Recommendations of the Editorial team
Four decades of pop, more than 80 million records sold, a lifetime in the spotlight of the tabloid press – and to date not a single official documentary. That changes on May 20th. With the three-part series “Kylie” the Australian opens her archives on Netflix: with home movie recordings, private photographs and interviews in which her sister Dannii Minogue, Jason Donovan, Nick Cave and hitmaker Pete Waterman also have their say.
Reason enough to meet Kylie Minogue for a virtual interview and talk to the 57-year-old about the courage to finally say “yes”, the costs of fame and what happens when the cameras are off.
Click here for the video interview with Kylie Minogue:
ROLLING STONE: For years, a Kylie Minogue documentary was unthinkable. Why is it right now?
Kylie Minogue: If not now, then when? I’ve reached a point in my life where – with the right team and at the right time – it finally felt good. It’s something I’ve avoided for many years and always answered “no” to. But sometimes it’s nice to say “yes”.
Were there any big surprises?
Quite a lot, to be honest. When your own life suddenly becomes a story spanning several hours, you inevitably see it from someone else’s perspective. There are things that were no longer present – or that you never knew. For example, some of the contributors’ sentences made me think, “Oh, I didn’t realize that.” That was very moving.
One sentence from the documentary particularly stuck: “You have to become immune to criticism.” Is that really true?
This is from my sister. She said you had to be like that – as if that were even possible. I don’t think either of us really thinks that. It’s more about how you deal with criticism. I don’t live in a fantasy world where what you do shouldn’t attract criticism. Criticism is healthy, honest, part of reality. But we’re talking about an earlier time when everything was sensationalized and anything but friendly. Dannii knows this from her own career. When you’re 19 and no one helps you deal with it, it’s hard – and that’s what it’s all about. Nobody is immune to criticism.
You’ve experienced pretty much every brutal side of pop culture: tabloids, constant pressure to reinvent, social media, ageism. What did fame cost you emotionally – something that outsiders still underestimate today?
That’s a completely different conversation. This goes very deep. When the cameras are off and you go home and you’re alone with yourself – with your thoughts, your ambitions, your regrets – that’s something that’s hard to share with everyone. The topic is huge. So some degree of separation is probably good. So that you have private time to process what has happened or is currently happening and think about where you are going. We all have tons of thoughts at the same time, sometimes my head really runs into overdrive.
Does change or continuity appeal more?
Both belong inseparably together. You can’t change or do something new without everything that came before. When people talk about image changes and reinvention – I see it more as a kind of shapeshifting through pop culture and through my own life. That makes sense to me. Not necessarily for everyone else.
What fuels your self-confidence today?
From many things. I’d like to say I’m well prepared – but I’m actually not very good at it. I usually do steps one and two and feel like I skip the rest. Steps three to nine happen silently in my head, and then we end up straight at ten. A lot of work happens quietly inside me – or not so quietly. Confidence depends on how I feel. And from the team around me. I could wake up in the morning and feel ready for something to go well – and then there are a thousand factors that can turn that around. While all this is happening, you often don’t have time to think about things properly. When I was on tour, I always thought the two hours on stage were the most nerve-wracking part of the day. In some ways that’s true, in others it’s not true at all. Because all the thoughts, the “What if?”, the “Why didn’t I…?”, the “How will I…?” – there is no room for that there. You simply exist actively in the moment. From moment to moment to moment.
And if you want to take a look and get an idea of her career and life for yourself: The three-part documentary series “Kylie” about Kylie Minogue will be available on Netflix from May 20, 2026.
