MSN - News - Kylie Minogue Diagnosed With Breast Cancer

Kylie Minogue Diagnosed With Breast Cancer
May 17, 7:27 AM EST

The Associated Press

SYDNEY, Australia -- Australian pop star Kylie Minogue has been diagnosed with breast cancer and will undergo immediate treatment, her management team said.

Her tour of Australia was postponed following the announcement.

A statement from Minogue's management said the 36-year-old's diagnosis was confirmed this week during a visit to the southern Australian city of Melbourne.

"Whilst at home in Melbourne with her family this week prior to her Australian Showgirl Tour, Kylie was diagnosed with early breast cancer," the statement said.

In the statement, Minogue said: "I was so looking forward to bringing the Showgirl tour to Australian audiences, and am sorry to have to disappoint my fans. Nevertheless, hopefully all will work out fine and I'll be back with you all again soon."

The Showgirl Tour was to have included performances in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth over the next month.

Michael Gudinski, head of Frontier Touring, the company promoting her Australian tour, said it was "way too early to tell" when Minogue might resume her tour and that it was appropriate to postpone the tour indefinitely to "let her find her space and deal with it."

"I'm just hoping and praying because the doctors found it so early that everything will be OK," he told an Australian television network.

"Our thoughts and I'm sure many, many legions of Kylie fans will be with her all the way," he said.

Minogue began as an actor on the long-running Australian soap opera "Neighbours" before launching her singing career with hits such as "Loco-Motion" and "I Should Be So Lucky."

Her fame soared after her critically acclaimed 2001 album "Fever" which reached number one in charts around the world and number three in the Billboard album chart. On the popularity of the single, "Can't Get You Out of My Head," "Fever" sold more than 3 million copies worldwide, according to Minogue's Web site.

In late 2003 her song "Slow" became Minogue's seventh number one single in Britain, more than 15 years after "I Should Be So Lucky" topped the charts there in 1988. "Slow" also was nominated for a Grammy.

In the past, Minogue has auctioned one of her bras to raise money for breast cancer research and worked to raise awareness of prostate cancer, after her father was diagnosed with it.

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