Kylie Minogue is not surprised ‘Padam Padam’ was embraced by young gays

There was some of that [ageism] with ‘Padam’, where it surprised people and went on ‘youth-orientated’ radio. But I think we’re in a time where it’s not cool to be ageist. People are over it.

What’s really interesting is that it’s the younger people saying, ‘We love the song.’ The current thinking, which is amazing and a breath of fresh air, is that labels are dropping.
You can like what you like, be what you want to be. That’s helpful for me right now.

Another thing is, I’ve had people say to me, throughout the years, ‘You’ll always just be you.’ They don’t really see my age, which is kind of funny, because I started so young, and if there was any detrimental aspect to that it was, ‘You’re so young, what do you know, how can you be credible?’

At different points in my career, whatever age I’ve been, there’s been something to navigate. I spoke about it on my album “Golden”, saying, ‘We’re not young, we’re not old, we’re golden, you can only be who you are at that point in time.’

I have friends for whom, on their phone, I’m just called Sparkle. I don’t quite know how I’ve managed it, but I don’t think I’ve had to deal with it as much as some other people.

I’ve been spending a lot of time, much more than in recent years, being in the States and ‘Padam’ just keeps Padaming, really. I’m trying to keep up. It’s very exciting.

I would say, ‘Who would have thought?’ but I don’t think that’s the best attitude. It’s more, ‘Here we are and why not?’ Give it a go.

Kylie Minogue speaking to Radio Times on battling ageism and enjoying the success of “Padam Padam” after nearly 40 years in the business.