Kim Wilde on her greatest hits album and working with Boy George on Shine On

Virgin Radio

10 Aug 2021, 15:28

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

The original princess of pop joined the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky to talk about her new single Shine On featuring Boy George, her new greatest hits album Pop Don’t Stop and grabbing every single moment.

She told Chris: “I appreciate my career more than I've ever done before. I love what I do. I sometimes used to be a bit grumpy about it and moan a little bit about aspects of it and now even the boring journeys and the long waiting around backstage.

"Any tedious parts are all quite beautiful to me and every moment of them I appreciate; my voice, my music, my career. I've got to this point now at 60 years old and I feel so grateful."

She advised: “Be mindful. Wake up in the morning, just remind yourself to be grateful for the little things. Even just getting out of bed for some people is a really hard thing to do, so I'm always really grateful I can get out of bed and then just start from there.

“I find it really easy to have joy in the very small things in my life and I feel very lucky that I am able to do that but it did take me quite a lot of years to really get in the zone but once you're in the zone, you can't get out.

“I am a gardener at heart. I'm also a bit of a rocker but I'm a gardener and that really helps you to literally live every moment beautifully.

“People found it bizarre. They all got surprised when Kim Wilde got into gardening. What's all that about? Big belly laughs. Now everyone I know is really getting into gardening."

On her pop career, she said: "I had a fairytale beginning, but then I was on the roller coaster which ended up starting very high, but of course roller coasters do go down and then they go back up again. So I did the up and down of it and here I am. I feel like I'm heading back up for that lovely, lovely roll down again."

Applauding people following their dreams post pandemic, she said: “Listen to your instincts. Really listen to yourself. That's one thing that I've really had to do and I have done, a lot of people have during this lockdown year and a half.

"A lot of time we've spent in our heads, talking to ourselves a lot, just really connecting with ourselves and I think there's gonna be a lot of people out there making some big changes in their lives."

On finally working with her old pal Boy George, she explained: "It was lockdown and George got in contact on Zoom… We’ve wanted to work together for several years but our projects have never collided and it's not been the right time. So the timing was just perfect.

"I'm so proud of it. I think it's a wonderful calling card for a greatest hits album, which delves into the past decades and brings it right up to date and it's reaffirming my current state of my love of pop music.

“There are two new singles on the greatest hits album that comes out on Friday and the first one is with Boy George and the second is with a gorgeous Tom Aspaul.

“We’ve had an amazing reaction about our voices together. I saw Boy George in the audience when I was singing Cambodia at Top of the Pops and he was dancing on the floor.

"He'd got some tickets from a mate of his and he was part of the audience and I remember looking at this beautiful human thinking, What are you doing down there? You should be up here. So we go back a long way, George and I. I think there's something beautiful about uniting in our 60th year.”

Shine On (featuring Boy George) is out now.

Pop Don’t Stop is out this Friday 6th August.

For more great interviews listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky, weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.