Thrust into the limelight in her 20s as her debut single Kids In America stormed the charts, Kim Wilde was thrown into the temptations of the music industry at an early age.
But now at the age of 64, the Brit Award-winning pop star is proud of the way her younger self handled fame, even if she did allow herself a few indulgences.
The singer has recently released her 15th studio album, Closer, and is currently touring the UK to promote the record, which is inspired by her 1988 LP Close.
Closer sees Wilde present a collection of new wave-tinged pop, and includes the singles Trail Of Destruction and Midnight Train, as well as a collaboration with Ultravox singer Midge Ure called Sorrow Replaced.
Since her breakthrough single, she has even turned her hand to gardening, winning a gold award at the Chelsea Flower Show for her courtyard garden in 2005.
Speaking about her early days in the music business, Wilde, whose father is 1950s rock and roller Marty Wilde, says: "I became a pop star very young, and I was thrown into the heart of it, but most of that was wonderful.
"It was meeting lots of great people, meeting all my idols, traveling all over the world, having a lot of success, and the opportunities that it brought, I mean they were all great gifts, and I recognise them for that.
"Of course, I did get caught out with a few bad habits, especially with alcohol, I think over those years, it was just a mainstay of most events after a gig, before a gig, at a party or anything.
"There's nothing wrong with that, it’s just I took a decision after abstinence for a while.
"And noticing how well I felt during that abstinence, it was a Stoptober thing, just before I stopped alcohol, and I felt so alive and so healthy, and a lot of small health ailments seemed to disappear, and I thought, this is can’t be a coincidence.
"So I thought I’ll just keep going and so nine years later, and I’m feeling very much better, I know, now, than had I not made that decision.
"But I had a lot of fun during those days, I don’t regret much, I’m really proud I never got into drugs at all, ever, not remotely.
"I think that could have really destroyed me."
She credited the likes of The Pretenders’ singer Chrissie Hynde, Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry and the late Kirsty MacColl for inspiring her when starting out, saying the latter had "a big influence on me as a songwriter", adding that she knew the singer and liked her "very much".
Wilde also praised modern artists such as "clever" songwriter Taylor Swift, and drew similarities to her own career with that of Billie Eilish, who works with her brother Finneas O’Connell, having worked with her own brother, Ricky, and father on Kids In America.
The singer said there had always been strong women in music since she began, but said there needed to be more female representation in executive positions in the industry, saying the situation "hasn’t changed as much as it could".
She says of the issue of power between musicians and industry bosses: "You do have to stand strong against executives, whether they’re male or female, or male or female artists.
"People in positions of power sometimes don’t handle it very well, and you have to be very wary and stand your ground, because you have what they want, more than they have what you want.
"You’ve got the power, and you have to recognise that and really acknowledge it, and sit with it, and treasure it, and guard it completely."
Source: Press Association
