Singer Kylie Minogue, 57, Says Breast Cancer Is ‘Still With Me’ 21 Years Later

Minogue was diagnosed at 36 and declared cancer-free in 2006. She is still processing it

Donna Freydkin,

AARP

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Published May 20, 2026

a collage with multiple images of kylie minogue

Kylie Minogue said in an interview that her breast cancer diagnosis “will forever be imprinted” on her memory: “You’re still you, just a different version of you, or the next you.”

AARP (Getty Images, 2; John Phillips/Getty Images for Netflix; TF-Images/Getty Images, 2)

Key takeaways

In a trailer for her Netflix documentary, Kylie, Kylie Minogue says she felt “removed from my body” after her breast cancer diagnosis. She says she was diagnosed for a second time in 2021, but kept it private.
For adults 50 and older, her story is a reminder that mammograms matter, but so does paying attention to new or persistent breast changes.
The American Cancer Society says the five-year relative survival rate is greater than 99 percent when breast cancer is found early.

Kylie Minogue was 36 when she was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in May 2005. Twenty-one years later, the singer says the experience has not left her.

“Where do I even start? Shock,” Minogue, now 57, told BBC London while discussing her new Netflix documentary, Kylie. “You’re trying to understand something you’ve never thought about before. It’s a crash course. It’s very deep and extended, and it’s still with me today in many ways.”

She addresses the diagnosis in her documentary, which starts streaming on May 20. “I felt removed from my body. I was so scared of what was ahead of me,” she says in the trailer.

She also reveals that she was diagnosed with cancer for a second time, in early 2021, according to The Guardian. "I was able to keep that to myself," she said in the documentary.

kylie minogue seated outdoors, wearing a sweater and scarf

Kylie Minogue appears in the new Netflix documentary “Kylie,” which revisits her decades-long career, public scrutiny and breast cancer diagnosis.

Courtesy of Netflix

Minogue rose to fame in the late 1980s on the Australian soap Neighbours before becoming one of pop’s most durable stars, with songs that include “I Should Be So Lucky” and “Padam Padam.” Her documentary looks at her decades-long reinvention, as well as the public scrutiny, personal losses and the diagnosis that shaped it.

Minogue told BBC London she had initially resisted making a documentary. “In the end, I just had to take the plunge and really open myself up a little more,” she said.

Minogue was diagnosed with breast cancer while finishing European dates on her “Showgirl” tour in the spring of 2005. She underwent a lumpectomy and chemotherapy in Paris and was given the all-clear in 2006.

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She has spoken before about how deeply the diagnosis affected her. In a December 2023 interview on CBS Sunday Morning, she fought back tears as she recalled the “trauma” of that period. The experience was “difficult,” she said, but it also made her “very aware of your body, of the love that’s around you, of your capability.”

Her diagnosis had an impact beyond her own treatment. News coverage of her cancer led to an unprecedented rise in mammogram bookings in Australia in women ages 25-44, a response that became known as the “Kylie effect.”

For older women, the screening message is especially relevant. About 84 percent of women with breast cancer are over 50, according to breastcancer.org. The American Cancer Society says the five-year relative survival rate is greater than 99 percent when breast cancer is found while still localized. That rate drops to 87 percent when cancer has spread regionally and 33 percent when it has spread to distant parts of the body.

Even people who get regular mammograms should pay attention to changes between screenings. Dr. Ethan Cohen, an associate professor of breast imaging at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, told AARP that women should seek medical attention for “anything that they’re pretty sure wasn’t there before and persists over the course of a week or so.”

Possible warning signs include a new lump, swelling or a change in breast size or shape, swollen lymph nodes near the armpit or collarbone, breast skin changes, nipple changes, nipple discharge or lingering breast or armpit pain.

Minogue told the Los Angeles Times in an interview published May 19 that the diagnosis “will forever be imprinted” on her memory. “You’re still you, just a different version of you, or the next you,” she said.

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The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

Donna Freydkin has spent 10-plus years interviewing celebrities for major publications, and has written for a variety of outlets such as USA Today, Allure, Yahoo! and CNN covering topics such as films, family and favorite meals.

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