Kylie Minogue, 50, fights back against ‘ageist’ Radio 1 as latest single reaches station’s playlist

KYLIE MINOGUE is still continuing to defy the odds.

The Aussie Pop Princes has become the first woman over 50 to break on to the Radio 1 playlist with a solo song in years, strong-arming the station into dropping its ageist policy.

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The youth station claims to choose tracks based solely on “musical merit” and “target audience” and had snubbed Kylie’s new single Padam Padam for weeks, despite it rocketing up the charts.

But the station has had to make a U-turn, adding the track to its C-list, meaning it will be on regular rotation.

Ridiculously, it will be the first time Kylie, 55, has made it on to the Radio 1 playlist as a lead artist since Get Outta My Way in 2010, even though she’s had three No1 albums since.

The station has been accused of being ageist and sexist by refusing to playlist the lead singles from Madonna’s most recent two albums, much to the annoyance of her fans.

But Kylie is enjoying a second victory over the station.

Bosses were forced to eat their words when they deemed her 2000 hit Spinning Around not good enough for the playlist, only for them to add it when it became a huge hit, eventually going to No1.

The last woman over 50 to be playlisted on Radio 1 with her own song was American producer Honey Dijon with Not About You in 2020.

Padam Padam rose to No9 on Friday — Kylie’s 35th Top Ten — and chart data last night suggested it was up to No7.

Shania Twain and Madonna are on the station’s playlists, but only as featured artists on younger acts’ tracks.

Hopefully Kylie’s success sets a precedent and shows that young people can enjoy the music of a woman over 50 —, surprise surprise.

It would be a sad and boring world if we were forced to only listen to people our own age.

And no doubt plenty of youngsters listening to Radio 1 will be bopping along when Kylie comes on.

CAUGHT LIVE

Queens Of The Stone Age @ Piece Hall, Halifax

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE ripped into the set with ear-splitting volume ahead of their headline slot on The Other Stage at Glastonbury this Sunday

It was their first time playing back on UK soil since their gig at Finsbury Park, North London, in 2018, but it was like they had never been away as they played four songs from classic albums Songs For The Deaf and Like Clockwork.

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The American rockers, fronted by Josh Homme, above also debuted five songs from their new album In Times New Roman, which is set to go to No2 tomorrow.

The crowd went wild for the tracks, especially Emotion Sickness and Carnavoyeur.

At Worthy Farm they will be up against a set by Sir Elton John, but as Josh says, he loves it when the odds are stacked against them.

These lads won’t be going down quietly, and I can’t wait to hear it.

ELLIE HENMAN

★★★★☆

A TOOSH OF CLASS, MICHELLE

MICHELLE KEEGAN shows off a rear admirable on a sunshine yacht trip.

The Brassic actress, sparkling in this white mesh skirt, was joined by husband Mark Wright and pals for the private day out in Ibiza.

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And they certainly splashed the cash for their fun on the water.

Their luxury boat is hired out for more than £2,000 a day and they also glugged high-end wine as they celebrated ahead of their friends’ wedding.

The couple are making the most of a rare gap in their schedules, after Michelle was in Australia shooting hit BBC1 series Ten Pound Poms while Mark has been touring the UK with his dad and brother for his show A Wright Old Adventure.

Work hard, play hard.

JASON’S SAVAGE BIDDING WAR

JASON DERULO‘s career almost ended after he struggled to get signed to a label during a career lull in 2019 – then nearly got sued.

I told at the time how the Swalla singer had split from Warner Records due to creative differences but things got sticky soon after.

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He explained: “I figured I’d easily be able to get a new deal with any label I wanted. At that point I had sold 200million records.

Read Related Also: Nineties pop legend Dario G reveals he’s got stage four cancer saying he’s ‘trying to remain positive’

“I went to a bunch of different labels and they kept saying I was too expensive or that I wasn’t what they were looking for.”

Shortly afterwards he sampled the viral TikTok song Laxed (Siren Beat) on his track Savage Love, which became his fifth No1 single in the UK charts.

Though he was unaware when he released it that the creator of the original song, New Zealand producer Jawsh 685 had signed his own deal with Columbia Records – and the label was furious with Jason.

The US star said: “Columbia went crazy, trying to get it taken down.

“They were sending cease-and-desist letters and the whole nine.

“But at that point, Savage Love was everywhere . . . I couldn’t have taken it down if I’d tried.”

Yet the saga ended up reigniting his career and landing him a new deal with Atlantic Records, making him label-mates with Ed Sheeran and Anne-Marie.

In his new book Sing Your Name Out Loud, which is out next week, Jason added: “After all those passes, we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a massive bidding war.”

ROB TOPS CHARTERS

PLANES, trains and auto-mobiles aren’t jazzy enough for Robbie Williams – he prefers more extravagant forms of transport.

I’m told he chartered a hovercraft, which had to get special permission to use in the dark to cross the River Solent, after his Isle of Wight Festival headline set on Sunday night.

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But he only used that to get his band and dancers back to the mainland, instead deciding to stay the night then hopping on a helicopter to fly him back to London.

The Rock DJ singer had closed the festival with a belting set and must have got paid a fortune, given how much he had to spare on transporting his crew.

In the current economic climate, Robbie should hop on the ferry as it could save him several thousand.

He’s spending this summer travelling across Europe on his XXV Tour, to celebrate 25 years as a solo artist, and will no doubt have been chartering another extravagant form of transport.

He is due to perform at Bergen Calling in Norway this evening and at Oslo’s Telenor Arena on Saturday.

If only all of us could live like the rich and famous.

MASTERS HOP DOWN TO GLASTO

GLASTONBURY isn’t just about seeing some of the biggest names in music.

Many of the best sets I’ve seen have been from the most obscure artists out there.

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That’s why I’m more than a little curious to check out The Master Musicians Of Joujouka when they play an hour-long set at the festival’s celebrity haunt The Rabbit Hole on Friday.

The kooky band, made up of 12 guys with horns, whistles and drums, were discovered by late Rolling Stones legend Brian Jones in the Moroccan Mountains in the 70s.

Since then they have become friends with Glasto boss Michael Eavis.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes the journey across the farm to see them too.

OLLY’S STAG DARES

OLLY MURS’s pals did everything they could to embarrass him on his stag do.

The pop star and coach on TV’s The Voice posted this snap from the raucous weekend away in the sun in which he’s wearing a T-shirt featuring a list of dares or him – and they all have ticks next to them.

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Among the completed challenges were licking a bald man’s head, drinking a pint through a sock, wearing his pants over his trousers for an hour and getting a girl’s phone number using a foreign accent.

I can’t imagine his wife-to-be Amelia Tank will have been too pleased about that one.

IT’S A OUI, OUI FOR RIRI

OH baby!

Rihanna looked ready to pop when she wore this crop top to show her pregnancy bump.

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She is nearing her due date for her tot with her rapper boyfriend A$AP Rocky but that didn’t that stop her from supporting her pal Pharrell Williams at his Louis Vuitton Menswear fashion show.

He is the creative director and designed the range on show at Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday, so it’s no wonder a load of stars turned out too.

Actors Zendaya and Jared Leto were spotted there, as well as England footballers Marcus Rashford and Jude Bellingham, who sat with American basketball star Jaylen Brown.