Kylie Minogue

Regarded, at best, a novelty act when production team Stock Aitken Waterman flew her to London to rush out a single on the back of her starring role in Australian soap opera Neighbours, Kylie Minogue has amazed everyone with her durable appeal. Appearing on TV shows from 12, she topped the Australian charts for seven weeks in 1987 with The Locomotion, yet it was the popularity of Neighbours with British teens that made the frothy I Should Be So Lucky an instant smash. Her initial rush of pop fame faded in the early 1990s, but she reinvented herself with a sexier image, embracing dance music and in 1995 collaborated with Nick Cave on murder ballad Where The Wild Roses Grow. Continuing to shift direction, she had a No 1 in 2000 with Spinning Around, then topped it with another classic dance record Can't Get You Out of My Head. In 2005 she overcame breast cancer to continue her love affair with the public.