Kylie Minogue reveals moment she realised she had a huge queer fanbase: ‘They protected me’
Kylie Minogue’s connection with gay fans runs deep. (Getty/Jamie McCarthy)
Aussie pop princess Kylie Minogue has revealed the first time she realised her fanbase was predominantly queer, and explained why she has such a connection with LGBTQ+ people.
Kylie Minogue has long sat atop the list of the queer community’s favourite people. The Kylie adoration has held strong since her ’80s debut, but it’s recently become even clearer thanks to her unavoidable viral hit “Padam Padam”.
The LGBTQ+ community flooded social media in their thousands to share memes and hilarious clips related to the catchy pop single, which undeniably helped Kylie achieve her biggest UK hit in over a decade, and potentially her biggest ever in the US.
At London’s Mighty Hoopla festival last weekend (3 and 4 June), which attracted queer people in droves, “Padam Padam” could be heard pretty much on the hour, every hour.
In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight Canada, Kylie has revealed why she thinks she has a “really natural” connection with queer people, and why the community has “kind of adopted” her.
“I heard there was a Kylie drag show in Sydney in 1990 or whatever it was and that’s kind of the first I heard of that [connection with queer people],” she revealed.
“I didn’t get to go. I really wanted to go. I was saying to my manager, ‘We’ve to go!’ and he was like ‘Um, I think we need a bit of organisation’. I’ve since been to a few drag shows and trust me, I’m the least Kylie in the room.”
She also shared an adorable story about arriving at a Kylie-themed drag tribute show in the later ’90s, and feeling “invisible” in a room full of faux Kylies.
“There’s part of me that’s pretty hippy, earthy, and I think I was in a very natural moment. I’d been to see [band] The Lemonheads and ended up at this Kylie thing and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I am just invisible right now!’
“I went on stage with them but I really thought: ‘You out Kylie me. You’re stratospheric, and I just rolled in’.”
While her affinity with the community extends back decades, she’s kept it at the forefront of her career right up to today. In the last year alone, she’s headlined Sydney WorldPride with sister Dannii Minogue, and collaborated with queer music stars Jake Shears and Olly Alexander.
During the interview, Kylie Minogue revealed that in a way, she is giving back to a community that has stood by her side, even during low moments in her career.
During the late ’90s, for example, her career was seen as heading towards a downward spiral after her sixth studio album Impossible Princess was dubbed a commercial flop.
“You kind of forget the moments that weren’t great… but there were plenty of moments where I was just being absolutely… it was not pleasant,” she said of that time.
“I feel like my gay audience felt some kind of solidarity there. They protected me. I was trying to give out nothing but goodness and when you cop it a little unfairly, they were ready to bite.”
Even then, she paid the community back by giving us Light Years three years later, which featured gay call to arms “Spinning Around”, “On A Night Like This” and “Your Disco Needs You”.
Kylie Minogue, you will always make our queer hearts go “Padam Padam”.
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