UK pop icon Kim Wilde will return to Australia in November 2026 for The Closer Tour, celebrating a catalogue that has defined four decades of pop music.
by Paul Cashmere
Kim Wilde will head back to Australia in November 2026 with The Closer Tour, marking her latest chapter in a career that has delivered more than 30 million record sales worldwide and a string of era-defining hits.
For Australian audiences, Kim Wilde’s arrival in the early 80s coincided with a transformative moment in pop. Her debut single ‘Kids In America’ exploded onto charts in 1981, reaching No. 2 in the UK and climbing into the Top Five across Europe and Australia. It remains her signature song, a new wave anthem that introduced Wilde’s cool vocal delivery and instinct for melody to a global audience.
Born Kim Smith in Chiswick, London, the daughter of 50s rock and roll singer Marty Wilde and Joyce Baker of The Vernons Girls, Wilde grew up immersed in music. Signed to RAK Records by producer Mickie Most, she quickly became one of Britain’s most successful female artists of the decade. She still holds the record as the most-charted British female solo act of the 1980s, scoring seventeen UK Top 40 singles during that period.
Her early catalogue reads like a greatest hits collection. ‘Chequered Love’ cemented her breakthrough year, while 1982’s ‘Cambodia’ and ‘View From A Bridge’ both topped charts in France and performed strongly across Europe and Australia. By the mid-80s, Wilde had evolved musically, contributing more to her songwriting and expanding her international footprint.
A defining global moment arrived in 1986 with her high-energy reinterpretation of The Supremes’ ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On’. The track reached No. 2 in the UK and went on to top the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1987, placing Wilde alongside Petula Clark, Lulu, Sheena Easton and Bonnie Tyler as one of the few British female solo artists to achieve that feat. Follow-up hits including ‘Another Step (Closer To You)’ and the festive favourite ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ reinforced her commercial resurgence.
The 1988 album ‘Close’ delivered some of her most enduring material. ‘You Came’, ‘Never Trust A Stranger’ and ‘Four Letter Word’ were major European successes, with ‘You Came’ returning her to the UK Top 10. Around this period, Wilde toured Europe as special guest to Michael Jackson on his Bad World Tour, further elevating her international profile.
Australian fans continued their strong support into the 90s. Her 1993 compilation ‘The Singles Collection 1981-1993′ featured ‘If I Can’t Have You’, a Bee Gees-penned track from Saturday Night Fever, which became a Top 20 hit in the UK and reached No. 3 in Australia.
Beyond music, Wilde carved out a parallel career in horticulture, presenting gardening programs for the BBC and Channel 4. In 2005, she received a Gold award at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show, underscoring a creative life that extends well beyond the stage.
In recent years, Wilde has continued to record and tour extensively. Albums including ‘Never Say Never’, ‘Come Out And Play’, ‘Wilde Winter Songbook’ and 2018’s ‘Here Come The Aliens’ have reaffirmed her place as a working artist with a loyal international following. In 2021, she marked 40 years in music with the retrospective ‘Pop Don’t Stop: Greatest Hits’. Her most recent studio release, ‘Closer’, arrived in 2025 and provides the thematic anchor for the 2026 tour.
The Closer Tour will see Wilde perform in Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, Geelong, Adelaide, Newcastle, Sydney and Canberra. For long-time fans who embraced ‘Kids In America’ on its original release and for a new generation discovering her catalogue through streaming and festival appearances, these shows offer a rare opportunity to experience one of Britain’s defining pop voices in an intimate theatre setting.
Kim Wilde’s connection with Australia has endured for more than four decades. The 2026 tour stands as another milestone in a career built on chart success, reinvention and an unmistakable voice that continues to resonate.
Kim Wilde November 2026 Australian Tour Dates
Wednesday 18th November, Perth, Astor Theatre
Friday 20th November, Brisbane, The Tivoli
Saturday 21st November, Melbourne, Palais Theatre
Sunday 22nd November, Geelong, Costa Hall
Tuesday 24th November, Adelaide, The Gov
Friday 27th November, Newcastle, Civic Theatre
Saturday 28th November, Sydney, Enmore Theatre
Sunday 29th November, Canberra, Canberra Theatre
Tickets:
Pre-sale, Wednesday 25th February @ 10:00 am AEDT
General Public On Sale, Thursday 26th February @ 10:00 am AEDT
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