About this episode
Join Scott Mills for the ultimate celebration of the UK’s best-loved pop star, who this year headlines Radio 2 in the Park on Sunday 17th September. Australia rings in the New Year first. But as a new millennium dawns, one of her favourite daughters is relaxing in LA. She won’t be standing still for long. In the summer of 2000, the world entered Kylie Minogue’s third and most iconic era so far. Newly signed to a major label, she’s about to unleash a wave of shimmering dance-pop - an imperial phase. Spinning Around introduces audiences to a yet another incarnation of Kylie - one whose sophisticated sound, sex appeal and knowing sense of fun rockets her to her rightful place at the top of the charts. It’s a feat she’ll repeat with a run of hits that dominates radio playlists. Can’t Get You Out of My Head, with its’ La La La earworm, makes waves across the Atlantic. The future looks Golden. But in 2005, a shock diagnosis with breast cancer cuts the music short. Her illness and recovery plays out in public. Through BBC Archive and new interviews with those who knew her at the time, you’ll track the dizzy highs and crushing lows of a turbulent era for the Queen of Noughties Pop. An era that leaves her stronger, wiser - and more determined than ever to perform. Contributors include British singer and actor Olly Alexander, Tia Kofi, Jessie Ware, Beverley Knight, Jack Savoretti, Jake Shears and Cathy Dennis (who co-wrote Kylie’s 2001 hit, Can’t Get You Out Of My Head), as well as Radio 2 presenters Fearne Cotton and Michelle Visage.