The Queen of the choruses

Kim Wilde was the alternative for all those who felt Blondie were too punk and Sandra was too conservative. She filled the gap perfectly between new wave and mainstream pop. Her debut single “Kids in America” – composed as many of her hits by father and brother Wilde – was the breakthrough.

A song that is still a blast on every SingStar party. Even 30 years later, Kim Wilde still knows the importance of catchy choruses and that’s why she covers popular songs such as Erasure’s “A Little Respect” or “It’s Alright” from East 17 on her current disc “Snapshots”. In 1981 Kim Wilde sang in the ambitious “Cambodia” about love in the Vietnam War. In particular, Germany was enthusiastic and gave Kim Wilde four Bravo Ottos, including two gold ones. With “You Keep Me Hangin ‘On” in 1986, she landed her biggest hit and captured for the first and last time the top spot in America. The Supremes cover, as well as the world’s best-selling album “Close” helped her to become the opening act for Michael Jackson. Kim Wilde seemed on the way to mega stardom. But then the ’80s came to an end – as did her career. After several failed comeback attempts, she was hired at “Tommy,” the musical of “The Who” in London’s West End. There she met her husband. She discovered the interest in landscape gardening and was soon after the British TV in rubber boots in front of the camera. She also wrote the book “Gardening with Children” and transplanted the highest tree in the world, which brought her an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. In 2003 Kim Wilde succeeded in the wake of the reinvention of another ’80s icon’s return into the music business. In Nena’s “Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime” she sang the English lines, and immediately afterwards recorded the successful album “Never Say Never” with Nena’s house producer in Germany. Since then, Wilde is again part of the cultural revival.