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Kylie Minogue to wow Glastonbury – 14 years after she was denied by cancer diagnosis


Fourteen years ago the pop star was due to headline the festival until a breast cancer diagnosis forced her to cancel.

It also robbed her of the chance to carve a slice of Glasto history.

“I would have been one of the only female solo artists in the festival’s history to headline,” she says.

“I really thought I missed my opportunity and as the years went by I said to myself: ‘Well this just isn’t going to happen’.”

Even now, she remembers vividly being back home in Melbourne, Australia, with mum Carol and dad Ron and watching the 2005 festival on television.

Despite being in the grip of an eight-month cycle of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the sheer injustice of having to cancel the show affected her deeply too.

“My memory’s so strong of so much around that time and while my focus had moved on from Glastonbury, I was watching from Australia and going: ‘I’m meant to be there’,” she says.

“It would have been pretty mega at the time to headline – the next woman to do it was Beyoncé.”

After being given the all-clear from cancer, and as the years rolled by, Glastonbury always nagged away at the back of her mind.

So she was “floored” when the call finally arrived offering her the chance to follow in the footsteps of Bee Gee Barry Gibb and Dame Shirley Bassey by playing the famous teatime Legends Slot on the main Pyramid Stage.

Kylie Minogue

EMOTIONAL: Kylie says she’ll be on tears on the Glastonbury stage this weekend (Pic: GETTY)

And Kylie knows just how emotionally-charged the moment will be when she finally strides out on to that stage.

“I will remember what happened those years ago and I think my overriding feeling will just be of gratitude and, you know, just how fragile life can be,” she admits.

“Will there be tears? Absolutely. Let’s just say I will be wearing waterproof mascara.”

Just 36 when she received the diagnosis Kylie retreated into a “dark” place and barely left her parents’ home.

And while some artists undergo treatment in private, a cancelled tour meant Kylie decided to make her condition public.

Kylie Minogue

SICK: The star was due to headline Glasto in 2005 but couldn’t because of breast cancer (Pic: THE MIRROR)

“I was meant to be on stage in two or three days so I needed an explanation, and it just didn’t cross my mind not to say it,” she says.

“I probably didn’t think about the ramifications of that, but I am not a very good liar.”

The heavy-duty steroids made her feel unwell, and she was stung by the inevitable hair loss.

After finally being given the all-clear in January 2006, following a partial mastectomy, she was then forced to take medication for five years.

“The lows, you hate them at the time but it is character building,” she says. “I kind of hate saying that but it’s true, you know.”

Kylie

CUTE: Kylie when she was younger (Pic: INSTAGRAM)

One of the positive side-effects of Kylie going public was the huge surge of women having mammograms. Dubbed the “Kylie effect”, screenings increased by a third.

She says: “I have people come to me and tell me to my face: ‘Well I went to get checked and I’m now five years cancer free’.

“Everyone’s story is different, but it’s a good feeling to know that you’ve raised awareness and helped some people.”

In person, Kylie is warm, charming and looks much younger than 51. So it’s easy to see why GQ creative director Paul Solomons fell for her.

The pair began dating more than a year ago and he met her family –including brother Brendon and pop star sister Dannii – for the first time at Christmas.

KYLIE

HONOURED: The pop star received her OBE from the Queen eleven years ago (Pic: GETTY)

Kylie’s eyes light up at the mention of Paul’s name and she lets out a laugh upon mention of the soppy Instagram pictures the pair like to post – including one of her dressed as an elf gazing into his eyes.

“Who says you can’t be soppy and romantic later in life? Particularly when you find a good and true love,” she says.

“It doesn’t matter how young or old you are. I feel even more thankful and lucky that I have this in my life now… I’m really being taken care of.”

Not that Kylie needs taking care of.

Ever since she burst on to our screens as feisty tomboy Charlene in Neighbours in the late 1980s, she has worked non-stop – selling 80million records worldwide and amassing an estimated £50m fortune.

Kylie

LOVE: Kylie with GQ boss and boyfriend Paul Solomons (Pic: GETTY)

Her last studio album – Golden – went straight to No 1, she has a greatest hits album out tomorrow and is currently on a UK tour.

To survive – and thrive – over three decades is almost unheard of in such a notoriously tough business.

To do so suggests an inner steel underneath her cheery persona. Just ask her team on tour.

“I like to be the boss… if anyone does anything stupid, they get the look,” she laughs.

She is not unlike her idol Dolly Parton in this respect, who five years ago also took to Glasto to perform the Legends slot.

Kylie says they met up earlier this year in secret while Dolly was in the UK to discuss the Aussie’s date at Worthy Farm.

It was their second encounter. The first, four years ago, saw Kylie left so star-struck, she could barely utter a word.

She says: “Some people react like that to me. I never understood it, but now I’m like like: ‘Oh, OK. That’s why they can’t put two words

together’.” Second time round, Kylie was sufficiently composed to strike up a conversation.

“Dolly said: ‘Oh you’re going to love Glastonbury. You know I did a new song for that called Mud because I thought there was going to be mud’.

Dolly Parton

SPEECHLESS: Kylie was so starstruck when she met Dolly that she couldn’t say a word (Pic: GETTY)

“She just told me to go out there and enjoy it.”

There’s no doubt of that. Promising a sing-along of her greatest hits, there are rumours, too, of some big name duets, which she wants to be a surprise.

“Yes, it’s going to be emotional, but to keep myself on track, I try to remind myself… it’s a celebration. I’m not trying to do anything new. Me, the crowd and 31 or 32 years of history together.

“Although I will probably feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience – having said that I will try to be as present as I can.”

Her mind, inevitably, drifts back again to 2005 and the Glastonbury that never was.

“Perhaps I wasn’t ready then anyway,” she says. “I feel like I’ve grown so much and got a lot more to offer now.”

  • New album Step Back In Time is out tomorrow.
  • Kylie’s tour travels to Cornwall, Manchester, Lytham St Annes, Edinburgh, Scarborough and Brighton Pride. For tickets, go to kylie.com.



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