BACK ON STAGE
Record-breaking 80s pop star making epic comeback decades after quitting music for landscape gardening
A new album will be released next year
POP star Kim Wilde was lured back into performing — by singing Abba songs at a village fete.
The Kids in America hitmaker, 64, put her stellar career on the backburner in the late 1990s to pursue gardening.
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But she will return with a new album early next year — and credits a fete in her Hertfordshire village for the rethink.
She told the White Wine Question Time podcast: “They asked me to sing Abba but when I got there they asked if I’d do Kids in America.
“I was quite anti the whole idea of it but when I sang it the whole place went crazy.
"So the village takes credit for getting me back on stage, which I rather love.”
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Kim, daughter of 1950s rocker Marty Wilde, holds the record as the most-charted British female solo act of the 1980s, with 17 UK top 40 hit singles.
She first hit the charts in 1981 with Kids In America which peaked at No2.
She followed that up with No4 Chequered Love later that year.
In 1987 she turned to comedy releasing a Christmas charity single for Comic Relief with Mel Smith.
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The cheeky duo reached number three with Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree.
She continued to have hits in the 90s as well as touring and appearing in the West End show Tommy.
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In November 2024 she released her comeback single Midnight Train.
As well as music, Kim enjoyed gardening success, winning a Gold award for her courtyard garden at the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show in 2005.
She is also an author and has published two books on gardening - Gardening with Children (2005) and The First Time Gardener (2006).
But now she has got the enthusiasm for music once again, and is planning to make the most of it.
Kim Wilde's greatest hits
Kim Wilde has enjoyed 20 top 40 hits in the UK single charts.
Despite never hitting the number one spot, her debut single Kids In America, peaked at No2 and remained in the charts for 13 weeks.
Kids in America (1981) - No2
Chequered Love (1981) - No4
Water On Glass/Boys (1981) - No11
Cambodia (1981) - No12
View From A Bridge (1982) - No16
Love Blonde (1983) - No23
The Second time (1984) - No29
Rage To Love (1985) - No19
You Keep Me Hangin' On (1986) - No2
Another Step (Closer To You) (1987) - No6
Say You Really Want Me (1987) - No29
Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree (1987 with Mel Smith) - No3
Hey Mr Heartache (1988) - No31
You Came (1988) - No3
Never Trust A Stranger (1988) - No7
Four Letter Word (1988) - No6
Love In A Natural Way (1989) - No32
Love Is Holy (1992) - No16
Heart Over Mind (1992) - No34
If I Can't Have You (1993) - No12
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