Kylie Minogue reflects on her “tough” cancer journey.
The Australian pop icon — who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 — spoke to CBS News about how she survived the disease and how she’s still trying to come to terms with her battle with cancer nearly 20 years later.
“It’s trauma, and all trauma resides in you,” Minogue, 55, said. “The experience of being diagnosed with cancer will live with me. It was hard. It was also amazing.”
“It’s amazing in that you’re very aware of your body, the love that surrounds you, your abilities, all kinds of things,” she added.
Although she was declared cancer-free in 2006, Minogue explained that she is still processing the experience, which she does through her music.
“I sing to cover everything, I think. I write to cover. I perform to cover. And sometimes I think I live to perform,” she said, adding that it’s “amazing” that her career is still going strong after 35 years.
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Kylie Minogue.
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Kylie Minogue on how her 2005 breast cancer diagnosis changed her: ‘You see everything differently’
In 2020, Minogue revealed to PEOPLE how her harrowing journey with cancer changed her life.
“It’s like the Earth has slipped off its axis. You see everything differently,” Minogue recalled.
“I remember having my diagnosis, but the world didn’t know,” she said. “I was with my brother and my boyfriend at the time – we were all in a frenzy and we went to a coffee shop. The waiter at the coffee shop was like, ‘Hey, how are you today?’ We just sort of robotically said, ‘Okay, thank you,’ and at that point I just thought, You really don’t know what anybody’s going through. I thought by tomorrow that same person would be watching the news and going, ‘Oh my God, it was was here yesterday and we didn’t know.'”
After her diagnosis, Minogue underwent a lumpectomy and chemotherapy and was declared cancer-free in February 2006. The experience changed the Grammy winner’s outlook forever.
“It’s a big change, both before and after,” Minogue told PEOPLE at the time. “Now with what’s going on in the world, a lot of people are talking about a new normal, but I think after cancer or any other major incident or life-changing illness, you have to adapt.”
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Source: HIS Education