Nearly three decades after the death of Michael Hutchence, Kylie Minogue says the connection still lingers in ways she can’t fully explain.
Speaking to HELLO! magazine ahead of her upcoming Netflix documentary series Kylie, the pop icon reflected on her relationship with the late INXS singer, admitting that revisiting that chapter of her life left her unexpectedly emotional.
“When I really think about him and talk about him, I can often just feel his presence,” Minogue said.
The pair dated from 1989 to 1991, during a period when Hutchence was one of the most magnetic frontmen on the planet and Minogue was shedding her squeaky-clean Neighbours image on the way to global pop stardom. Together, they became tabloid gold: leather jackets, hotel suites, backstage excess and that dangerous early-’90s glamour that doesn’t really exist anymore.
In the documentary, Minogue returns to Australia after nearly 30 years living in the UK and sorts through old memorabilia, including unseen photographs and home videos. One conversation about Hutchence reportedly triggered the most emotional moment of the series.
“That was the first time I cried on camera in the interviews,” she admitted. “I knew it was gonna happen.”
Hutchence died by suicide in a Sydney hotel room in 1997 at the age of 37. Even now, Minogue speaks about him less like an ex-boyfriend and more like a ghost from another life — one tied to youth, chaos, fame and transformation.
According to the documentary, Hutchence played a major role in pushing Minogue away from the polished soap-star persona that first made her famous, introducing her to a more decadent rock-and-roll world that helped redefine her public image.
The breakup, Minogue says, left her devastated.
“It was definitely an amazing point in time,” she says in the documentary. “I’ve probably been looking for something like that ever since — and I haven’t got it.”
There’s restraint in the way Minogue talks about the relationship now. No oversharing. No attempt to turn private memories into content. Just fragments, carefully chosen. A little mystery preserved under the stage lights.
“I am not a kind of ‘here it all is’ person,” she explained. “For one’s own sanity, you need to keep that.”
The three-part Netflix series also touches on Minogue’s 2002 comeback, her breast cancer diagnosis in 2005, and features appearances from her family, including sister Dannii Minogue. But it’s the Hutchence chapters that seem to carry the most weight — a reminder that some relationships never fully leave the room, even after 30 years.
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Last modified: May 21, 2026
