Dannii Minogue

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Dannii Minogue
Minogue performing at G-A-Y in 2004.
Background information
Birth name	Danielle Jane Minogue
Born	October 20, 1971 (age 35)
Origin	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genre(s)	Dance-pop, dance, europop, Hi-NRG, Eurodance
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, actress, fashion designer
Years active	1979–present
Label(s)	Mushroom (Australia, 1989–present) MCA (1990–1997) Ultra Records (2003–present) Eternal Records (1997–2001) London Records (2001–2004) All Around The World Records (2004–present)
Website	www.danniimusic.com

Danielle Jane Minogue (born October 20, 1971), known as Dannii Minogue, is an Australian singer-songwriter, dancer, actress and occasional model, television presenter and fashion designer.

Minogue rose to prominence in the early 1980s as a result of her role in the Australian television talent show Young Talent Time, before commencing her career as a pop singer in the early 1990s. She has to date released four studio albums and achieved a total of nine UK Top 10 hits. Since the release of her 1997 album Girl, Minogue has focused on establishing herself as a dance artist, her 2001 collaboration with Dutch DJs Riva on "Who Do You Love Now?" becoming her most successful release worldwide. She is currently signed to All Around The World Records and in 2006 released her first official greatest hits compilation The Hits & Beyond, spanning fifteen years of music.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Childhood and beginning 1.2 Music career 1.2.1 Mushroom Records: 1990 – 1997 1.2.2 Eternal Records: 1997 – 2001 1.2.3 London Records: 2002 – 2003 1.2.4 All Around the World Records: 2004 – Present 2 Acting career 3 Personal life 3.1 Relationships 3.2 Kylie's shadow 3.3 Accusations of racism 3.4 Gay icon 3.5 Puss 'N Boots incident 4 Awareness campaigns and charity 5 Discography 5.1 Albums 5.2 Top-twenty singles 6 Notes and references 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Childhood and beginning

Dannii Minogue was born in Melbourne, Australia, to an Australian father, Ron Minogue, and a Welsh-born mother, Carol Jones who had immigrated as a child from Maesteg, Wales in 1955 to Townsville, Queensland. Minogue is the youngest of three children; her sister Kylie Minogue is a dance-pop singer and actress, and her older brother, Brendan, is a news cameraman in Australia.

Minogue began her career as a child on Australian television, and from the age of seven, Minogue appeared in soap operas such as Skyways and The Sullivans without attracting much attention. In 1979 she was invited to be a regular performer on the weekly music program Young Talent Time, quickly becoming one of the most popular and highest profile members in the show’s twenty year history. Minogue recorded on two albums for the show which featured her first solo recordings including a cover version of the Madonna hit "Material Girl". Minogue left Young Talent Time in 1988 to further her career as an actress, appearing as teen rebel tomboy Emma Jackson on the hit soap opera Home and Away, a role especially written for her. Her popularity in Australia was demonstrated when she was nominated for a "Silver Logie" for the country's "Most Popular Actress on Australian television". The show achieved high ratings in Europe, gaining Minogue a large fan base outside of Australia.

In 1988, she launched her own fashion line simply titled Dannii, becoming a successful fashion designer. The line was popular in Australia, selling out in ten days across the country. ^[1] Over the next year she would design and release an additional three lines, which were also successful.

[edit] Music career

[edit] Mushroom Records: 1990 – 1997

After recording and performing with the television show Young Talent Time, Minogue signed a recording contract with Mushroom Records in January 1989. Minogue traveled to New York City to work with producers Alvin Moody and Vincent Bell, writing and recording songs for her debut album. Her first album Dannii (1990), a collection of dance songs, reached number twenty-four on the Australian albums chart. Outside Australia it was released under the title Love and Kisses and Party Jam (in Japan) (1991) and reached number eight on the UK album charts. It sold over 60,000 copies Australia^[1], and 500,000 copies worldwide with most sales occurring in Europe and Asia. The album produced five singles, the most successful being her debut "Love and Kisses" which hit the top ten in both Australia and Britain. It was only in the United States where the album did not sell strongly; her debut North American single "Jump to the Beat" failing to make an impact on the U.S. Billboard magazine Hot 100. Later that year Love and Kisses was repackaged and released as Love and Kisses and... (1991), including four remixes. In late 1990, Minogue departed from Home and Away in order to concentrate fully on her music career.

Her follow up album Get into You (1993) failed to match the success of its predecessor, charting outside the top forty in the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. It did however produce one of Minogue's most well-known hits, "This Is It". When the album and its singles failed to make the top twenty in Britain or Australia, some commentators predicted the end of her music career. Minogue began recording her third album in 1995 for Mushroom International, writing and recording over twenty songs with various well-known producers such as Love to Infinity, Rapino Brothers, Ollie J, D.N.A, One World, Terry Ronald and Soul II Soul. Two songs from these recording sessions have been performed; "Everlasting Night" at Pride 1995 and "Free My Love" at Birmingham's Subway City Club. The album however was not released because Minogue and Mushroom International could not agree on which territories the album would be released in, and the two parted ways. Mushroom International had yet to have a large international hit and was unable to fund the release and promotion of Minogue's album worldwide.^[2]

Minogue later recorded two songs with dance act EuroGroove. Her first collaboration with the group, "Rescue Me", was included on the soundtrack to the Japanese film Sharaku and included a video, while "Boogie Woogie" was released as a one-off single. Both songs were only released in Japan where they reached number one. In 1996, Minogue decided to put her music career on hold to concentrate on television presenting.

[edit] Eternal Records: 1997 – 2001

After a long break from recording music, Minogue signed a multi-million dollar contract with Eternal Records, a subsidiary label of Warner Brothers Records. Her signing with the label enabled Minogue to break free from her bubblegum pop beginnings, allowing her to explore different styles of dance music. Girl (1997) featured collaborations with the British production team Xenomania, and Minogue contributed the majority of the lyrics. While the album was not a success on the album charts, barely entering the top sixty, the first single "All I Wanna Do" became one of Minogue's biggest commercial hits, hitting the UK top five. All three singles from the album became number one club hits, resulting in some of the highest single sales of her career. Girl combined many different genres including dance, trance, techno, house, alternative, pop, jazz, and classical, and is seen as the most creative and experimental album of her career. It was universally revered amongst the UK's top music journalists^[3] . In support of Girl, Minogue embarked on her first concert tour in the UK, performing songs from her three studio albums, along with some disco classics.

In December 1998, Mushroom Records released two compilations as part of their twenty-fifth anniversary. Released only in Australia, the first album contained a collection of her singles to date, while the other was a remix album featuring popular mixes of her singles. In 1999, Minogue was approached by Mardi Gras Records to help launch the first ever gay and lesbian record label with a single release. She re-recorded "Everlasting Night", a song originally recorded in 1995 for her unreleased album with Mushroom International. The song became the official label anthem of 1999, and Minogue performed at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras for the second year in a row.

"Who Do You Love Now?", a collaboration with Dutch dance DJs Zki & Dobri, performing under the group name Riva, was released to commercial success in late 2001. The song became Minogue's biggest hit worldwide and in the UK, where it reached number three on the singles Chart and number one on the dance charts. In the United States it was released to success on the Billboard dance charts, where it reached the top position on the Dance Club chart, keeping Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé off the top position^[4]

[edit] London Records: 2002 – 2003

Following the success of "Who Do You Love Now?", Minogue signed a six album deal with London Records. Her album Neon Nights (2003) took its inspiration from the London nightlife and 1980s pop music, and had Minogue gain greater control over her recordings. She is credited with co-writing and co-producing almost all of the tracks on the album. The BBC wrote: "Typically a pleasant cocktail of pop sophistication, club culture and accessibility, Neon Nights goes a long way to remind the world of Dannii's powerful vocals. It may seem odd to imagine Kylie's position to be threatened by her sister, given that Dannii hasn't released an album in six years, but Neon Nights could just give her a run for her money."^[5] It received some of the strongest reviews of her career and quickly became a success throughout Europe, Asia and Australia. Minogue released Neon Nights in the U.S. via Ultra Records, but it failed to impress on the Billboard magazine Top 200 Albums chart. The single "Put The Needle On It" became her second consecutive top ten hit in Britain, where it also topped the British dance charts. The subsequent single releases, which include Minogue's highest charting song "I Begin to Wonder", also sold strongly and produced two additional dance hits. To gain greater dance airplay, Minogue released two mash-up versions of her singles "I Begin to Wonder" and "Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling". Both were successful on the dance charts, with the mash-up "Don't Wanna Lose This Groove" gaining attention due to its sampling of Madonna's hit "Into the Groove", as Minogue become one of the very few artists to receive permission from Madonna to sample her music. It was rumoured that "Creep" or "For The Record" was to be the fourth single but was never confirmed.

The song "Come and Get It", a hidden track on the album, was prepared for release on the Warner Music Germany label, but did not eventuate, apparently because Minogue was unavailable to make a video clip to promote the release. The single attracts high bidding whenever it is listed on eBay, since there was no official release. The concensus among Minogue`s fans is that this single would have been a huge success.

For six weeks starting in June 2003, Minogue briefly turned her attention to hosting her own radio program titled Dannii Minogue's Neon Nights. The show was broadcast throughout the United Kingdom on the Capital Radio Network and the Austereo Network in Australia. Throughout the hour-long show Minogue played songs from her own record collection as well as a song from Neon Nightsand also gave budding DJ's their chance to shine. The show was named after the album because Minogue wanted it to be a mix of retro songs, current songs and bootlegs, like some of the Neon Nights singles, which mashed old retro sounds and samples with modern dance beats.^[6]

[edit] All Around the World Records: 2004 – Present

In early 2004, Minogue began work on her follow-up to Neon Nights which was originally scheduled for release at the end of the year. Early in the recording process she changed record companies due to a major staff shake-up at London and disagreements over whether to keep her on the roster. At year's end Minogue had signed a recording contract with All Around The World Records, an independent dance label. In the fall of 2004, Minogue released "You Won't Forget About Me", a song based on the instrumental track "Flower Power" by the dance act of the same name. Featuring lyrics written by Minogue, the song became a top-twenty hit in Australia and France and her 5th consecutive top-10 in the UK. The following year Minogue released the song "Perfection", a collaboration with the Soul Seekerz. It was only a modest success worldwide but became her fifth highest peaking single ever in Australia where it reached number thirteen on the singles chart.

Minogue's follow-up to Neon Nights, a compilation called The Hits & Beyond featured a collection of Minogue's most successful hit singles as well as six new songs. Released in the UK on June 19, 2006 entered the UK album charts at #17 selling almost 15,000 copies in it's first week and shipping silver (60,000). Its lead single "So Under Pressure", released on June 12 entered the UK Charts at #20. In August 2006, Minogue embarked on a two week promotional trip of Australia with a number of media appearances, two CD signing sessions and a one-off live show at Sydney nightclub "Homesexual".

A new double A-sided single, a cover of Sister Sledge's 1979 hit single "He's The Greatest Dancer" coupled with the track "Gone" from "The Hits & Beyond", was slated for release on December 11 2006. Contrary to reports from fans that wanted "Love fight" released, AATW and Dannii's management felt the song was perfect as an un-released album track and didn't want to confuse listeners with Dannii's musical direction. Critics and press have said the song sounded like trashy pop similar to that of Girls Aloud rather than the dance music Dannii has become famous for in recent years.

Recently, the single has been taken off the new release schedules for December and the "NEWS FLASH" bulletin on Dannii's official website warning fans to be ready and excited for the new single has been removed. Although Dannii performed the track on BBC1's Children In Need 2006 extravaganza, the single is now without a confirmed release date infuriating fans and prompting speculation of her parting from yet another label.

It has been let slip that the six new tracks on The Hits & Beyond were never intended for Dannii's fifth studio album and were prospected B-sides and throwaway tracks, bar So Under Pressure which was written especially to be the lead off single, with Gone intended to be the second, which never materialised due to Dannii's promotional commitments in Australia and Asia.

Dannii will be contributing to the Spirit of Christmas compilation with the song "I'll be home for Christmas" to be exclusively released in Myer stores in Australia later this year.

Dannii has admitted the painstakingly slow process of releasing new material through her current label and has blamed her previous label London Records attitude over allowing Minogue the rights to her un-released material during the "Neon Nights" and its intended follow-up album's recording sessions which she wished to include on her forthcoming albums.

On December 11th 2006, Warner are releasing The Platinum Collection of Dannii Minogue. The album will feature several singles from Girl and Neon Nights - including some special mixes of those songs and more substantially it will contain six shelved songs from the London Records sessions including Tut Tut (Does Your Mother Know), Undeniable, Each Finger Has An Attitude and Blame It On The Music (a collaboration with Roger Sanchez). "The Platinum Collection" came as a major surprise and delight to fans who faced disappointment over the seemingly endless delays that accompany every one of her singles and the fact that it will have been four years in March since Dannii has released an album of fully new material. Although the fans may be happy at this news, Dannii seemingly isn´t and feels the tracks are of a much better quality than to be included on a mid-price album that is un-endorsed by it´s artist.

[edit] Acting career

See also: Dannii Minogue filmography

In 1991, Minogue starred in Secrets, which told the story of five Australian teenagers who get stuck in the basement in of a hotel in an attempt to see The Beatles. Its release coincided with her popularity in music, but the film received a limited distribution in Australia. It was also released in the UK and Canada, and in Canada and the USA as One Crazy Night.

After taking a break from her recording career in 1994, Minogue turned her focus to working as a television presenter. In the summer of 1994, she co-hosted Channel 4's popular morning show The Big Breakfast in the United Kingdom. Two years later she would return to co-hosting duties on the show, presenting the Egg's on Legs road show segment. In 1996, she briefly hosted the Disney television series Disney Time, but would gain critical and popular recognition for her hosting duties with the sixteen-week teenage style show It's Not Just Saturday, which achieved high ratings in the UK. That winter Minogue began hosting Electric Circus on the BBC, a show involving videos, computers and movies. In 1997, she hosted the popular BBC show Top of the Pops, ending her run as a television presenter as she turned her focus back to her music career with the release of her album Girl (1997).

In 1997, Minogue starred as Rizzo in the Grease: The Arena Spectacular stage show in Australia. Her performance was well received by critics, and the show became a hit shattering Australian box-office records, selling over 450,000 tickets for its first seasons run.^[1] Two years later she returned to the stage in Macbeth, performing outside at the Royal Botanic Gardens for Edinburgh's Fringe Festival, as Lady MacBeth. Minogue performed the part for three weeks, and received mixed reviews from critics. Matt Grant, the BBC's News Online's festival correspondent, gave Minogue poor reviews saying that "she swaggers and staggers around the grass stage acting like a low rent Jim Morrison" and that "She lacks true conviction as she ploughs through the lines without capturing their full force."^[7] In a review for the Guardian Unlimited, Fiachra Gibbons gave Minogue credit for her role in Macbeth, calling her "not bad" and crediting her for being able to "hold her own against the go-go girls in the song-and-dance numbers" that were a part of the play.^[8] In 2000, Minogue auditioned for the lead role in Notre-Dame De Paris in London's West End. Having secured the part as gypsy girl Esmeralda, she took to the stage in February 2001, playing to over 2,000 people a night at the Dominion Theatre. The play has received critical acclaim in France and Canada, breaking both box office and soundtrack records, but success in the UK has so far eluded the production in which Minogue starred in, although she won Best Stage Performance at the Maxim Awards for her performance. Later that year, Minogue gained critical acclaim for her role in the controversial play The Vagina Monologues.

In 2006, Instinct Entertainment announced that Minogue would star in a thriller feature film called Except East Richmond. Filming is set to take place later this year with the film to be released in early 2007.

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Relationships

Throughout Minogue's professional life she has been the subject of great media attention, especially concerning her private life. Although she hasn't been able to hold down a serious relationship it has incurred media attention that the reasons for this were her obsession and jealousy. In January 1994 she married Australian actor Julian McMahon, after announcing their engagement in late 1993. The couple met after appearing in the television show Home and Away together. The wedding was dubbed the "Australian Wedding of the Year", spinning Australian media and paparazzi into a frenzy. The couple later divorced for undisclosed reasons, though it was widely-reported that McMahon was unfaithful. In October 1999, Minogue became engaged to Canadian Formula One driver Jacques Villeneuve. The relationship did not last and ended in early 2001. Since her break-up with Villeneuve, Minogue's private life has been under intense media interest, with speculations abounding about with whom she is romantically involved.

Minogue began to change her image after her divorce from McMahon and became noted for several provocative publicity photographs, including a nude appearance in the Australian edition of Playboy magazine in 1995, which became the quickest selling edition in the magazine's Australian history. On posing for the magazine Minogue said: "I'd just had a marriage break-up. Most women go to the hairdressers - I did Playboy. I chose the photographer, the location, what I did or didn't want to wear and everything else about the pictures. I found it a really liberating, empowering experience."^[9] She also released several nude calendars.

[edit] Kylie's shadow

Throughout her career Minogue has often been compared to her older and more commercially successful sister, Kylie Minogue. Due to her sister's success Minogue has struggled to find respect from critics, fans and the media alike. "It is hard to be compared all the time to Kylie," she said. "On the other hand, however, people will always try to compare you to somebody. Look at Britney and Christina." Contrary to media reports Minogue has said multiple times that there is not a rivalry between her and Kylie saying, "I really respect what Kylie is doing at the moment. We were raised in a family of love and support and that has not changed."^[10]

[edit] Accusations of racism

In 2002, Minogue did an interview with Britain’s GQ magazine. In the interview she said that French National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen had "struck a chord with people", and that "even the street signs [in Australia] are written in Asian now!"

This was presented as if Minogue sided with Le Pen and was attacking asylum seekers and immigrants, although Minogue says that her remarks were intended the opposite way, expressing horror at the popularity of Le Pen and expressing praise for the way Australia has handled multi-culturalism. She says she considered suing the journalist for misconstruing her remarks.

[edit] Gay icon

Minogue is regarded as a gay icon, which she embraces and credits for much of her success. "Gays have always been a part of my music," says Minogue. "I have never jumped on the pink bandwagon to increase my popularity. It just came naturally." Minogue believes that the gay community has connected with her because her music is about "having fun and going out dancing", which Minogue says gay culture loves to do. She is a strong supporter of social equality for the gay community, but believes that the struggle for equal right such as marriage is not a black and white issue. "Some kind of certificate of commitment is important. It doesn’t have to be a marriage," said Minogue. "Something official that is accepted by all government bodies would be sufficient. As long as you can have a special day together that is recognized by the government is what counts."^[10]. Dannii performed at London Gay Pride and then at London's G.A.Y a few years before her sister had, apparently recommending Kylie appear at G.A.Y due to the fantastic crowd response.

[edit] Puss 'N Boots incident

In February of 2006, Minogue, while at the Puss 'N Boots strip club, allegedly engaged in sexually explicit, and possibly illegal, activities with one of the establishment's lap dancers. Surveillance tape stills made their way to the internet, where the pictures allegedly show Minogue kissing and fondling the dancer, breaking the club’s strict "no-touching" rules, and it later appears that the dancer performs oral sex on Minogue. A spokesman for Minogue, downplayed the event as a "harmless girls' night out," according to the British tabloid The Sun. Notably, these stills were released six months after the original event occurred, leading to accusations of a publicity push in the weeks leading up to a new single release. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Awareness campaigns and charity

In 2004 Minogue posed nude with just a long red ribbon covering her body to help the fight against AIDS. She is an ambassador for the Terence Higgins Trust, which raises awareness about the disease. Personal experiences made Minogue want to educate people about AIDS since she has known many people within the entertainment industry and close personal friends who have been affected by the disease. Minogue's main mission with the trust is to "break down myths", such as that AIDS is a gay disease saying, "HIV doesn't discriminate - somewhere in their minds young people still think it is a gay disease."^{[citation needed]}

She has also been a long-time supporter of breast cancer research. In 2003 she put her support behind the Funny Women charity, which included comedy acts to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research, as well as raising awareness of other issues such as domestic violence.

In addition to her work with the Terence Higgins Trust, Minogue also supports The Lighthouse Foundation (another AIDS charity) and the Young Homeless. Dannii donated her used thongs that she wore at the recent club promotion at G.A.Y, which was stained, and was given to charity to raise awareness.

[edit] Discography

For a comprehensive listing of all Dannii Minogue releases: Dannii Minogue discography

[edit] Albums

Year	Album	UK peak position	AUS peak position
1990	Love and Kisses	8	24
1993	Get into You	52	53
1997	Girl	57	69
2003	Neon Nights	8	25
2006	The Hits & Beyond	17	67

[edit] Top-twenty singles

The following singles reached top twenty in UK and/or Australia. Their peak positions are shown as well as their UK Club positions.

Year	Single	Peak positions
		UK	AUS	UK Club
1990	"Love and Kisses"	8	4	—
	"Success"	11	28	—
1991	"Jump to the Beat"	8	48	—
	"Baby Love"	14	26	—
1993	"This is It"	10	13	—
1997	"All I Wanna Do"	4	11	1
	"Everything I Wanted"	15	44	1
2001	"Who Do You Love Now?"	3	15	1
2002	"Put the Needle on It"	7	11	1
2003	"I Begin to Wonder"	2	14	1
	"Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling"	5	22	1
2004	"You Won't Forget About Me"	7	20	1
2005	"Perfection"	11	13	1
2006	"So Under Pressure"	20	16	1

[edit] Notes and references

Notes:

References:

• A Piece of Dannii: Your Best Source for Everything Dannii. Biography. Retrieved on April 25, 2006.
• Official Dannii Fan Site. Biography, discography and acting credits. Retrieved on April 25, 2006.
• Internet Movie Database — IMDB. Filmography and trivia. Retrieved on April 25, 2006.
• Success : Dannii Minogue Online—. Full world discography and complete mix list. Plus more.... Retrieved on July 28, 2006.

[edit] See also

• Dannii Minogue filmography
• List of Dannii Minogue's achievements and awards
• Unreleased Dannii Minogue songs

[edit] External links

• DanniiMusic.com — official website
• Dannii Minogue's Myspace — official myspace
• Dannii Minogue at All Music Guide
• Dannii Minogue at the Internet Movie Database

Dannii Minogue
Studio albums: Love and Kisses · Get into You · Girl · Neon Nights Compilation albums: The Singles · The Remixes · The Hits & Beyond · The Platinum Collection Related: Complete Discography · Awards · Filmography

Persondata
NAME	Minogue, Danielle Jane
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Dannii Minogue, Dannii
SHORT DESCRIPTION	pop singer, actress
DATE OF BIRTH	October 20, 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH	Melbourne, Australia
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH