“No disco diva”: The 80’s icon about pop and horticulture

A quarter of a century after her number 1 hit “Kids in America” and ten years after her last album Kim Wilde is here again. “Never say never” was recorded with Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, who also helped Nena with her comeback, and combines new versions of classics with new songs.

Your new album “Never say never” is surprisingly club-friendly. Will we see Kim Wilde next to a glitter ball like Madonna?
Surely not. I am more likely to be a rock chick than a disco diva. I grew up with Elvis. And my father Marty is still earning his keep with rock ‘n’ roll.

Would you have had the nerves to pursue a career such as Madonna’s?
No, I knew many years before I retired that I wouldn’t have the drive for that. My ambition consisted of determining the time when I would step out. Only God knows, how Madonna comes through there.

With Nena you sing another duet on the new album.
We are similar, when it comes to the rock chick within us and the focus on our families. She succeeded in provoking the diva in me. It’s thanks to her I have contact with my current producer Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, without whom I would not have this comeback.

Does the fact that you have to reinvent yourself always again in the pop busineess held you back from it for ten years?
I did reinvent myself, only differently! I discovered the passion for garden design. I was 36 years old at that time and thought: “Shit, I am so bored, how bored must others be of me?”. I had had enough. I wanted children and a garden for them. I attended a course about horticulture for fun. And then the enlightenment came: “Yes, that is it!”