Can't Get You Out Of My Head: The artists who turned down Kylie's 'song of the decade'

Whether we know her for her iconic Neighbours character, her endless musical hits or her anti-name-trademark tirade against Kylie Jenner, Kylie Minogue has long been a household name.

But it was on 8 September, 2001, that the already successful Australian's defining hit Can’t Get You Out Of My Head was released, pushing her into superstardom.

From Charlene to superstar

Kylie was a Melbourne girl who, after a few small gigs, achieved recognition in 1986 when she landed a role in daily Aussie soap Neighbours, which also had a huge audience in the UK. Her character Charlene Robinson became a fan favourite.

In 2019 Kylie even told Graham Norton that "Kylie Charlene" had been a popular baby name at the time.

Kylie’s stint on Neighbours came to an end in 1988 after she found pop success with the huge hit I Should Be So Lucky the previous year.

She did not leave the show empty-handed, though.

Thanks to Neighbours, she became the first person to win four Logie Awards in one year, and the youngest recipient of the Gold Logie for Australia’s Most Popular Television Performer.

By the early 1990s, Kylie already had a few more top ten singles under her belt, having already released the likes of The Loco-Motion and Hand On Your Heart.

Later, Spinning Around and On A Night Like This also took off, solidifying Kylie as a top pop star in the industry. But the best was yet to come.

Making history

Kylie was approached to record Can’t Get You Out of My Head after it was unsuccessfully pitched to S Club 7's manager Simon Fuller and also Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

She reportedly agreed to record it after hearing only 20 seconds of the demo.

Speaking in 2001, the song's co-writer Cathy Dennis – who had created the pop classic in just three and a half hours with collaborator Rob Davis – said: "Even though Kylie wasn’t the first artist to be offered the song... I don’t believe it was meant to go to anyone other than Kylie, and I don’t believe anyone else would have done the incredible job she did with it, with the video, looking super-hot!"

In 2001, Kylie released her eighth studio album Fever, featuring Can’t Get You Out of My Head as the headline song, and people quickly fell in love.

The hypnotic "la-la-la" lyrics were an instant hit with listeners, and the song skyrocketed to success.

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In fact, Can’t Get You Out Of My Head was one of the most successful singles of the 2000s, selling over 5 million units and charting at No 1 in 40 countries.

In 2012 music royalties company PRS recognised it as one of the songs of the decade.

Fever remains Kylie’s bestselling album, with more than 6 million copies sold worldwide.

Kylie has often commented on the popularity of the song and its influence on her career, telling Paper magazine in 2019: “If another Can't Get You Out Of My Head came my way I would take it, thank you very much.”

Hit song's legacy

In 2012, New Musical Express ranked Can’t Get You Out Of My Head at No 4 in its Greatest Pop Songs in History.

And in 2020, Rolling Stone ranked her at No 3 on its 50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time list.

Kylie’s work has had a wide-ranging effect on the music industry, with up and coming stars like Dua Lipa citing her as an influence.

Still making music in 2020 with the release of her album Disco, Kylie remains a household name three decades after stepping on to the scene.

With 200 million Spotify listens for Can’t Get You Out Of My Head and matching statistics on its YouTube music video, the world surely won’t forget this iconic pop hit any time soon.

You might say, we can't get it out of our heads.

Watch: Ed Sheeran and Kylie Minogue collaborate on new song