Kylie Minogue’s Magic Moment | Vogue

Wasn’t she actually bashful in the studio?

As I can be. I can come off as a total prude, but the flipside of me can be anything but. I just delighted in this discovery of her life, so in “Dance to the Music” I do sing, “Just like Summer said…”

Photo: Charlotte Rutherford

You and her have so much overlap, including having diehard gay fanbases. Was there one moment when you realized you’d started developing this fervent gay following?

There’s definitely a moment I remember in around 1989 or 1990. In Sydney, the most famous gay bar at the time was called the Albury on Oxford Street. I was visiting Sydney and someone said, “There’s a Kylie show at the Albury.” I was like, “What?” I didn’t get to go, but I heard there were drag queens dressed as different versions of me from different video looks. One was even modeled after a Coca Cola commercial I did. That was the moment I was like, Wow! That’s amazing.

It took me a couple more years before I actually saw a drag show with versions of me. But [the fanbase] wasn’t something I actively pursued. I’m asked this all the time, so I don’t have a definitive answer, but what I started to realize more and more is that at my early shows, everyone was welcome. I started off with parents and young kids, and then grandparents would come and then more people were coming. It was around the early ’90s when I’d see three generations of a family, some muscle marys, some drag queens, and a bunch of blokes. I’d be a really broad demographic, so I’d like to think that my nature and my shows have just been inclusive. I’d add that when I was getting a lot of criticism and flack in Australia, it was the gay community who was really protective of me. With that extra level of love and devotion, if anyone does that for you, it’s reciprocated. I really have to kind of try to find the words, but it’s been very organic and powerful.