Kylie Minogue has also seen those rumors that she might be a secret guest star on Madonna‘s upcoming Confessions II album. The whispers ramped up on Tuesday (May 19) when a Los Angeles Times interviewer asked Minogue about an Instagram post hinting at a new music video shoot, which led to some fan wish-making about a superstar diva team-up on Madonna’s upcoming (July 3) sequel to her 2005 Billboard 200 No. 1 album, Confessions on a Dance Floor.
“That’s a random thing,” Minogue told the paper about the Madonna talk. “There was a rumor I was on her album, but I’m not — I’m excited to hear it, all!”
The speculation is not totally unfounded, as Minogue made a surprise cameo during the March 2024 Los Angeles stop on Madonna’s Celebration tour, where they performed Gloria Gaynor’s girl-power disco classic “I Will Survive” as well as Minogue’s 2001 hit “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.”
A year later, speaking to People, Minogue said, “That was an incredible night and an incredible moment. And a lot of people had been waiting a long time, probably including us, but I thought that was just perfect.” At the time, she said she would “obviously” love to collaborate with Madonna one day. “So, there’s been no discussion, but if it were to happen, that would be great,” she said in December.
So far, Madonna has released “I Feel So Free,” as well as the Sabrina Carpenter collab “Bring You Love,” the album’s first official single. And while the tracklist was revealed in street posters around the world, it did shed light on any other potential guest stars.
The (relatively) bad news came with a bit of good news for Minogue fans, with the 57-year-old singer confirming that she’s recorded a new song called “Light Up” that she said “lives perfectly” next to her new three-part Netflix documentary, Kylie, which dropped on Wednesday (May 20).
Minogue said the fresh track is no “Padam Padam,” the Grammy-winning 2023 global dance smash that was the singer’s second No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart. She described the song as having a “lot of heart. Initially, I was thinking about my mom, ‘cause you can see in this documentary — don’t make me cry — I love her so much. I was writing about when you’re struggling, whether you’re a child or a grown-up, and someone who loves you will look into your eyes and, like a manga cartoon, you kind of zoom in and you see this world of possibility. When you’re lost, helpless or glassy-eyed, someone who can see in you what you can’t see can light you up, and you can get through that moment.”
The intimate documentary chronicles Mingoue’s rise from a teen star on the mega-popular Australian soap opera Neighbours — which instantly made her a household name in her native country beginning in 1986 — to her whirlwind romance with late INXS singer Michael Hutchence. It also touches on her unusual friendship with fellow musician and dark prince of Australian rock Nick Cave, as well as the seemingly constant wave of negative press and criticism she received during the initial years of her pop career in the 1990s.
With her signature charm and humor, Minogue responds to those slings and arrows with good cheer, while also delving into the heartbreak of her split with first love Hutchence and the devastating impact of her breast cancer diagnosis in 2005. She also reveals her, until-now, undisclosed second cancer diagnosis in 2021, which she discusses for the first time in the doc.
