NEW YORK — While Kylie Minogue is a superstar overseas, in the United States, she’s been more of a cult phenomenon.
Because of that, Minogue has spent most of her time touring places like Europe, Asia and her native Australia, while admittedly treating the United States like an afterthought.
But Minogue is about to change her mindset.
She is launching her first North American tour this fall, and while it will be short — only six cities — she’s hoping to reconnect with her small but feverish fan base (a second show was recently added in New York City when the first sold out in an hour).
The Associated Press caught up with her for an interview.
AP: Why’d you decide to tour in the United States now?
Minogue: I’ve wanted to for ages, for the longest time, and it just never was feasible to do it. And I was tired of hearing myself say that, let alone answering other people’s questions saying, “Why haven’t you come to the States?” I’m doing it simply to do it, it’s not to promote anything, it’s not on the back of anything else, and it’s nice to have that freedom to create my show.
AP: What can fans expect?
Minogue: I’m sure most people who will come to see the show will know of my work so we’re hoping to do like a “best of” different tours that I’ve done. There’s nothing like being in same room with your peeps, you know. I only started saying “peeps” because I’m in America (laughs). And that’s when you really feel that connection and get to see what works and there’s nothing else like that.
AP: Why do you think you’ve had less success in the United States?
Minogue: I don’t have the audience here that I have in other parts of the world. I also think you need to be here, you really need to spend time and to be on tour, to travel, to bring your music to the people and I haven’t really done that. I’ve had little moments of in and out. But I quite like it here where I’m somewhat of an anomaly, so we’ll see what happens.
AP: You were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. How do you feel now?
Minogue: I’m doing good. It’s amazing how many people are affected by cancer and it’s definitely something that stays with you and you have a lot to think about and your life changes. I feel very fortunate.
AP: Was music therapeutic for you during that time?
Minogue: It was. My sister would come over to Paris where I was having treatment and she’d have the iPod full of music and she’d say, “Come on!” And she’d change the energy of the whole place and really try and get my spirits up and get me moving.
On the Net:
http://www.kylie.com