Wilde days back again

Thrust into the limelight in her 20s as her debut single Kids In America stormed to No2 in the UK singles chart, Kim Wilde was thrown into the temptations of the music industry at an early age. But now at the age of 64, the Brit Awardwinning pop star is proud of the way her younger self handled fame, even if she did allow herself a few indulgences.

The singer has recently released her 15th studio album, Closer, and is currently touring the UK to promote the record, which is inspired by her 1988 LP Close. Closer sees Wilde present a collection of new wave-tinged pop, and includes the singles Trail Of Destruction and Midnight Train, as well as a collaboration with Ultravox singer Midge Ure called Sorrow Replaced.

Since her breakthrough single, she has even turned her hand to gardening, winning a gold award at the Chelsea Flower Show for her courtyard garden in 2005.

Speaking about her early days in the music business, Wilde, whose father is 1950s rock and roller Marty Wilde, says: “I became a pop star very young, and I was thrown into the heart of it, but most of that was wonderful. It was meeting lots of great people, meeting all my idols, traveling all over the world, having a lot of success, and the opportunities that it brought, I mean they were all great gifts, and I recognise them for that. Of course, I did get caught out with a few bad habits, especially with alcohol, I think over those years, it was just a mainstay of most events after a gig, before a gig, at a party or anything. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just I took a decision after abstinence for a while. And noticing how well I felt during that abstinence, it was a Stoptober thing, just before I stopped alcohol, and I felt so alive and so healthy, and a lot of small health ailments. So I thought I’ll just keep going and so nine years later, and I’m feeling very much better, I know, now, than had I not made that decision. But I had a lot of fun during those days, I don’t regret much, I’m really proud I never got into drugs at all, ever, not remotely. I think that could have really destroyed me.”

She credited the likes of Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde, Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry and the late Kirsty MacColl for inspiring her when starting out, saying the latter had “a big influence on me as a songwriter”, adding she knew the singer and liked her “very much”.

Wilde also praised modern artists such as “clever” songwriter Taylor Swift, and drew similarities to her own career with that of Billie Eilish, who works with her brother, having worked with her own sibling, Ricky, and father on Kids In America.

And four decades on from her debut, Kim says she has been “amazed” by “outstanding” reviews for her latest record. She continues: “That has been a really wonderful thing to have at this stage in my career, to be 64 and have an album that’s been received so positively and enjoyed, and the fact that we had so much joy making it, and now performing it live.”

Kim Wilde is touring the UK before moving on to Europe to perform in countries including Sweden, Belgium and Germany.