Kim Wilde at 65: ‘You can be a grandmother and still want to rock out’ | UK | News

It’s been just over 45 years since Kim Wilde took the charts by storm with her enduring hit single Kids In America. The song launched his remarkable career, which is still going strong.

But despite decades of hit hits, he admitted in an exclusive chat with the Express that he’s been surprised by its longevity.

The 65-year-old mother of two’s eyes sparkle as she speaks, thanks to her adoption of a healthier lifestyle in recent years. This, combined with his love of gardening, instilled a sparkle that belied his years.

“I wasn’t thinking too much about the future at the time. I was 20,” he smiles as he reflects on the hit song, which reached No.2 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1981.

“I’m a big fan of Olivia Newton John, but I remember hearing as a kid that she was 30 and thinking to myself, ‘she’s had a good career.’ I thought 30 was old age and she was doing pretty well by then.

“I had a very different perception of what age meant back then. If you had told me then that I would still be singing a big hit that I sang when I was 20, I probably wouldn’t have believed it.”

“I don’t quite understand why people want to come and see a 65-year-old woman who sometimes sings Kids in America, but I’m so grateful they do it,” she laughs, adding, “And I really love doing it. Maybe that’s why they come and see me, because they can see how much I love performing.”

While attitudes towards aging are a huge topic, he claims to be “blissfully unaware” of some of the labels associated with the passage of time.

“I’m not very interested in social media. I don’t read press articles much. Actually, I don’t read much at all.

“Most of the time I’m in the garden, gardening and tending to my house, writing songs, performing or listening to music,” she admits. “So I’m not really aware of people’s perception of older women.

“From what I’ve seen, there’s more emphasis on aging gracefully and more focus on women being in their 40s or even 60s and not being such a big deal.

“When I was little, those were grandmothers’ ages. But now you can be a grandmother and still want to rock,” she smiles.

Kim’s father, Marty Wilde, who was a rock and roll heartthrob in the 1960s and is still going strong at 87, set a good example about aging in the industry.

Speaking fondly of the family patriarch, she said: “I’m really proud that my dad has released a new album and a new single. He still gets in the car and plays gigs and comes back and writes a new song. He’s still very excited about music. He’s like a teenager and inside he still feels like that kid in 1957 who fell in love with rock and roll.”

Kim is equally excited about her job and gets positively giddy when talking about her upcoming tour with 1980s pop princess Tiffany in March next year.

“It’s a celebration of a very long career and it’s a singles tour and I’ll be all over the UK.

“I love performing for my own audience. There is something so special about celebrating having loved pop music for so many years and still making new pop music.

“The last two singles from our last album were both A-listers on BBC Radio Two. So I think that’s a huge achievement after so many years of producing pop music.”

But touring looks very different these days. He suffered back problems that affected his mobility for four months in 2023, and told this publication in July 2024 that he felt “lucky to be able to get out of bed in the morning.”

“I had a bad back condition where I had to work really hard to get my mobility back. So I’m very grateful for all of this,” he said at the time.

This led to a change in mindset regarding her health, and she says she feels, looks and sings better now than she did four decades ago.

“As you get older you definitely need to take more care of yourself, which is absolutely true for me.

“I gave up alcohol about 10 years ago and it really had a profoundly positive impact on my mental and physical health.

“I have a personal trainer who I work out with several times a week. I’m not obsessed with what I eat, but I’m very careful.

“That doesn’t mean I won’t stuff my face with Easter eggs this Easter,” he chuckled before getting serious again: “I probably take better care of myself now at 65 than I did when I was 45 or 25.”

Kim admits that when she’s not touring or recording, she lives a relatively quiet life. “Gardening is a big part of the job – I have a polytunnel in my garden and I grow vegetables and that takes up a lot of the extra time I could have.

“I have dogs to look after, I have lovely friends I spend time with and I do some cooking.

“And I like to play backgammon with my daughter; just very simple things. I go to the bar and do trivia. I like it,” he said.

He becomes more reserved when asked about romance. The singer and her husband of 25 years, Hal Fowler, announced their divorce in December 2022, after announcing their amicable separation in 2021.

“Yes, I still believe in love,” he quipped. “And I will never say that this will never happen again for me.”

Kim Wilde’s single tour will take place in March 2027 with the support of Tiffany. Tickets are on sale now www.kimwilde.com/