the UK selection heat each year, returning to the job in 1998 and again from 2003 until 2008. In 1973, 1975 and every year from 1977 until 1984 and once more in 1994, Wogan also presented the UK Eurovision Song Contest Previews on BBC1. He remained until recently an advocate of the contest. He earned a reported £150,000 annually for his work with the contest. His commentating style, which often involved humour at the expense of others, has caused some minor controversy, for example when he referred to the hosts of the 2001 contest in Denmark, Søren Pilmark and Natasja Crone Back, as "Doctor Death and the Tooth Fairy". Although many British viewers find his comments amusing, they are far from being universally liked outside Britain. The Danes were less than appreciative and Wogan now jokes that he is banned from visiting Denmark.

During the presentation of the Dutch televote in the ''Eurovision Song Contest 2006'', Wogan called the Dutch televote presenter, Paul de Leeuw, an "eejit", as de Leeuw started to make ad lib comments, gave his mobile phone number and lengthened the Dutch results. Chris Tarrant later remarked that "Terry Wogan's commentary is why any sane person would choose to watch the Eurovision," referring to his now-infamous acerbity..

During the 2007 BBC show ''Making Your Mind Up'', in which the British public voted to decide their Eurovision entry, Terry Wogan announced, wrongly, that the runner-up Cyndi was the winner. The actual winner was the group Scooch and, according to the BBC, Terry Wogan had been provided with the correct result during the live show. His response to this on his radio show was quite simple, "It's not like anybody died or anything." He also stated that if they'd gone with Cyndi, we'd not have come last.

The Contest in recent years, however, has become notorious for a perceived increase in political voting (an aspect noted for many years). In 2008 the UK's entry, Andy Abraham, came last, much to Wogan's disappointment. Wogan argued that Abraham "..gave, I think, the performance of his life with a song that certainly deserved far more points than it got when you look at the points that Spain got, that Bosnia-Herzegovina got – some really ridiculous songs."

Unknown to the majority of television viewers across Europe, however, Wogan is well-known to many veteran broadcasters across the continent, being seen as a Eurovision Song Contest institution. Indeed, at the 2008 contest he was acknowledged by both hosts, and welcomed personally by name to the show (alongside only two other individuals from the 43 participating broadcasting nations: France's Jean-Paul Gaultier and Finland's 2007 Contest host Jaana Pelkonen).

On 11 August 2008, Wogan said in an interview with national magazine RadioTimes that he was 'very doubtful' about presenting the Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom again, claiming it was "predictable" and "... no longer a music contest". On 5 December 2008 Wogan officially stepped down from the role after 35 years. Graham Norton succeeded Wogan as BBC commentator for the 2009 contest. Norton said during the opening comments "I know, I miss Terry too."

In 2008 Sir Terry and Aled Jones released a single "little drummer boy/peace on earth" which got to number three in the UK music charts. This single was part of an album called Bandaged which included songs by various artists and the money raised went to BBC Children in Need. In 2009 Sir Terry and Aled recorded a second Christmas single "Silver Bells" which was also part of the second Bandaged album in aid of BBC Children in Need and can still be found on www.charitygoods.com

Chat shows

Wogan's first foray into TV interviewing was with "What's On Wogan?", which ran for one series in 1980 on BBC1, primarily on early Saturday evenings. In 1981, he had a chance to host a one-off chat show, ''Saturday Live''. Among his guests on this show were Larry Hagman, promoting his new film ''S.O.B.'', and Frank Hall, who was then the Irish film censor. During the course of the interview, Hall accused Wogan of selling out his Irish heritage and, responding to a question posed by Wogan about his suitability as a film censor, said there was more filth on British television than in film citing the BBC TV serial ''The Borgias'' as an example.

Wogan was given his own chat show, ''Wogan'', which after a trial run on a midweek evening, was recommissioned for broadcast on Saturday nights from 1982 to 1984. Between 1985 and 1992, the show became thrice-weekly on early weekday evenings. Notable moments of the series included interviews with a drunk George Best, a silent Chevy Chase, a nervous Anne Bancroft who was so petrified she gave monosyllabic answers and counted to ten before descending the entrance steps to the studio, Ronnie Barker announcing his retirement on the show, and David Icke claiming to be the "Son of God", to whom Wogan famously stated "They're not laughing ''with'' you, they're laughing ''at'' you."

In 1992, a poll apparently revealed Wogan to be simultaneously the most and the least popular person in Britain , and he was subsequently released from his talk-show contract after pressure from the BBC. He claims that the BBC also wanted his scheduling slot for the ill-fated soap ''Eldorado''. Wogan briefly hosted "Terry Wogan's Friday Night" in 1993, but this series was not recommissioned.

In 2006 Wogan presented ''Wogan Now and Then'', a show where he interviewed guests from his old chat show as well as new guests, and for which he reportedly earnt £30,000 per episode. He claims that presenting the programme was a light relief after so many years on radio. Wogan also designed the set for his new show, allowing him to get a better feel for it. He even claims that the seat he used was designed to support the lower back since he suffers from back complaints.

Other TV work

Although best known for hosting the original ''Blankety Blank'', in 2008, he hosted a gameshow entitled ''Wogan's Perfect Recall.'' The programme turned up in an episode of ''Being Human'' where Terry could talk to Saul, one of the characters, from inside the television.

In 2010, he guest-hosted the fourth episode of the 24th series of ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks''.

Written works

Wogan has published a number of written works, including:

''Banjaxed'' (October 1979)

''The Day Job'' (1981)

''Wogan on Wogan'' (1987)

''Terry Wogan's Bumper Book of TOGs'' (1995)

''Where Was I?!: The World According to Wogan'' (2009)

He has also written two autobiographical volumes:

''Is It Me?'' (September 2000)

''Mustn't Grumble'' (September 2006)

A diary was also published:

''Wogan's Twelve'' (October 2007)

Other appearances

In 1981, Wogan set the world record for the longest successful golf putt ever televised, which was 33 yards at the Gleneagles golf course in a pro-celebrity TV programme on the BBC.

Wogan has appeared on ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009. In an appearance on the BBC programme ''Top Gear'', Wogan managed to become one of the slowest people to go around the test track as the "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car", a Suzuki Liana. His time of 2:04 was faster only than Richard Whiteley, who lapped in 2:06. Wogan's time has been beaten by Johnny Vegas, who doesn't have a driving licence, and Bosnia war veteran Billy Baxter, who is blind.

Other television programmes he has presented:

''Castlebar Song Contest'' for RTÉ as the host of the contest (1974)

''Come Dancing'' (ballroom dance show) (1974–1979)

''Blankety Blank'' (game show) (1979–1984)

''Auntie's Bloomers'' (outtakes show) (1991–2001)

''Points of View'' (viewers' letters) (1999–2008)

''Wogan's Web''

''The Terry and Gaby Show'' (with Gaby Roslin) (2003–2004)

''Wogan's Perfect Recall '' (game show) (2008–)

Other television programmes:

''Being Human (TV series)'' cameo appearance in Series 2, Episode 2 (2010)

Wogan also narrated the 1987 BBC television series ''Stoppit and Tidyup''.

Terry has become the host of the annual 'The Oldie of the Year Awards' held at Simpsons-on-the-Strand in London on behalf of The Oldie Magazine.

Honours and awards

Wogan received an honorary OBE in 1997, and was awarded an honorary knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2005. After asserting his right to British citizenship (he retains his Irish citizenship) that year, the knighthood was made substantive on 11 October 2005, allowing him to use the style "Sir". On 29 May 2007 he was made a Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire.

In 2004, he was awarded a Gold Blue Peter Badge.

On 15 June 2007, his home town of Limerick honoured him with the 'Freedom of the City' at a ceremony in Limerick's Civic Hall. The Freedom of Limerick honour dates from medieval times. Because of his long absence from the city as well as some well remembered, less than flattering remarks about the city in a 1980 interview, the local press carried out a vox pop which resulted in unanimous support for the award. He has since acknowledged the strength of character of the local population who "never give up ... never say die and ... are never beaten." "Limerick never left me" he is quoted as saying and "whatever it is, my identity is Limerick." In 2004, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Limerick as well as a special lifetime achievement award from his native city.

Sir Terry Wogan was inducted into The Radio Academy Hall of Fame at a gala dinner held in his honour on 10 December 2009.

Radio 2's Ultimate Icon

Wogan was announced as the Ultimate Icon of Radio 2 to commemorate the station's 40th birthday. The shortlist of 16 candidates had been published on the BBC Radio 2 website and the winner was announced live on Radio 2 during Family Favourites with Michael Aspel on 30 September 2007. He praised his fellow nominees, The Beatles, Diana, Princess of Wales and Nelson Mandela during his acceptance speech which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 2, and he chose Nat King Cole's ''Stardust'' as his Iconic Song of the last 40 years, which he had chosen twice before as his favourite record on BBC Radio 4's ''Desert Island Discs''.

References in popular culture

As a well-known public figure, Terry Wogan has been referred to on television, in novels, in films, and in music. In the novelisation of the television series ''Yes, Prime Minister'', for example, the fictional Prime Minister, Jim Hacker, discusses having an interview with Wogan. To his suggestion that Wogan be given a knighthood to ensure that the interview went well, his Private Secretary replied "Sir Terence Wogan? I hardly think so, Prime Minister."

Wogan is referred to in the song "The Dark of the Matinée" by Scottish indie rockers Franz Ferdinand. The relevant line goes ''"So I'm on BBC2 now telling Terry Wogan how I made it and / What I made isn't clear now, but his deference is and his laughter is / My words and smile are so easy now...Yes it's easy now. Yes it's easy now!"''. When Franz Ferdinand played a show in Limerick in 2009, one Irish reviewer wondered if the band had made the connection between lyric and city.

The British 2 Tone band Madness recorded a jingle for Wogan's show in 1982, which is included in the box set ''The Business - the Definitive Singles Collection''. Track 9 of disk 2 is the "Terry Wogan Jingle" lasting 25 seconds in which the group sing the line "Ter-ry Wo-gan is a blankety blankety blank" to the tune of their hit single "Our House".

In 1989 Wogan was the subject of a single by the novelty music group A Tribe of Toffs, "Terry Wogan's on T.V. (Again!)".

Wogan is also referred to in 'The Hitcher' episode of the British comedy series, ''The Mighty Boosh''. He appears briefly in the 'Celebrity Vicar' episode of ''The Vicar of Dibley'', another Britcom, when Rev. Geraldine Granger (Dawn French), is interviewed on Wogan's radio programme, ''Pause for Thought''. In March 2008, he had a voice only cameo as himself in the seventh episode of ''Ashes to Ashes'', set in October 1981.

As someone whose career was principally based in the United Kingdom, Wogan was relatively unknown in the United States until the release of the 1991 film, ''The Commitments'', in which Jimmy Rabitte repeatedly does mock interviews with "Terry". Wogan is also referred to in the Willy Russell play "''One for the Road''". In this, the characters play a game called "The Wogan Game" in which they act out interviews from the show, pretending to be Wogan.

Terry Wogan has also appeared in the lyrics of Ireland's Eurovision Song Contest 2008 entry, "Irelande Douze Pointe". In it, Dustin the Turkey sings "Drag acts and bad acts and Terry Wogan’s wig..."

A goblin named ''The Wogun'' appears in the webcomic Scary Go Round storyline "Crock o' Gold" as a radio/TV talk show host and general charlatan.

In August 2008 the Wolverhampton-based 'Party Band' "Rang-A-Tang" released a single entitled "Very Terry Wogan", which has been played on-air by Wogan himself.

See also

List of Eurovision Song Contest presenters

References

External links

TOGs' website

Telegraph article on Wogan

IFGB Terry Wogan Golf Tournament

The Oldie Magazine

Terry's Floral Dance on TOTP

}}

Category:1938 births Category:Living people Category:Irish game show hosts Category:Irish people Category:Irish television presenters Category:Deputy Lieutenants of Buckinghamshire Category:Eurovision Song Contest commentators Category:Eurovision Song Contest presenters Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from County Limerick Category:United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest Category:Sony Radio Academy Award Gold winners Category:Castlebar Song Contest Category:People of the Year Awards winners Category:RTÉ Radio 1 presenters Category:BBC radio presenters Category:British radio personalities Category:Irish radio personalities

cy:Terry Wogan de:Terry Wogan es:Terry Wogan fr:Terry Wogan ga:Terry Wogan it:Terry Wogan he:טרי ווגן simple:Terry Wogan sv:Terry Wogan

Coordinates	42°40′40″N88°16′41″N
name	Gary Barlow
background	solo_singer
birth name	Gary Barlow
born	January 20, 1971Frodsham, Cheshire, England
instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards
occupation	Singer-songwriter, pianist, record producer
genre	Pop
years active	1988–present
label	Sony Music, Polydor,San Remo, Future Records
website
associated acts	Take That }}

Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and record producer. He is the lead vocalist of British pop group Take That and is the head judge on The X Factor. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters. He has had two Number 1 singles and a Number 1 album as a solo artist, and has had sixteen top 5 hits, eleven Number 1 singles and seven Number 1 albums with Take That. He is a five-time recipient of the Ivor Novello Award and was voted the greatest British songwriter of all time in a national 2009 poll organised by OnePoll.

Life and career

1971–1989: Early career

Gary "Barlow" formed his stage name by condensing the name of his musical hero Barry Manilow. In Barlow's autobiography, he relates that his love of music began at an early age.

"I was one of those kids that's forever dancing in front of the TV looking at my reflection."

He said he enjoyed watching ''Top of the Pops'' on television, and when he was ten years old, he watched an episode of the programme in which Depeche Mode were performing their new single "Just Can't Get Enough". Barlow was mesmerised by the sound and decided he wanted a keyboard for Christmas. For the next few years, he spent most of his spare time teaching himself to play his favourite songs.

In 1986 Barlow entered a BBC Pebble Mill at One competition called ''A Song For Christmas'' with a song called "Let's Pray For Christmas". After getting through to the semi-finals, he was invited to London's West Heath Studios to record his song. This inspired Barlow to perform on the northern club circuit, singing cover versions and his own songs. Barlow's first performance was at the Connah's Quay Labour Cub in the late eighties and he was paid £18 per performance on Saturday evenings.

In 1989 he appointed Wigan show business agent Barry Woolley to be his manager and recorded a single ("Love Is in the Air") which was never released commercially. Barlow was eventually put in touch with casting agent Nigel Martin-Smith who was interested in starting a boyband. Martin-Smith decided to use Barlow as the lead-singer after being impressed by his self written material including an early demo tape of Barlow's "A Million Love Songs" concluding that the band will be built around Barlow's vocals and songwriting skills.

1990–2011: Take That

Barlow, who wrote the majority of the group's songs, is generally recognised as the musical talent behind Take That. After choosing Barlow as the group's lead-singer, Nigel Martin-Smith introduced Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and finally Robbie Williams to the fold. The UK group were signed to RCA records, and after a number of top 40 hits, eventually secured their first Number 1 with Barlow's "Pray". Previous hits included "A Million Love Songs", "It Only Takes a Minute" and "Could It Be Magic".

The debut album ''Take That & Party'' was released on 17 August 1992. It reached number 2 on the UK Album Chart. The following year saw the release of their second album, ''Everything Changes'' based on Barlow's own material. It went straight in at number 1 in the UK Album Chart and spawned four number 1 singles, as well as "Why Can't I Wake Up With You" and "Love Ain't Here Anymore" hitting number 2 and 3 respectively. Barlow received an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song in 1994 for the number 1 hit song "Pray" included on the album. Their third album ''Nobody Else'', again based on Barlow's own material, went straight to number 1 and was to be their last studio album of the 90s. The album had three number 1 singles, including Barlow's "Back for Good" which peaked at number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was brought forward an unprecedented 6 weeks before its official release such was the demand for the single. A ''Greatest Hits'' collection followed again reaching number 1. The album featured the band's eighth number 1 single "How Deep Is Your Love". This was to be the first single released by Take That as a four piece (without Robbie Williams) and it was their last single until they reformed in 2005. In 1994 Barlow alongside Rick Astley did backing vocals for Elton John's version of Can You Feel the Love Tonight from The Lion King.

1996–2000: Solo Career

Open Road

Barlow's solo career was predicted to be very successful, being described as 'the next George Michael'. His first two solo singles "Forever Love" (released July 1996) and "Love Won't Wait" both leapt to the number one spot in his home country. Forever Love was also used as the soundtrack to the film The Leading Man. His debut album ''Open Road'' reached number 1 in the UK Album Chart. Barlow's first ever single to be released in the United States as a solo artist was "So Help Me Girl" which reached Number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and Number 1 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart. He then achieved another top ten hit in the UK with "Open Road" peaking at number 7 and a number 8 in the Netherlands with "Are You Ready Now".

Twelve Months, Eleven Days

After the success of his first solo album he released his second LP ''Twelve Months, Eleven Days'' in 1999. Barlow released "Stronger" as the lead single preceding the album. However, due to an expected backlash against Barlow, it received minimal support and airplay and peaked at number 16. The second single "For All That You Want" again was subjected to minimal radio play and peaked at number 24, however it peaked just outside the top 5 in Finland. ''Twelve Months, Eleven Days'' was released soon after the second single to little promotion and peaked at a disappointing number 34, which led to Sony recalling Barlow's 'greatest' song according to critics, the scheduled third single from his second album "Lie to Me". This resulted in both Barlow and BMG parting company. To date Barlow has sold 4 million records worldwide as a solo artist.

2005–present: Reformation of Take That

Barlow returned to the limelight in a successful TV documentary, ''Take That: For the Record'' in 2005. Following this success and renewed interest, Take That experienced a career renaissance in 2005 when the post-Williams line-up reformed for a sell-out stadium tour. The band released their comeback single "Patience" which went to number 1 for four weeks whilst also topping the charts across Europe. Patience was also voted The Record of the Year in 2006 and won a Brit for single of the year. This was followed with "Shine" which became the band's tenth number 1 single. Take That's first album of new material in over ten years, ''Beautiful World'' was released on 24 November 2006. The album peaked at number 1 in the UK Album Chart selling over 2.7 million copies in the UK alone to date. It was re-released as a tour edition with hit single "Rule the World" in 2007 and peaked again at number 1.

In 2008, the band were nominated for four Brit Awards (Best British Group, Best British Album, Best British Single and Best British Live Act). They won Best British Single and Best British Live Act. After great success in 2006, Take That released the single "Greatest Day" which went straight to number 1 and became their eleventh number 1 single in the UK. The week after they released their second album since their reunion in 2006, ''The Circus'' which was the most preordered album of all time. ''The Circus'' album was also a great success for Take That going straight to the top of the UK album chart and selling over 2.2 million copies across the country, going multi platinum within 4 days of its release. In June and July Take That performed a record breaking tour named ''Take That Present: The Circus Live'' throughout the United Kingdom selling sold over 1 million tickets in just 5 hours.

It was announced that Barlow was in the process of writing Take That's much anticipated sixth studio album, set for release in late 2010. The album, ''Progress'', was the first to feature the original line-up since their 1995 album, ''Nobody Else''. The band also announced a stadium tour entitled Progress Live which will take place in 2011. The tickets for the tour went on sale on 29 October 2010. Due to unprecedented high public demand for tickets, ticketmaster websites across the UK and Ireland crashed and all initial tour dates sold out in under 15 minutes. It was reported that a record breaking one million tickets were snapped up on the first day of sale, resulting in Take That smashing the previous box office record of tickets sold which was set in 2008 by Take That Present: The Circus Live. Due to unprecedented demand Take That added more dates to their tour, finishing in the UK with a record breaking 8 consecutive nights at Wembley Stadium after which the tour will then commence throughout Europe with an estimated 1.75 million people expected to attend the shows.

The lead single from ''Progress'' was announced as "The Flood". The single debuted at number 2, selling over 500,000 copies since release. On the first day of the release of ''Progress'', the album sold over 235,000 copies across the UK, making it the fastest selling record of the century. On 21 November 2010, ''Progress'' debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, becoming the band's seventh number-one album. By the end of its first week on sale the album sold over 520,000, making it the second fastest-selling album of all-time in UK chart history. To date ''Progress'' has sold 2.8 million copies in the UK and has achieved similar chart success across Europe.

The media have widely acknowledged Barlow's talent and labelled him as the mastermind behind the unprecedented success of Take That's comeback and the new musical direction they have taken.

Other Projects

Songwriting and Publishing

After leaving his career as a solo artist Barlow returned to his first love of writing music. He soon signed a song writing publishing deal with Sony and went to the USA on a 6 month songwriting project, residing in Nashville, Los Angeles and New York with his wife, Dawn and first child, Daniel. Upon his return he set up True North Productions with Elliot Kennedy and Tim Woodcock. In his autobiography 'My Take' Barlow partly blames his fall as a solo artist on his commitments to being a star in the United States. After his disappointing second album, Barlow remained out of the public eye for half a decade, choosing to continue to write songs for other artists such as Shirley Bassey, Charlotte Church and Will Young.

In October 2007, Barlow founded San Remo Live Publishings as an independently run management company to establish and support artists and songwriters.

Gary Barlow has recently signed a new 5 year song writing publishing deal with Sony music. He has also been voted as the greatest British songwriter of all time, ahead of Paul McCartney and John Lennon of The Beatles.

Future Records

In 2009 Barlow began work on his own record label Future Records, under the umbrella of Universal Music, and signed his first artist, classical singer Camilla Kerslake. Since then Barlow has also signed UK rapper Aggro Santos to his label and the winner of Sky 1s Must Be The Music, Emma's Imagination.

The X Factor

It was announced on 7 May 2011 that Gary Barlow was in advanced talks to replace Simon Cowell as a judge on ''The X Factor''. He was officially confirmed as a judge on 30 May alongside the returning Louis Walsh, Kelly Rowland of Destinys Child and N-Dubz' Tulisa Contostavlos.

Outside Music

Acting career

In 2000, Barlow made his acting debut in the ITV1 drama ''Heartbeat''. This was the 150th edition of the show. He played hitch-hiker Micky Shannon.

Charity work

Gary organised a sponsored climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Comic Relief. Barlow and eight other celebrities: Cheryl Cole, Ben Shephard, Alesha Dixon, Kimberley Walsh, Fearne Cotton, Chris Moyles, Denise Van Outen and Ronan Keating, made it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro safely on Sunday 7 March 2009, raising millions for Comic Relief.

Gary's charity efforts in 2009, including his organising of the BT Comic Relief Kilimanjaro Climb and his organising of 'Children In Need Rocks', raised in excess £6 million. In addition to the charity events organised by Gary, the pop star has also shown support for fellow artists' charity efforts including that of Ronan Keating. The pair belted out Take That's Back for Good written by Barlow at Ronan's Emerald and Ivy Ball in Battersea, South London, on Saturday. The starry bash raised £650,000 for Cancer Research UK.

His organisation of a very special event at the Royal Albert Hall went ahead in November 2009 and was broadcast the following week. This saw a meeting of Take That with Robbie Williams on stage and a number of unusual duets (including Dame Shirley Bassey with Dizzy Rascal and Take That with Lily Allen). Gary dedicated the band's song "Rule the World" to "everyone whose lost someone – Dad, this is for you". It was a very special night raising £2M and ending with Gary seeming to promise it could be an annual event.

It was announced in December 2009 that Barlow had been awarded the prestigious Blue Peter Gold Badge, awarded for outstanding achievements and inspiring children to realise their talents and achieve.

To celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary Gary invited family and many friends to a special event in London. It was a rare event that Gary allowed a popular magazine to photograph the event. A highlight was a special Bingo session hosted by Gary. Money raised at the event was donated to Barnardo's.

Towards the end of 2009, there has been a huge Twitter campaign to 'Get Gary Knighted' for all of his charity work over the years. The campaign has been mentioned and endorsed by many celebrities, including Chris Moyles of Radio 1.

At the beginning of May 2010, it was announced that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had asked Gary Barlow to organise her 85th birthday and her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012. A source said: "Her Majesty has been made well aware of his charity work and the events he has put together. She knows that Gary has got the power to pull in the big names across the music industry and to ensure it's a party to match the occasion".

Barlow appeared at Twickenham Stadium to perform the hit single "Shame" alongside Robbie Williams in aid of the Help for Heroes charity on 12 September 2010.

Gary Barlow has also donated the original handwritten lyrics to his number 1 hit single Back for Good to help raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Barlow wrote the song in 1995 and it went on to top the charts across the world as well as becoming a top ten hit in America.

It was announced in December that Gary Barlow would be organising a special show, named GB40, at Shepherd's Bush Empire to celebrate his 40th birthday. This event will see him take to the stage on his own for the first time in over eleven years as he performs songs that span a his 20 year career in music. He has also announced that all of the profits from the show will go to charity.

It has been announced that Gary Barlow is planning to organise a charity walk to the North Pole to raise money for BBC Sport Relief.

Personal life

Barlow's first love was actress Nicky Ladanowski also from Frodsham in Cheshire. Their four year relationship ended when Nicky Moved to London to attend drama school. Gary married Dawn in 2000, who was a dancer on their 1995 Nobody Else Tour. They have three children, Daniel (born 2000), Emily (born 2002) and Daisy (born 2009). Barlow is a popular believer in the law of attraction and credits this theory of thought with much of his success. He revealed in his autobiography that he is a supporter of Liverpool FC with their anthem, "You'll Never Walk Alone" being one of the first songs he learned to play on piano. He is also a supporter of rugby league team, Warrington Wolves.

In his autobiography ''My Take'', Barlow mentions he was on the Edgware Road tube train that was one of the targets of the 7 July 2005 London bombings.

In 2009, Barlow named "Don't Give Up", the 1986 duet between Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, as the song that had most inspired him. He said: "I don't think you can listen to this song without feeling inspired, it could save anybody. The lyrics are so inspirational. Specifically I was having a very low moment in the 1990s and the song came on the radio. There have only been a very few times when I've had to pull the car over to listen to a song – this was one of them."

Barlow's father Colin died aged 71 on 15 October 2009. The singer rushed back to his parents' home in Frodsham, Cheshire, and cancelled an engagement to launch his celebrity-packed Children in Need show, whilst also postponing the launch of the Take That edition of Singstar.

During the 2010 General Election the Conservative Party announced their intention to encourage musical achievement amongst young people in schools with a competition called ''School Stars''. Barlow appeared at a school staged campaign event and sang "Greatest Day", backing the introduction of the programme by Conservative Party leader, David Cameron.

Discography

Songs written by Barlow

Awards and nominations

|- | rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|2011 |''Shame'' |Q Award for Best Collaboration | |- |''Shame'' |Virgin Media for Music Video | |- |''Shame'' |Virgin Media for Best Collaboration | |- | style="text-align:center;"|2010 |''Gary Barlow'' |Blue Peter Gold Badge | |- | style="text-align:center;"|2009 |''Gary Barlow'' |The Sun Newspaper's Lord of the Year | |- | style="text-align:center;"|2008 |''Shine'' |Ivor Novello Award for most Performed Song | |- | style="text-align:center;"|2007 |''Gary Barlow'' |GQ Awards for Man of the Year | |- | rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|1998 |''Gary Barlow'' |BRIT Award for Best British Male | |- |''Open Road'' | The London Awards for Best Album | |- |''Love Won't Wait'' |Top of the Pops for Best Single | |- | rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|1997 |''Forever Love'' |FMQ Awards [Finland] for Best Single | |- |''Forever Love'' |TMF Awards [Netherlands] for Best Single | |- |''Open Road'' |GQ Awards for Best Album | |- |''Forever Love'' |Echo Awards for Best Single | |- | style="text-align:center;"|1996 |''Never Forget'' |Ivor Novello Award | |- | style="text-align:center;"|1995 |''Back for Good'' |Ivor Novello Award for the Song of the year | |- | style="text-align:center;"|1994 |''Pray'' |Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song | |- | style="text-align:center;"|1993 |''Gary Barlow'' |Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of The Year Award 1993 | |}

Books

Gary Barlow: ''My Take''. Bloomsbury Publishing 2006, ISBN 978-0-7475-8764-4

Gary Barlow: ''My Take''. Bloomsbury Publishing 2007, ISBN 978-0-7475-8806-1 (paperback edition, updated to include Take That's comeback)

References

External links

BT Red Nose Climb Gary Barlow and celebrity friends set out to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief

X Factor 2011 UK community

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:English male singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English keyboardists Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:People from Frodsham Category:Musical groups from Cheshire Category:Take That members Category:The X Factor (UK) Category:The X Factor judges

da:Gary Barlow de:Gary Barlow es:Gary Barlow fr:Gary Barlow it:Gary Barlow ka:გერი ბარლოუ arz:جارى بارلو my:ဂယ်ရီ ဘားလိုး nl:Gary Barlow ja:ゲイリー・バーロウ pl:Gary Barlow pt:Gary Barlow fi:Gary Barlow sv:Gary Barlow th:แกรี บาร์โลว์ tr:Gary Barlow

Coordinates	42°40′40″N88°16′41″N
name	Kylie Minogue
background	solo_singer
birth name	Kylie Ann Minogue
birth date	May 28, 1968
birth place	Melbourne, Australia
genre	Pop, synthpop, rock, dance, electronic
occupation	Singer, songwriter, actress, record producer, fashion designer, author, entrepreneur, philanthropist
years active	1979–present
label	PWL, Deconstruction, Parlophone
website	}}

Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE (; born 28 May 1968), is an Australian pop singer, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera ''Neighbours'', before commencing her career as a recording artist in 1987. Her first single, "Locomotion", spent seven weeks at number one on the Australian singles chart and became the highest selling single of the decade. This led to a contract with songwriters and producers Stock, Aitken & Waterman. Her debut album, ''Kylie'' (1988), and the single "I Should Be So Lucky", each reached number one in the United Kingdom, and over the next two years, her first 13 singles reached the British top ten. Her debut film, ''The Delinquents'' (1989) was a box-office hit in Australia and the UK despite negative reviews.

Initially presented as a "girl next door", Minogue attempted to convey a more mature style in her music and public image. Her singles were well received, but after four albums her record sales were declining, and she left Stock, Aitken & Waterman in 1992 to establish herself as an independent performer. Her next single, "Confide in Me", reached number one in Australia and was a hit in several European countries in 1994, and a duet with Nick Cave, "Where the Wild Roses Grow", brought Minogue a greater degree of artistic credibility. Drawing inspiration from a range of musical styles and artists, Minogue took creative control over the songwriting for her next album, ''Impossible Princess'' (1997). It failed to attract strong reviews or sales in the UK, but was successful in Australia.

Minogue returned to prominence in 2000 with the single "Spinning Around" and the dance-oriented album ''Light Years'', and she performed during the closing ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Her music videos showed a more sexually provocative and flirtatious personality and several hit singles followed. "Can't Get You Out of My Head" reached number one in more than 40 countries, and the album ''Fever'' (2001) was a hit in many countries, including the United States, a market in which Minogue had previously received little recognition. Minogue embarked on a concert tour but cancelled it when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2005. After surgery and chemotherapy treatment, she resumed her career in 2006 with ''Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour''. Her tenth studio album ''X'' was released in 2007 and was followed by the ''KylieX2008'' tour. In 2009, she embarked upon her ''For You, For Me Tour'', her first concert tour of the United States and Canada, and the following year released her eleventh studio album, ''Aphrodite''.

Minogue has achieved worldwide record sales of more than 68 million, and has received notable music awards, including multiple ARIA and Brit Awards and a Grammy Award. She has mounted several successful concert tours and received a Mo Award for "Australian Entertainer of the Year" for her live performances. She was awarded the Order of the British Empire "for services to music", and an Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2008. In 2011, I Should Be So Lucky was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Sounds of Australia registry.

Life and career

1968–86: Early life and career beginnings

Kylie Ann Minogue was born 28 May 1968 in Melbourne, Australia, the eldest child of Ronald Charles Minogue, an accountant of Irish ancestry and Carol Ann (née Jones), a former dancer from Maesteg, Wales. Her sister, Dannii Minogue, is also a pop singer and is a judge on The X Factor, and her brother, Brendan, works as a news cameraman in Australia. The Minogue children were raised in Surrey Hills, Melbourne, and educated at Camberwell High School.

The Minogue sisters began their careers as children on Australian television. From the age of 11, Kylie appeared in small roles in soap operas such as ''The Sullivans'' and ''Skyways'', and in 1985 was cast in one of the lead roles in ''The Henderson Kids''. Interested in following a career in music, she made a demo tape for the producers of the weekly music programme ''Young Talent Time'', which featured Dannii as a regular performer. Kylie gave her first television singing performance on the show in 1985 but was not invited to join the cast. Dannii's success overshadowed Kylie's acting achievements, until Kylie was cast in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' in 1986, as Charlene Mitchell, a schoolgirl turned garage mechanic. ''Neighbours'' achieved popularity in the UK, and a story arc that created a romance between her character and the character played by Jason Donovan, culminated in a wedding episode in 1987 that attracted an audience of 20 million British viewers.

Her popularity in Australia was demonstrated when she became the first person to win four Logie Awards in one event, and the youngest recipient of the "Gold Logie" as the country's "Most Popular Television Performer", with the result determined by public vote.

1987–92: Stock, Aitken and Waterman and ''Kylie''

During a Fitzroy Football Club benefit concert with other ''Neighbours'' cast members, Minogue performed "I Got You Babe" as a duet with the actor John Waters, and "The Loco-Motion" as an encore, and was subsequently signed to a recording contract with Mushroom Records in 1987. Her first single, "The Loco-Motion", spent seven weeks at number one on the Australian music charts. It sold 200,000 copies, became the highest selling single of the 1980s, and Minogue received the ARIA Award for the year's highest selling single. Its success resulted in Minogue travelling to England with Mushroom Records executive Gary Ashley to work with Stock, Aitken & Waterman. They knew little of Minogue and had forgotten that she was arriving; as a result, they wrote "I Should Be So Lucky" while she waited outside the studio. The song reached number one in the UK, Australia, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Israel and Hong Kong. Minogue won her second consecutive ARIA Award for the year's highest selling single, and received a "Special Achievement Award". Her debut album, ''Kylie'', a collection of dance-oriented pop tunes spent more than a year on the British album charts, including several weeks at number one. The album went gold in the United States, and the single, "The Loco-Motion", reached number three on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and number one on the Canadian Singles Chart. "It's No Secret", released only in the U.S., peaked at number 37 in early 1989, and "Turn It Into Love" was released as a single in Japan, where it reached number one.

In July 1988, "Got To Be Certain" became Minogue's third consecutive number one single on the Australian music charts, and later in the year she left ''Neighbours'' to focus on her music career. Jason Donovan commented "When viewers watched her on screen they no longer saw Charlene the local mechanic, they saw Kylie the pop star." A duet with Donovan, titled "Especially for You", sold almost one million copies in the UK in early 1989, but critic Kevin Killian wrote that the duet was "majestically awful ...[it] makes the Diana Ross, Lionel Richie 'Endless Love' sound like Mahler." She was sometimes referred to as "the Singing Budgie" by her detractors over the coming years, however Chris True's comment about the album ''Kylie'' for Allmusic suggests that Minogue's appeal transcended the limitations of her music, by noting that "her cuteness makes these rather vapid tracks bearable".

Her follow-up album ''Enjoy Yourself'' (1989) was a success in the United Kingdom, Europe, New Zealand, Asia and Australia, and contained several successful singles, including the British number one "Hand on Your Heart", but it failed throughout North America, and Minogue was dropped by her American record label Geffen Records. She embarked on her first concert tour, the Enjoy Yourself Tour, in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and Australia, where Melbourne's ''Herald Sun'' wrote that it was "time to ditch the snobbery and face facts—the kid's a star." In December 1989, Minogue was one of the featured vocalists on the remake of "Do They Know It's Christmas", and her debut film, ''The Delinquents'', premiered in London. It was poorly received by critics, and the ''Daily Mirror'' reviewed Minogue's performance with the comment that she "has as much acting charisma as cold porridge", but it proved popular with audiences; in the UK it grossed more than £200,000, and in Australia it was the fourth-highest grossing local film of 1989 and the highest grossing local film of 1990.

''Rhythm of Love'' (1990) presented a more sophisticated and adult style of dance music and also marked the first signs of Minogue's rebellion against her production team and the "girl-next-door" image. Determined to be accepted by a more mature audience, Minogue took control of her music videos, starting with "Better the Devil You Know", and presented herself as a sexually aware adult. Her relationship with Michael Hutchence was also seen as part of Minogue's departure from her earlier persona; Hutchence was quoted as saying that his hobby was "corrupting Kylie", and that the INXS song "Suicide Blonde" had been inspired by her. The singles from ''Rhythm of Love'' sold well in Europe and Australia and were popular in British nightclubs. Pete Waterman later reflected that "Better the Devil You Know" was a milestone in her career and said that it made her "the hottest, hippest dance act on the scene and nobody could knock it as it was the best dance record around at the time". "Shocked" became Minogue's thirteenth consecutive British top-10 single.

In May 1990, Minogue performed her band's arrangement of The Beatles's "Help!" before a crowd of 25,000 at the ''John Lennon: The Tribute Concert'' on the banks of the River Mersey in Liverpool. Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon offered Minogue their thanks for her support of The John Lennon Fund, while the media commented positively on her performance. ''The Sun'' wrote "The soap star wows the Scousers — Kylie Minogue deserved her applause". Her fourth album, ''Let's Get to It'' (1991), reached number 15 on the British album charts and was the first of her albums to fail to reach the Top 10; her fourteenth single "Word Is Out" was the first to miss the Top 10 singles chart, though subsequent singles "If You Were with Me Now" and "Give Me Just a Little More Time" reached number four and number two respectively. Minogue had fulfilled the requirements of her contract and elected not to renew it. She later expressed her opinion that she was stifled by Stock, Aitken and Waterman, and said, "I was very much a puppet in the beginning. I was blinkered by my record company. I was unable to look left or right."

A ''Greatest Hits'' album was released in 1992. It reached number one in the UK and number three in Australia, and the singles "What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)" and her cover version of Kool & The Gang's "Celebration" each reached the UK Top 20.

1993–98: Deconstruction, ''Kylie Minogue'' and ''Impossible Princess''

Minogue's subsequent signing with Deconstruction Records was highly touted in the music media as the beginning of a new phase in her career, but the eponymous ''Kylie Minogue'' (1994) received mixed reviews. It sold well in Europe and Australia, where the single "Confide in Me" spent four weeks at number one. She performed a striptease in the video for her next single, "Put Yourself in My Place", inspired by Jane Fonda in the film ''Barbarella''. This single and her next, "Where Is the Feeling?" each reached the British top 20, and the album peaked at number four, eventually selling 250,000 copies. During this period she made a guest appearance as herself, in an episode of the comedy ''The Vicar of Dibley''. The director Steven E. de Souza was intrigued by Minogue's cover photo in Australia's ''Who Magazine'' as one of "The 30 Most Beautiful People in the World", and offered her a role opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in ''Street Fighter'' (1994). The film was a moderate success, earning USD$70 million in the U.S., but received poor reviews with ''The Washington Post'''s Richard Harrington calling Minogue "the worst actress in the English-speaking world". She co-starred with Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin in ''Bio-Dome'' (1996), but it was a failure, dismissed by ''Movie Magazine International'' as the "biggest waste of celluloid space". Minogue returned to Australia where she appeared in the short film, ''Hayride to Hell'' (1995), and then to the UK where she filmed a cameo role as herself in the film ''Diana & Me'' (1997).

Australian artist Nick Cave had been interested in working with Minogue since hearing "Better the Devil You Know", saying it contained "one of pop music's most violent and distressing lyrics" and "when Kylie Minogue sings these words, there is an innocence to her that makes the horror of this chilling lyric all the more compelling". They collaborated on "Where the Wild Roses Grow" (1995), a brooding ballad whose lyrics narrated a murder from the points of view of both the murderer (Cave), and his victim (Minogue). The video was inspired by John Everett Millais's painting ''Ophelia'' (1851–1852), and showed Minogue as the murdered woman, floating in a pond as a serpent swam over her body. The single received widespread attention in Europe, where it reached the top 10 in several countries, and acclaim in Australia where it reached number two on the singles chart, and won ARIA Awards for "Song of the Year" and "Best Pop Release". Following concert appearances with Cave, Minogue recited the lyrics to "I Should Be So Lucky" as poetry in London's Royal Albert Hall "Poetry Jam", at the suggestion of Cave, and later described it as a "most cathartic moment". She credited Cave with giving her the confidence to express herself artistically, saying: "He taught me to never veer too far from who I am, but to go further, try different things, and never lose sight of myself at the core. For me, the hard part was unleashing the core of myself and being totally truthful in my music." By 1997, Minogue was in a relationship with the French photographer Stéphane Sednaoui, who encouraged her to develop her creativity. Inspired by a mutual appreciation of Japanese culture, they created a visual combination of "geisha and manga superheroine" for the photographs taken for the album ''Impossible Princess'' and the video for "German Bold Italic", Minogue's collaboration with Towa Tei. Minogue drew inspiration from the music of artists such as Shirley Manson and Garbage, Björk, Tricky and U2, and Japanese pop musicians such as Pizzicato Five and Towa Tei.

''Impossible Princess'' featured collaborations with musicians such as James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore of the Manic Street Preachers. Mostly a dance album, its style was not represented by its first single "Some Kind of Bliss", and Minogue countered suggestions that she was trying to become an indie artist. She told ''Music Week'', "I have to keep telling people that this isn't an indie-guitar album. I'm not about to pick up a guitar and rock." Acknowledging that she had attempted to escape the perceptions of her that had developed during her early career, Minogue commented that she was ready to "forget the painful criticism" and "accept the past, embrace it, use it". Her video for "Did It Again" paid homage to her earlier incarnations, as noted in her biography, ''La La La'', "Dance Kylie, Cute Kylie, Sex Kylie and Indie Kylie all struggled for supremacy as they battled bitchily with each other." ''Billboard'' described the album as "stunning" and concluded that "it's a golden commercial opportunity for a major [record company] with vision and energy [to release it in the United States]. A sharp ear will detect a kinship between ''Impossible Princess'' and Madonna's hugely successful album, ''Ray of Light''". In the UK, ''Music Week'' gave a negative assessment, commenting that "Kylie's vocals take on a stroppy edge ... but not strong enough to do much". Retitled ''Kylie Minogue'' in the UK following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, it became the lowest-selling album of her career. At the end of the year a campaign by ''Virgin Radio'' stated, "We've done something to improve Kylie's records: we've banned them." A poll conducted by ''Smash Hits'' voted her the "worst-dressed person, worst singer and second-most very horrible thing—after spiders".

In Australia, ''Impossible Princess'' spent 35 weeks on the album chart and peaked at number four, to become her most successful album since ''Kylie'' in 1988, and her Intimate and Live tour was extended due to demand. The Victorian Premier, Jeff Kennett, hosted a civic reception for Minogue in Melbourne, and she maintained her high profile in Australia with live performances, including the 1998 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the opening ceremonies of Melbourne's Crown Casino and Sydney's Fox Studios in 1999, where she performed Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend", and a Christmas concert in Dili, East Timor in association with the United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces. During this time she filmed a small role for the Australian-made Molly Ringwald film, ''Cut'' (2000).

1999–2005: ''Light Years'', ''Fever'' and ''Body Language''

Minogue and Deconstruction Records parted company. She performed a duet with the Pet Shop Boys' on their ''Nightlife'' album and spent several months in Barbados performing in Shakespeare's ''The Tempest''. Returning to Australia, she appeared in the film ''Sample People'' and recorded a cover version of Russell Morris's "The Real Thing" for the soundtrack. She signed with Parlophone Records in April 1999. According to Miles Leonard, her new A&R; at Parlophone, it was the label and not Minogue that was responsible for her career downturn, believing that her talent hadn't been tapped into by Deconstruction. Leonard later told HitQuarters: "I believed that she was still very strong vocally, and still definitely a star ... and I knew that with the right project, the right songwriters, the right producers, the right team, she would still have a fanbase out there." Parlophone wanted to reestablish Minogue as the pop artist they felt she essentially was, but that had been lost. Leonard said: "But I didn't want to make a throwaway pop record, I wanted it to have an edge and some depth."

Her album ''Light Years'' (2000) was a collection of dance songs, influenced by disco music. Minogue said that her intention was to present dance-pop music in a "more exaggerated form" and to make it "fun". It generated strong reviews and was successful throughout Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, selling over one million copies in the UK. The single "Spinning Around" became her first British number one in ten years, and its accompanying video featured Minogue in revealing gold hot pants, which came to be regarded as a "trademark". The single was described by a 2009 The Times article as heralding a new era in synthpop that was continuing. Her second single, "On a Night Like This" reached number one in Australia and number two in the UK. "Kids", a duet with Robbie Williams, was also included on Williams's album ''Sing When You're Winning'', and peaked at number two in the UK.

In 2000, Minogue performed ABBA's "Dancing Queen" and her single "On a Night like This" at the 2000 Sydney Olympics closing ceremony. She then embarked upon a concert tour, On A Night like This Tour, which played to sell-out crowds in Australia and the United Kingdom. Minogue was inspired by Madonna's 1993 world tour The Girlie Show which incorporated Burlesque and theatre, William Baker also cited the style of Broadway shows such as ''42nd Street'', films such as ''Anchors Aweigh'', ''South Pacific'', the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals of the 1930s and the live performances of Bette Midler. Minogue was praised for her new material and her reinterpretations of some of her greatest successes, turning "I Should Be So Lucky" into a torch song and "Better the Devil You Know" into a 1940s big band number. She won a "Mo Award" for Australian live entertainment as "Performer of the Year". Following the tour she was asked by a ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' journalist what she thought was her greatest strength, and replied, "[That] I am an all-rounder. If I was to choose any one element of what I do, I don't know if I would excel at any one of them. But put all of them together, and I know what I'm doing."

She appeared as "The Green Fairy" in ''Moulin Rouge!'' (2001), shortly before the release of ''Fever'', an album containing disco elements combined with 1980s electropop and synthpop. ''Fever'' reached number one in Australia, the UK, and throughout Europe, eventually achieving worldwide sales in excess of eight million. Its lead single "Can't Get You Out of My Head" became the biggest success of her career, reaching number one in more than 40 countries. She won four ARIA Awards including a "Most Outstanding Achievement" award, and two Brit Awards, for "Best international female solo artist" and "Best international album". ''Rolling Stone'' states that "Can't Get You out of My Head" "was easily the best and most omnipresent dance track of the new century", and following extensive airplay by American radio, Capitol Records released it and the album ''Fever'' in the U.S. in 2002. ''Fever'' debuted on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart at number three, and "Can't Get You out of My Head" reached number seven on the Hot 100. The subsequent singles "In Your Eyes", "Love at First Sight" and "Come into My World" were successful throughout the world, and Minogue established a presence in the mainstream North American market, particularly in the club scene. Minogue followed the success of the album by touring the United States with the Jingle Ball festival, visiting Miami, Anaheim, New York City, Philadelphia and Houston. In 2003 she received a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Dance Recording" for "Love at First Sight", and the following year won the same award for "Come into My World".

Minogue's stylist and creative director William Baker explained that the music videos for the ''Fever'' album were inspired by science fiction films—specifically those by Stanley Kubrick—and accentuated the electropop elements of the music by using dancers in the style of Kraftwerk. Alan MacDonald, the designer of the 2002 KylieFever tour, brought those elements into the stage show which drew inspiration from Minogue's past incarnations. The show opened with Minogue as a space age vamp, which she described as "Queen of Metropolis with her drones", through to scenes inspired by Kubrick's ''A Clockwork Orange'', followed by the various personas of Minogue's career. Minogue said that she was finally able to express herself the way she wanted, and that she had always been "a showgirl at heart". During 2002 she worked on the animated film ''The Magic Roundabout'', released in 2005 in Europe and 2006 in the U.S.; she voiced one of the principal characters, Florence.

Minogue began a relationship with the French actor, Olivier Martinez, after meeting him at the 2002 Grammy Awards ceremony. Her next album, ''Body Language'' (2003), was released following an invitation-only concert, titled ''Money Can't Buy'', at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. The event marked the presentation of a new visual style, designed by Minogue and Baker, inspired in part by Brigitte Bardot, about whom Minogue commented: "I just tended to think of BB [Bardot] as, well, she's a sexpot, isn't she? She's one of the greatest pinups. But she was fairly radical in her own way at that time. And we chose to reference the period, which was ... a perfect blend of coquette and rock and roll." The album downplayed the disco style and Minogue said she was inspired by 1980s artists such as Scritti Politti, The Human League, Adam and the Ants and Prince, blending their styles with elements of hip hop. It received positive reviews with ''Billboard Magazine'' writing of "Minogue's knack for picking great songs and producers". Allmusic described it as "a near perfect pop record... ''Body Language'' is what happens when a dance-pop diva takes the high road and focuses on what's important instead of trying to shock herself into continued relevance". Sales of ''Body Language'' were lower than anticipated after the success of ''Fever'', though the first single, "Slow", was a number-one hit in the UK and Australia. After reaching number one on the US club chart, "Slow" received a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Dance Recording category.

''Body Language'' achieved first week sales of 43,000 in the U.S., and declined significantly in the second week. ''The Wall Street Journal'' described Minogue as "an international superstar who seems perpetually unable to conquer the U.S. market". Minogue commented that she had told her American record company that she was not willing to invest the time needed to establish herself in the U.S. and that she would rather enhance the success she had already achieved in other parts of the world, an attitude endorsed by ''Billboard'' analyst Geoff Mayfield as a "business decision... If I were her accountant, I couldn't blame her for making that call." Minogue later commented that she was not concerned by her limited success in the U.S. and was more frustrated by assumptions that she considered her career incomplete without it.

Minogue played a guest role in the season finale of the comedy series ''Kath & Kim'', in which she referenced her earlier role as Charlene in ''Neighbours'', during a wedding sequence. The episode achieved the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's highest ratings of the year.

She released her second official greatest hits album in November 2004, entitled ''Ultimate Kylie'', along with her music videos on a DVD compilation of the same title. The album introduced her singles "I Believe in You", co-written with Jake Shears and Babydaddy from the Scissor Sisters, and "Giving You Up". "I Believe in You" reached the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play top three, and Minogue was nominated for a Grammy Award for the fourth consecutive year when the song was nominated in the category of "Best Dance Recording".

Early in 2005, Kylie : The Exhibition opened in Melbourne. The free exhibition featured costumes and photographs spanning Minogue's career and went on to tour Australian capital cities receiving over 300,000 visitors, and was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in February 2007. Minogue commenced her Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour, and after performing in Europe, travelled to Melbourne, where she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

2006–09: Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour, ''X'', KylieX2008 and For You, for Me Tour

In November 2006, Minogue resumed her Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour with a performance in Sydney. She had told journalists before the concert that she would be highly emotional, and she cried before dedicating the song "Especially for You" to her father, a survivor of prostate cancer. Her dance routines had been reworked to accommodate her medical condition, and slower costume changes and longer breaks were introduced between sections of the show to conserve her strength. The media reported that Minogue performed energetically, with the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' describing the show as an "extravaganza" and "nothing less than a triumph". The following night, Minogue was joined by Bono, who was in Australia as part of U2's ''Vertigo'' tour, for the duet "Kids", but Minogue was forced to cancel a subsequent planned appearance at U2's show, because of exhaustion. Minogue's shows throughout Australia continued to draw positive reviews, and after spending Christmas with her family, she resumed the European leg of her tour with six sold-out shows in Wembley Arena, before taking her tour to Manchester for a further six shows.

In February 2007, Minogue and Olivier Martinez announced that they had ended their relationship, but remained on friendly terms. Minogue was reported to have been "saddened by false [media] accusations of [Martinez's] disloyalty". She defended Martinez, and acknowledged the support he had given during her treatment for breast cancer, commenting "He was always there, helping with the practical stuff and being protective. He was incredible. He didn't hesitate in cancelling work and putting projects on hold so he could be with me. He's the most honourable man I have ever met."

Minogue released ''X'', her tenth studio album and much-discussed "comeback" album, in November 2007. The electro-styled album included contributions from Guy Chambers, Cathy Dennis, Bloodshy & Avant and Calvin Harris. For the overarching visual look of ''X'', including the music video for first single "2 Hearts", Minogue and William Baker developed a combination of the style of Kabuki theatre and the aesthetics originating from London danceclubs including BoomBox. The album received some criticism for the triviality of its subject matter in light of Minogue's experiences with breast cancer; she responded by explaining the personal nature of some of the album's songs, and said "My conclusion is that if I'd done an album of personal songs it'd be seen as 'Impossible Princess 2' and be equally critiqued." ''Rolling Stone'''s reviewer described Minogue as "pop divadom's party planner in chief", and said of her breast cancer, "thankfully, the experience hasn't made her music discernibly deeper". Minogue later said, "In retrospect we could definitely have bettered it [the album], I'll say that straight up. Given the time we had, it is what it is. I had a lot of fun doing it." ''X'' and "2 Hearts" entered at number one on the Australian albums and singles charts respectively. In the UK, ''X'' initially attracted lukewarm sales, although its commercial performance eventually improved, and Minogue won a Brit Award for "International solo female". ''X'' was released in the U.S. in April 2008, and debuted outside the top 100 on the albums chart despite some promotion. Minogue called the U.S. market "notoriously difficult ... [Y]ou have so many denominations with radio. To know where I fit within that market is sometimes difficult." ''X'' was nominated for the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album, Minogue's fifth Grammy Award nomination.

In December 2007, Minogue participated in the ''Nobel Peace Prize Concert'' in Oslo, Norway, and later performed in the final of the UK talent show ''The X Factor'' with the eventual winner, Leon Jackson, whose mentor was Dannii Minogue. From May 2008, Minogue promoted ''X'' with a European tour, KylieX2008, which is her most expensive tour to date with production costs of £10 million. Although she described the rehearsals as "grim" and the set list went through several overhauls, the tour was generally acclaimed and sold well.

Minogue was featured in ''White Diamond'', a documentary filmed during 2006 and 2007 as she resumed her Showgirl Homecoming Tour. She appeared in ''The Kylie Show'', which featured highly stylised set-piece song performances from Minogue as well as comedy sketches with Mathew Horne, Dannii Minogue, Jason Donovan and Simon Cowell. She co-starred in the 2007 ''Doctor Who'' Christmas special episode, "Voyage of the Damned", as Astrid Peth, a waitress on a spaceship ''Titanic''. The episode aired on 25 December 2007, with 13.31 million viewers, the show's highest viewing figures since 1979.

It was announced in late December 2007 that Minogue was to be among those honoured in Queen Elizabeth II's 2008 New Years Honours list, with an OBE for services to music. Minogue commented "I am almost as surprised as I am honoured. I feel deeply touched to be acknowledged by the UK, my adopted home, in this way." She received the OBE officially from The Prince of Wales in July 2008. In May, 2008 Minogue was awarded the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France's highest cultural honour. Culture Minister Christine Albanel described Minogue as a "midas of the international music scene who turns everything she touches into gold", and saluted her for publicly discussing her breast cancer. In July, Minogue was named the UK's "Best Loved Celebrity" by a tabloid newspaper, who commented that she "won the hearts of the nation as she bravely battled breast cancer", and won the "Best International Female Solo Artist" award at the 2008 BRIT Awards.

In late September 2008, Minogue made her Middle East debut as the headline act at the opening of Atlantis, The Palm, an exclusive hotel resort in Dubai, and from November, she continued with her ''KylieX2008'' tour, taking the show to cities across South America, Asia and Australia. The tour visited 21 countries, and was considered a success, with ticket sales estimated at $70,000,000. She hosted the ''2009 BRIT Awards'' on 18 February 2009 with James Corden and Mathew Horne.

In September and October 2009, Minogue embarked on the For You, For Me Tour, her first North American concert tour, which included shows in the U.S. and Canada. She was also featured in the Bollywood film, ''Blue'', performing an A.R. Rahman song, and had confirmed that she was working on her eleventh studio album, commenting that it would be an album of dance and pop music. On 13 September 2009, Minogue performed "Super Trouper" and "When All Is Said and Done" with Benny Andersson at the ABBA tribute concert "Thank You for the Music... a Celebration of the Music of ABBA" at London's Hyde Park, her only live performance in the UK in 2009. On 14 December 2009, Minogue released a download-only concert album entitled ''Kylie: Live in New York''. The album was recorded at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom and contains 25 live version songs.

2010–present: ''Aphrodite''

Minogue's eleventh studio album, ''Aphrodite'', was released in Japan on 30 June 2010 and worldwide in July 2010. The lead single, "All the Lovers", premiered on radio in May 2010 and was made available for purchase in June 2010. The album debuted at number one in the UK charts, exactly twenty two years after her first UK number one hit. On 3 June 2010, she hosted the inaugural AmfAR "Inspiration Gala" at the New York Public Library honouring Jean Paul Gaultier for his lifelong contribution to men's fashion and the fight against AIDS. Minogue appeared on BBC1's ''Friday Night With Jonathan Ross'' on 25 June 2010, during which she confirmed she is a UK resident, and announced that she will tour in 2011.

In July 2010, Minogue filmed a cameo performance as a rock star in the American independent film ''Jack and Diane''. The movie stars Juno Temple, Riley Keough and Jena Malone. She also recorded a duet titled "Devotion" with British synthpop duo Hurts for their debut album ''Happiness'', released on 6 September 2010. The second single from ''Aphrodite'', titled "Get Outta My Way" was released on 27 September 2010. In October 2010, Minogue performed in front of the Sphinx and the Pyramids at Giza, Egypt to celebrate the anniversary of "Enigma" magazine, with profits going to the We Owe It To Egypt Foundation. A third single, "Better Than Today", was released on 6 December 2010.

Minogue's singles, "All the Lovers" and "Get Outta My Way", were popular in U.S. clubs, each reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Songs chart. On March 5, 2011 "Better Than Today" was at number one on the chart, and her collaboration with Taio Cruz, "Higher", was at number three, making her the first artist in the chart's history to have two singles simultaneously in the top three. On 1 December 2010, Minogue and Parlophone records released the EP ''A Kylie Christmas'' on iTunes, which included a cover of the 1945 song "Let It Snow" as well as "Santa Baby" which was previously available as a b-side to her 2000 single "Please Stay". In August 2011, "Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)", also reached number one on the Billboard dance chart, where Minogue has now achieved five consecutive number one spots on the chart for her last five releases - including her collaboration with Taio Cruz on the track, "Higher".

In 2011, Minogue embarked on the ''Aphrodite World Tour'', travelling to Europe, North America, Canada, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Image and celebrity status

Minogue's efforts to be taken seriously as a recording artist were initially hindered by the perception that she had not "paid her dues" and was no more than a manufactured pop star exploiting the image she had created during her stint on ''Neighbours''. Minogue acknowledged this viewpoint, saying, "if you're part of a record company, I think to a degree it's fair to say that you're a manufactured product. You're a product and you're selling a product. It doesn't mean that you're not talented and that you don't make creative and business decisions about what you will and won't do and where you want to go." In 1993, Baz Luhrmann introduced Minogue to the photographer Bert Stern, notable for his work with Marilyn Monroe. Stern photographed her in Los Angeles and, comparing her to Monroe, commented that Minogue had a similar mix of vulnerability and eroticism. During her career Minogue has chosen photographers who attempt to create a new "look" for her, and the resulting photographs have appeared in a variety of magazines, from the cutting edge ''The Face'' to the more traditionally sophisticated ''Vogue'' and ''Vanity Fair'', making the Minogue face and name known to a broad group of people. Stylist William Baker has suggested that this is part of the reason she has entered in the mainstream pop culture of Europe more successfully than many other pop singers who concentrate solely on selling records.

By 2000, when Minogue returned to prominence, she was considered to be have achieved a degree of musical credibility for having maintained her career longer than her critics had expected. That same year, ''Birmingham Post'' noted "[o]nce upon a time, long before anybody had even heard of Britney, Christina, Jessica or Mandy, Australian singer Kylie Minogue ruled the charts as princess of pop. Back in 1988 her first single, I Should Be So Lucky, spent five weeks at number one, making her the most successful female artist in the UK charts with 13 successive Top 10 entries." Her progression from the wholesome "girl next door" to a more sophisticated performer with a flirtatious and playful persona attracted new fans to her. Her "Spinning Around" video led to some media outlets referring to her as "SexKylie", and sex became a stronger element in her subsequent videos. William Baker described her status as a sex symbol as a "double edged sword" observing that "we always attempted to use her sex appeal as an enhancement of her music and to sell a record. But now it has become in danger of eclipsing what she actually is: a pop singer." After 20 years as a performer, Minogue was described as a fashion "trend-setter" and a "style icon who constantly reinvents herself". She has been acknowledged for mounting successful tours, and for worldwide record sales of more than 60 million.

Minogue is regarded as a gay icon, which she encourages with comments such as "I am not a traditional gay icon. There's been no tragedy in my life, only tragic outfits..." and "My gay audience has been with me from the beginning ... they kind of adopted me." Minogue has explained that she first became aware of her gay audience in 1988, when several drag queens performed to her music at a Sydney pub and she later saw a similar show in Melbourne. She said that she felt "very touched" to have such an "appreciative crowd" and this had encouraged her to perform at gay venues throughout the world, as well as headlining the 1994 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Minogue has been inspired by and compared to Madonna throughout her career. Her producer, Pete Waterman recalled Minogue during the early years of her success, with the observation, "She was setting her sights on becoming the new Prince or Madonna... What I found amazing was that she was outselling Madonna four to one, but still wanted to be her." Minogue received negative comments that her Rhythm of Love tour in 1991 was too similar visually to Madonna's Blond Ambition World Tour of the previous year for which the critics labelled her a Madonna wannabe. Kathy McCabe for ''The Telegraph'' notes that Minogue and Madonna follow similar styles in music and fashion, and concludes, "Where they truly diverge on the pop-culture scale is in shock value. Minogue's clips might draw a gasp from some but Madonna's ignite religious and political debate unlike any other artist on the planet... Simply, Madonna is the dark force; Kylie is the light force." ''Rolling Stone'' comments that, with the exception of the U.S., Minogue is regarded throughout the world as "an icon to rival Madonna", and says, "Like Madonna, Minogue was not a virtuosic singer but a canny trend spotter." Minogue has said of Madonna, "Her huge influence on the world, in pop and fashion, meant that I wasn't immune to the trends she created. I admire Madonna greatly but in the beginning she made it difficult for artists like me, she had done everything there was to be done...", and "Madonna's the Queen of Pop, I'm the princess. I'm quite happy with that."

In January 2007 Madame Tussauds in London unveiled its fourth waxwork of Minogue; only Queen Elizabeth II has had more models created. During the same week a bronze cast of her hands was added to Wembley Arena's "Square of Fame". On 23 November 2007, a bronze statue of Minogue was unveiled at Melbourne Docklands for permanent display.

In March 2010, Minogue was declared by researchers as the "most powerful celebrity in Britain". The study examined how marketers identify celebrity and brand partnerships. Mark Husak, head of Millward Brown's UK media practice, said: "Kylie is widely accepted as an adopted Brit. People know her, like her and she is surrounded by positive buzz".

Cancer

Minogue was diagnosed with breast cancer on 17 May 2005, leading to the postponement of the remainder of her Showgirl – The Greatest Hits Tour and her withdrawal from the Glastonbury Festival. Her hospitalisation and treatment in Melbourne resulted in a brief but intense period of media coverage, particularly in Australia, where Prime Minister John Howard issued a statement supporting Minogue. As media and fans began to congregate outside the Minogue residence in Melbourne, the Victorian Premier Steve Bracks warned the international media that any disruption of the Minogue family's rights under Australian privacy laws would not be tolerated. His comments became part of a wider criticism of the media's overall reaction, with particular criticism directed towards paparazzi. Minogue underwent surgery on 21 May 2005 at Cabrini Hospital in Malvern, and commenced chemotherapy treatment soon after.

On 8 July 2005, she made her first public appearance after her surgery, when she visited a children's cancer ward at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital. She returned to France where she completed her chemotherapy treatment at the Institut Gustave-Roussy in Villejuif, near Paris. In December 2005, Minogue released a digital-only single, "Over the Rainbow", a live recording from her Showgirl tour. Her children's book, ''The Showgirl Princess'', written during her period of convalescence, was published in October 2006, and her perfume, "Darling", was launched in November. This range was later augmented by eau de toilettes such as Pink Sparkle, Couture and Inverse. On her return to Australia for her concert tour, she discussed her illness, and said that her chemotherapy treatment had been like "experiencing a nuclear bomb". While appearing on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' in 2008, Minogue said that her cancer had originally been misdiagnosed. She commented, "Because someone is in a white coat and using big medical instruments doesn't necessarily mean they're right", but she later spoke of her respect for the medical profession.

Minogue was acknowledged for the impact she had made by publicly discussing her cancer diagnosis and treatment; in May 2008, the French Cultural Minister Christine Albanel said, "Doctors now even go as far as saying there is a 'Kylie effect' that encourages young women to have regular checks."

Discography

''Kylie'' (1988)

''Enjoy Yourself'' (1989)

''Rhythm of Love'' (1990)

''Let's Get to It'' (1991)

''Kylie Minogue'' (1994)

''Impossible Princess'' (1997)

''Light Years'' (2000)

''Fever'' (2001)

''Body Language'' (2003)

''X'' (2007)

''Aphrodite'' (2010)

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Kylie Minogue

List of Kylie Minogue concert tours

Kylie Minogue filmography

Honorific nicknames in popular music

List of best-selling music artists

References

;Notes

;Bibliography

External links

 – owned and maintained by EMI and represents Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue Collection at the Performing Arts Collection

Category:1968 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from Melbourne Category:ARIA Award winners Category:Australian child actors Category:Australian dance musicians Category:Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Australian female singers Category:Australian film actors Category:Australian pop singers Category:Australian television actors Category:Australian people of Irish descent Category:Australian people of Welsh descent Category:Breast cancer survivors Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Nu-disco musicians Category:Freestyle musicians Category:Gold Logie winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:LGBT rights activists from Australia Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Parlophone artists Category:Recipients of the Centenary Medal Category:Singers from Melbourne Category:The X Factor judges Category:The X Factor (UK) Category:Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

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