Kylie Minogue is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress who rose to fame as a singer in the late 1980s. She has had an incredibly successful music career, having sold over 80 million records worldwide and scored numerous hit singles and albums over the past three decades. Though she is a massive star in her native Australia and across Europe and Asia, Kylie has never quite achieved the same level of mainstream success in the United States. This has led some fans to wonder – has Kylie Minogue ever toured the U.S.?
Kylie’s Early North American Promotion
In the late 1980s, Kylie was trying to break out of the Australian and European markets and gain success in North America. Her record label at the time, PWL, attempted to promote her music to American audiences but she failed to make any major impact on the charts. Her early albums like Kylie and Enjoy Yourself along with singles like “Locomotion” and “I Should Be So Lucky” saw very limited promotion and success in the U.S. and Canada.
Kylie later signed to Deconstruction/BMG records in 1993 and they also attempted to help her crack the American market. Her eponymous Kylie Minogue album was released in the U.S. but again did not produce any hit singles or major sales numbers. The album peaked at #153 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The singles “Confide In Me” and “Put Yourself In My Place” made little impression on the Hot 100 chart.
Early Concert Tours Skip North America
In the 1990s, while promoting albums like Kylie Minogue and Impossible Princess, Kylie embarked on several major concert tours across Australia, Europe and Asia. However, North America was notably absent from her tour schedules during this period. Her tours focused on markets where she already had an established fanbase.
Some key early Kylie Minogue tours include:
- Disco in Dream Tour (1989) – Australia & UK
- Enjoy Yourself Tour (1990) – UK & Europe
- Rhythm of Love Tour (1991) – Australia & Asia
- Let’s Get to It Tour (1991) – UK & Ireland
- Intimate and Live Tour (1998) – Australia & UK
As she continued to struggle breaking into the U.S. market, a full North American tour leg simply didn’t make financial sense at the time based on her record sales and chart performance in the region.
First U.S. Show in Over a Decade (2003)
After over a decade without performing in North America, Kylie finally scheduled a one-off show in New York in 2003 to promote her album Fever. The show was held on August 5, 2003 at the Hammerstein Ballroom. It marked her first public performance in the United States since appearing on TV show Live with Regis and Kathie Lee back in 1991.
The Fever Tour show was received positively and sold out quickly, indicating an enthusiastic fanbase for Kylie existed in America. However, this sole concert remained her only U.S. date during the whole tour which otherwise visited Australia, Europe and Asia. American fans hoping for a full-fledged tour were still left disappointed.
Brief North American Leg on Showgirl Tour (2005)
On her massive Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour spanning 2005-2006, Kylie finally included a brief North American leg to visit a few major cities. Specifically, she performed:
- September 16, 2005 – New York, NY – Hammerstein Ballroom
- September 19, 2005 – Miami, FL – The Fillmore Miami Beach
- September 20, 2005 – Boston, MA – Orpheum Theatre
- September 23, 2005 – Toronto, Canada – Kool Haus
The Showgirl tour was in support of her greatest hits album Ultimate Kylie featuring the hits “I Believe in You” and “Giving You Up”. This marked her first ever concerts in Florida, Massachusetts and even Canada. But still, only 4 dates across North America showed her focus still leaned heavily towards other established markets like her homeland Australia and European countries.
Setlist for 2005 North American Showgirl Concerts
During the brief Showgirl tour North American leg, Kylie performed the following setlist of songs:
Act 1 |
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Better the Devil You Know |
In Your Eyes |
Giving You Up |
On a Night Like This |
Act 2 |
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Shocked |
What Do I Have to Do |
Spinning Around |
Red Blooded Woman |
Act 3 |
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Slow |
Kids |
Come into My World |
Chocolate |
Encore |
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I Believe in You |
Love at First Sight |
Can’t Get You Out of My Head |
The setlist featured many of her biggest hits and classic songs that American fans would know well from radio play.
First Full-Fledged North American Tour (2009)
It wasn’t until 2009’s For You, For Me Tour that Kylie finally embarked on a proper concert tour across many major cities in the United States and Canada. This tour was organized around her album X and included over 20 dates.
Some key stops on the 2009 North American leg included:
- Oakland, CA – Fox Theater
- Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
- Las Vegas, NV – The Joint
- New York, NY – Hammerstein Ballroom
- Toronto, Canada – Sound Academy
- Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre
- Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre
This tour marked the very first time Kylie performed in Oakland, Las Vegas, Chicago and many other U.S. cities. Reviews of the tour were very positive with Kylie noted for putting on an elaborate pop spectacle for American audiences. After over 20 years in the business, she could finally say she achieved a full concert tour across the United States and Canada.
Setlist for the 2009 North American Tour
Kylie brought her dazzling production and stellar catalogue of songs to North America with the following setlist:
Act 1 |
---|
Light Years |
Speakerphone |
Come into My World |
In Your Eyes |
Heart Beat Rock |
Wow |
Illusion |
Act 2 |
---|
Boombox/Can’t Get Blue Monday Out of My Head |
Slow |
2 Hearts |
Red Blooded Woman |
Like a Drug |
Kids |
Encore |
---|
No More Rain |
Love at First Sight |
Can’t Get You Out of My Head |
Kylie Continues to Include North America on Tours
Since her 2009 For You, For Me Tour, Kylie has made an effort to visit North America as part of each subsequent global concert tour she embarks on. Key visits include:
- 2011 Aphrodite World Tour – 6 dates in U.S.
- 2014 Kiss Me Once Tour – 6 dates in U.S. and Canada
- 2018 Golden Tour – 8 dates in U.S. and Canada
Her 2018 Golden tour included her first ever concerts in Vancouver, Denver and Washington DC proving she still has areas of North America left to conquer. While her tours in the region remain short compared to the many months spent crisscrossing Europe and Australia, American and Canadian fans are appreciative of the chance to see Kylie’s dazzling show.
Analysis of Kylie’s History Touring North America
Looking at the full timeline of Kylie’s performance history in North America reveals some interesting insights:
- She struggled for over a decade to gain a foothold in the U.S. market and charts
- Her early tours completely bypassed North America as she focused on Australia and Europe
- She started dipping her toes in the market with one-off shows in the early 2000s
- The brief 4-date Showgirl leg represented her first concerts in the U.S. and Canada
- It wasn’t until 2009 that she finally toured extensively across North America
- Since 2009 she continues to dedicate a small tour leg to the U.S. and Canada
So in summary – yes, Kylie Minogue has definitely toured across the United States and Canada, but it took over 20 years into her career before she mounted her first full-fledged tour of North America. Her fans in the region continue to anxiously await each tour hoping she extends her run of shows and visits new cities. For the pop princess from down under, America seemed like one of the last unconquered frontiers but she can now boast over 30 performances across the continent and counting.
Conclusion
Kylie Minogue spent the first two decades of her career focused on Australia, Europe and Asia where she quickly rose to fame as a pop singer. Despite attempts from her record labels, she failed to gain much traction in North America in the 1980s and 1990s. This led to her tours completely skipping over the continent during those early years. It wasn’t until 2003 that she performed a one-off show in New York, following up with a brief 4-date tour leg across the U.S. and Canada in 2005. Finally in 2009, she embarked on her first full multi-city tour of North America in support of her album X. Since then, she continues to carve out a small portion of each global tour to perform for her growing fanbase in the United States and Canada. While she still spends more time touring her native country Australia and European strongholds like the UK, Kylie has proven she can put on spectacular shows for North American crowds who are hungry for her glam pop and dazzling productions. Over 30 years into her career, the pop icon still manages to reach new milestones like performing in U.S. cities for the very first time.