Untitled #88 (Captain Brad Kilpatrick and Kylie Minogue, Balibo, East Timor, 20 December 1999)

Kylie Minogue AO OBE (b. 1968), the 'Princess of Pop', is Australia's most successful female recording artist of all time and the first woman to have a UK number one album across five consecutive decades. Minogue rose to local and international fame playing Charlene in the television soap Neighbours in the 1980s. Her singing career began with a cover of the 1960s song 'The Loco-Motion' in 1987 and she made history by achieving more than 20 consecutive top ten hits in the UK. With an instinct for re-invention, she has been involved in unexpected collaborations, such as with Nick Cave on 'Where the Wild Roses Grow' (1995). In 2002 Minogue won four ARIA awards for the album Fever (2001) containing her aptly-named biggest hit, 'Can't Get You Out of My Head'. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, she became a prominent survivor, her ordeal inspiring hope in many women. Since her recovery, Minogue has continued a regular schedule of releasing music and touring, with highlights including performing at Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Concert in 2012 and appearing in the Legends Slot at the 2019 Glastonbury Festival. Her fifteenth studio album, Disco (2020), reached number one in Australia and the UK.

In 1999 Minogue went to East Timor to perform in 'Tour of Duty: Concert for the Troops'. Matthew Sleeth photographed her with Captain Brad Kilpatrick, deployed to East Timor as the Second in Command of B Squadron 3/4 Cavalry Regiment with InterFET. Kilpatrick happens to be Minogue's co-star from the 1980s Australian television show The Henderson Kids, in which she played Charlotte 'Char' Kernow and he played Brian 'Brains' Buchanan.

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Governments Cultural Gifts Program.
© Matthew Sleeth