Danielle Jane Minogue (pronounced: min-ouge to rhyme with vogue), was born in Melbourne, Australia on October 20, 1971. Known as Dannii Minogue or just Dannii, she is a singer, actress, fashion designer and songwriter and is the younger sister of the singer Kylie Minogue. She is most famous as a recording artist - she has sold over 4 million records worldwide. Dannii Minogue began her career on the Australian talent show Young Talent Time. Invited to be a regular member of the cast in 1979, she quickly became one of the most popular and highest profile members in the show’s twenty year history. Dannii recorded on two albums for the show and performed at a series of concerts around Australia. In September 1989 Dannii launched her own fashion label, simply called Dannii the range was available exclusively at Kmart Australia and sold out in a record ten days. Demand was so high that production immediately began on the second and third range. During this time Dannii also appeared in the Young Talent Time spin off series A New Generation. From there she landed a role in the Channel Nine series All The Way and quickly moved onto the hit Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away. Dannii played the role as the trouble maker teen Emma Jackson. In December 1989 readers of Australia’s TV Hits magazine voted her as the Best New Star of 1989. Following in the footsteps of her sister, Dannii began a career as a recording artist, signing to Mushroom Records. Her debut album Love And Kisses was released in 1990 and contained five Australian and British top forty hits including Love And Kisses, Success, Baby Love and a cover version of Stacey Lattisaw's Jump To The Beat. In 1992, she made her big screen debut in the Australian film Secrets, starring in the role of Didi. Minogue's sophomore album, Get Into You, was released in 1993. The album was less successful than its predecessor, although it did include her cover version of the Melba Moore hit, This Is It, which reached the top ten in Australia and the UK. Get Into You also saw the release of singles This Is The Way, Get Into You and the Jackson Five cover Show You The Way To Go. In 1993 Minogue married the Australian actor Julian McMahon, with whom she had appeared in Home and Away. 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, although it is believed that McMahon was unfaithful. Minogue began to change her image during this time and became noted for several provocative publicity photographs, including a nude appearance in Australian Playboy magazine in 1995. The edition of Playboy was the fastest selling edition in the magazine's Australian history. In 1997, Minogue signed a multi-million dollar contract with Eternal Records. She released the album Girl, which featured her first top five hit All I Wanna Do. Despite the success of the single, the album peaked at #57. The album also saw the release of Everything I Wanted and the dance anthem Disremembrance. Minogue returned to acting and toured Australia in the sell out Grease: The Arena Spectacular, although offered the lead role of Sandy, Dannii requested to play the part of rebel Rizzo. That followed with performances in the pop oriented opera Notre Dame de Paris in London's West End. She also turned to television presenting in the UK as well as later appearing in the controversial Vagina Monologues. In 1999 Dannii was asked to record the official headline track for that year's Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Everlasting Night, Dannii also performed at the event in front of adoring Australian fans. In the late 1990s, Minogue became engaged to Quebecois Formula One driver Jacques Villeneuve, however the relationship ended in 2001. In 2001, Minogue returned to her musical roots featuring as guest vocalist on Dutch dance act Riva's single Who Do You Love Now?. The single reached number three on the British charts and became her 13th Top forty hit. Dannii also knocked Justin Timberlake and Beyonce from the top of the US dance charts. Following this success, Minogue secured a six album deal with London Records. Her first album under this deal was 2003's Neon Nights. This album, which entered the UK charts at number eight, gave her three more UK Top ten hits, including her biggest to date - I Begin To Wonder which reached number two. The album was also notable for providing Minogue with greater control over her recordings and she is credited with co-writing and co-producing all the tracks on the album. I Begin To Wonder was also briefly released as a remix with the Dead Or Alive hit You Spin Me Round (Like A Record), which was a major UK club hit. She also become one of only a few artists to receive permission from Madonna to sample her music in the UK top five hit Don’t Wanna Lose This Grove, which was released as a double A side with Don’t Wanna Lose This Feeling. Although the album is her most successful to date, management restructuring within London Records led to Minogue leaving the company. From June 2003 for six weeks, Dannii hosted her own radio program called Neon Nights. The show was broadcast throughout the UK on the Capital Radio Network and the Austereo Network in Australia. In late 2004, Minogue signed with Around The World Records, an independent dance label. She released the song You Won't Forget About Me which was based on the instrumental track Flower Power by Flower Power with new lyrics written by Minogue. The single peaked at number seven on the British charts. Since then, Minogue has continued to work on a new album, collaborating with such writers and producers as Metro, Location, Korpi & Blackcell, JCA, Tom Neville, Soul Seekerz, Agent X, Pascal Gabriel, Stonebridge, Jewels & Stone and Roger Sanchez. In October 2005, a new single, Perfection, was released and reached number eleven in the UK. As with You Won't Forget About Me, Perfection featured Minogue singing new lyrics to an instrumental dance track - Turn Me Upside Down by Soul Seekerz. The song also sampled Vicki Sue Robinson's 1976 hit Turn The Beat Around. 2006 looks likely to be another big year for Dannii with the follow-up single I Can't Sleep At Night due for release in February 2006. A brand new album will follow in April 2006. Dannii has also signed to star in the Australian made thriller movie Except East Richmond alongside Costas Mandylor
|
