5 questions for Kim Wilde

In 1981 Kim Wilde had her first hit with ‘Kids in America’ and sold 30 million records since then. With ‘Here come the aliens’ she is back and is coming on tour now.

Kim, you say that the aliens are coming. What was it like, seeing a UFO in 2009?
We saw a bright light in the sky, above our garden. At first we thought it was a helicopter. But the light wandered across the sky with enormous speed for ten minutes. I’d have thought I’d gone crazy, if my husband and others hadn’t seen it too. It wasn’t anything human! Not everyone talks about this, out of fear of being ridiculed, but it was even photographed, the local newspaper wrote about it. There are reports from NASA, interviews with astronauts. It has inspired my album in many ways.

In the song ‘1969’ you think the aliens are watching us. Would they like to destroy us?
No, they would have already done that if they would have wanted to. I believe they are more likely to be benevolent, they want to help us. And we should care about our oceans more. All the plastic in the seas!

Is there something like ‘marriage for all’ among the aliens?
I believe they are about pure humanity – there is no male or female, gay or straight, black or white. That’s why they are so wise. They don’t have to deal with categories. I believe they watch us and weep. They know that what we are going through and that we must go through it ourselves. Like when you have a child, you must allow it to fail – I believe that’s what they are doing. I like this way of thinking anyway.

Your father is also a singer and produced with your brother Ricky your first hits. Has he ever tried to persuade to away from the music business?
My father was not enthusiastic when I wanted to become a singer. But he did take me along on tour when I was 16, and let me sing the backing vocals. My parents have encouraged me, but my father wanted to protect me, like all fathers do. Now he sends me messages , wishes me luck with the new album.

In the film industry there have been #Metoo-debates about sexual assaults in the past year. From the music business there has been silence. Why is that, you think?
It is not an exception. Something happens in every life journey, even in the church, like you’ve heard again and again. It never happened to me, but it would be naive to believe that nothing ever happened in the music industry.