分类： entertainment

As one of the architects of Kylie Minogue’s decades-spanning global pop career, hitmaking producer Pete Waterman has opened up about the unassuming start of his working relationship with the star, admitting he had never heard of her when he first signed on to produce her debut three studio albums.

Waterman’s recollections feature in the new Netflix documentary simply titled *Kylie*, which charts the Australian singer’s extraordinary trajectory from a small-screen soap opera actor on *Neighbours* to one of pop music’s most enduring international icons. The project marks a reflective full-circle moment for Waterman, who, alongside production partners Mike Stock and Matt Aitken, formed the legendary Stock Aitken & Waterman team that shaped Minogue’s early sound in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Speaking in the documentary, Waterman explained the collaboration first came about at the request of the Australian distributor for Stock Aitken & Waterman’s record label, which reached out for support to launch Minogue’s first foray into music back in the late 1980s. This was months before her breakout role as Charlene Mitchell on *Neighbours* turned her into a household name across the United Kingdom.

“She turns up at the studio, we knocked together *I Should Be So Lucky*, and she was at the airport by 4 o’clock, to fly back to Australia for *Neighbours*,” Waterman recalled.

The partnership would go on to spawn a record-breaking string of chart hits for Minogue. *The Loco-Motion*, which became the first of her 54 UK Top 40 hits when Minogue was still just a teenager, was actually a remixed version of a track that had already claimed the number one spot on Australian charts, produced by the Stock Aitken & Waterman team. *I Should Be So Lucky* followed as the trio’s second hit for the rising star. Between 1988 and 1992 alone, the production collective delivered 19 Top 20 hits for Minogue, and ultimately produced four full studio albums for the singer between 1988 and 1991.

Waterman shared that his first impression of the young artist was that she was soft-spoken but unwaveringly driven. He recalled his partner Matt Aitken telling him, “this kid’s got an amazing voice and is a great learner of a song. We taught her the song once, she’d remembered it straight away. Because she’s an actress, of course.”

Despite *Neighbours*’ rapidly growing popularity in the UK that was turning Minogue into a national sensation, Waterman said the production team had no time to anticipate how that fame would translate to massive record sales. “This sounds ridiculous [but] we had no concept of how big Kylie was,” he said.

That explosive growth quickly became clear as the team negotiated for Minogue’s third album. Waterman noted, “So here we are, Kylie’s selling 2.5 million albums every time we put an album out and suddenly we’re negotiating for a third album. And you’re dealing with lawyers who are basically Madonna’s lawyers. So you’ve gone from a little girl in *Neighbours* to the hottest lawyer on the planet who’s looking for millions of pounds in his pocket.”

When Minogue reached out to Waterman to ask him to appear in the new documentary chronicling her life and decades-long career, he said the decision to participate was immediate. “It wasn’t a thought, it was – yeah, where do you want me to be?” he said. “This is Kylie from the four men in her life. What an amazing honour that is, from [being a boy from] Stoke Heath to world domination! My God, what a place to be!”

The world of jazz has lost its last iconic giant from the genre’s golden age. Sonny Rollins, the trailblazing American tenor saxophonist universally known as the ‘Saxophone Colossus’, passed away at his home in Woodstock, New York, on Monday at the age of 95. The announcement of his death was shared in a heartfelt post on his official social media accounts, which confirmed the news of his peaceful passing.

A creative visionary who constantly reinvented his art across seven decades, Rollins transformed jazz into a medium for both social commentary and spiritual exploration. His bold, resonant saxophone lines gave voice to the aspirations of Black Americans during the civil rights movement, channeled collective national grief in the wake of the September 11 attacks, and reflected the mystical insights he gained during years of spiritual retreats in Asia. Born in Harlem to parents who migrated from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Rollins rose to join the ranks of the most influential saxophonists in jazz history, alongside legends including Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, and John Coltrane — with whom he shared an affectionate yet complex artistic relationship.

Unlike many of his contemporaries from jazz’s post-WWII golden era, Rollins lived a remarkably long, disciplined life, continuing to refine and remaster his work well into his 80s, even as chronic respiratory issues gradually limited his public performances. When asked in a 2016 interview with Agence France-Presse about the secret to his longevity, Rollins attributed it to two things: his lifelong practice of yoga, which helped him stay focused and avoid the substance abuse that cut short the lives of many fellow artists, and his unquenchable thirst for creative growth. “I’m still alive because I’m still learning,” he famously said in that interview.

Rollins’ signature sound was distinct among major saxophonists of his generation: a biting, heavy delivery that often challenged listeners rather than soothing them, paired with an intricate, holistic approach to composition that framed music as a lifelong search for universal truth. His iconic nickname originated from his breakthrough 1956 album *Saxophone Colossus*, a record that redefined the hard bop genre, bringing raw, new power to the tenor sax while stripping jazz of unnecessary structural constraints. One of the album’s most enduring tracks, “St. Thomas”, wove in the Caribbean calypso rhythms Rollins had heard growing up, a nod to his Virgin Islands heritage that remains his most recognizable composition.

One of the most legendary stories of Rollins’ career came in the early 1960s, when overwhelmed by the pressure of his rising fame, he stepped away from the spotlight to practice daily on New York City’s Williamsburg Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to Manhattan’s Lower East Side. For three years, he played for nearly every waking hour, even through the cold of winter, turning the busy bridge into his private rehearsal space. This self-imposed public sabbatical yielded one of his most acclaimed albums, 1962’s *The Bridge*, and in recent years, proposals have circulated to rename the Williamsburg Bridge in his honor. Rollins also crossed over to mainstream audiences outside of jazz, making a notable guest appearance on The Rolling Stones’ 1981 hit album *Tattoo You*.

By his mid-20s, Rollins had already shared stages and recording studios with nearly every jazz legend of the era, including Parker, Miles Davis, and Thelonious Monk, with whom he was particularly close early in his career. He famously cut the classic 1957 album *Brilliant Corners* alongside the pioneering pianist. While many framed Rollins’ relationship with Coltrane as a rivalry — the two both pushed jazz into new creative territory and shared a fascination with Indian spirituality — Rollins offered a warm reflection on their connection later in life. Where Coltrane was known for his graceful, gentle texture, Rollins brought a firmer, more tangible command of musical dynamics, approaching composition with the intentional craft of a classical composer. The pair only recorded together once, on the title track of Rollins’ 1956 album *Tenor Madness*. Looking back on his early career, Rollins acknowledged he had been overly brash with his idols: “I look back on my relationship with Coltrane, and my relationship with Monk — a lot of stupid things I did with those people that I would not have done if I was more mature,” he said, calling Coltrane “a beautiful, beautiful human being.” Rollins was predeceased by his wife and manager of nearly 40 years, Lucille, who died in 2004.

Following his 1956 breakthrough, Rollins continued to innovate on 1957’s *Way Out West*, where he introduced his signature “strolling” technique: unaccompanied sax solos that flow over only bass and drums, forgoing the traditional piano chords that anchored most jazz ensembles of the era. Rollins often described his improvisational style as rooted in intuition rather than conscious planning. “When I play and I improvise, I don’t think, because music comes from the subconscious, someplace else,” he told news outlet The Root. “I’m just a human, so when I play my horn, I get into a state where the music plays me. I’m just standing up there and fingering my horn and blowing.”

His commitment to yoga extended far beyond physical health; the breathing techniques and mental discipline it afforded him deepened his fluency on the sax. A decade after his Williamsburg Bridge sabbatical, Rollins stepped away again in 1966, this time to study Zen meditation in Japan before moving to an ashram on the outskirts of Mumbai, India, where he arrived with nothing but a suitcase and his saxophone. Under the guidance of spiritual teacher Swami Chinmayananda, he spent his days studying and discussing sacred Vedic texts, performing rarely, before bringing his spiritual learnings into his music with works like *Patanjali*, named for the ancient founder of yoga. “Jazz artists were trying to find a way to express life through our improvisations. The music has got to mean something,” he later told National Public Radio.

Beyond his artistic innovations, Rollins was unafraid to use his platform to advance social justice. His 1958 work *Freedom Suite* was an explicit artistic statement in support of the rising civil rights movement. While the 20-minute instrumental piece spoke to artistic freedom on its surface, Rollins made its political purpose unmistakeable in the album’s liner notes — a strikingly bold stance for a Black artist of the era. “America is deeply rooted in Negro culture: its colloquialisms; its humor; its music,” he wrote. “How ironic that the Negro, who more than any other people can claim America’s culture as his own, is being persecuted and repressed; that the Negro, who has exemplified the humanities in his very existence, is being rewarded with inhumanity.” The album was so controversial that a later reissue was released under an alternate title, and Rollins faced pushback when performing the piece in the Jim Crow South. He doubled down on his advocacy for Black pride with *Airegin*, a fast-paced classic whose name is an anagram for Nigeria.

Late in his life, Rollins once again turned to music to process collective trauma after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Living just six blocks from the World Trade Center, he evacuated his home by walking down 40 flights of stairs and suffered respiratory irritation from the attack’s toxic fumes. Just four days later, he drove to Boston (all commercial flights were grounded nationwide) to perform a memorial concert that was later released as a live tribute album to the attacks’ victims.

After decades in New York City, Rollins retired to a quiet farm in upstate New York, where he had space to continue his meditation practice. In his final years, he acknowledged a growing pessimism about humanity’s trajectory, noting that he and his fellow mid-century artists once believed music could help bring about world peace. “But then I learned, and I lived a little longer,” he told AFP. “I realized that this world will never change. This world is meant to be a place of war, killing, everything — sickness, illness, death. That’s this world.”

Australian airline Virgin Australia has launched its first co-branded aircraft livery in nearly a decade, teaming up with Disney and Pixar to roll out a one-of-a-kind Toy Story 5 themed Boeing 737-800 that will traverse the country’s domestic network ahead of the animated sequel’s theatrical premiere on June 18. The airline officially revealed the custom-painted plane on Monday, which features beloved franchise characters Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear across its entire exterior, kicking off a months-long cross-platform marketing campaign that brings the Toy Story magic to every step of the passenger travel journey.

This large-scale collaboration marks a celebratory milestone for the Toy Story franchise, which first captured audiences’ hearts more than 30 years ago. The custom aircraft is projected to be seen by hundreds of thousands of travelers, including international visitors exploring Australia, turning the plane itself into a flying billboard for the upcoming film. Beyond the eye-catching exterior livery, the partnership includes a full slate of themed activations rolling out across airport terminals, Virgin Australia lounges, and onboard domestic flights through mid-July.

Starting June 1, young passengers traveling with the airline will receive complimentary Toy Story 5-branded giveaways, including custom coloring activity packs. The airline’s inflight entertainment system will also add the entire existing Toy Story film collection to its library, alongside more than 60 other popular Disney movies for travelers to enjoy during their journey. Between June 15 and July 19, domestic passengers will be able to participate in a branded inflight game, with one grand prize winner receiving a Pixar-themed trip to Tokyo for up to four people.

One of the most charming additions to the campaign is Virgin Australia’s new “Toy Tickets” initiative, which lets children request personalized, official-looking boarding passes for the teddy bears and soft toys that accompany them on their trips. The concept for this unique offering was inspired by a real customer incident: a young child who accidentally left their beloved teddy bear on a Virgin Australia flight, and was reunited with the toy after the airline helped track it down.

Exclusive perks are also being offered to top loyalty program members: selected Velocity Frequent Flyer Platinum Plus members across Australia will receive access to special private screenings of Toy Story 5 ahead of its wide release.

Libby Minogue, Virgin Australia’s chief marketing and customer operations officer, explained that the partnership was designed to weave the beloved film franchise into the entire travel experience, creating memorable moments for guests of all ages. “Toy Story has always been about more than just characters, it’s the nostalgia and joy it holds for so many people,” Minogue said. “Through our partnership with The Walt Disney Company Australia, we’re bringing the magic into the travel experience, creating moments of surprise and delight for our guests in a way that is distinctly Virgin Australia.”

Minogue added that the collaboration aligns with the airline’s ongoing goal of reimagining air travel for modern passengers, while delivering enhanced value to its loyalty program members: “We are always looking for new ways to bring wonderful to flying and this partnership with Disney is the start of something magical and allows us to reimagine the travel experience in new and engaging ways, while delivering greater value for our Velocity Frequent Flyer members.”

Kylie Watson-Wheeler, senior vice-president and managing director of The Walt Disney Company Australia and New Zealand, echoed that excitement, noting that the collaboration lets fans of all generations celebrate the launch of the new sequel. “We’re thrilled to see Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5 take flight with Virgin Australia in this special celebration of the film,” Watson-Wheeler said. “Our iconic Toy Story characters and story have a special place in the hearts of generations. We can’t wait to see all the magical ways this collaboration brings joy to Virgin Australia customers.”