Madonna sends her best wishes to Kylie

Madonna has revealed she is praying for Kylie Minogue, while the Melbourne-born pop singer battles breast cancer. “I think about her all the time,” Madonna said. “She’s always in my prayers.”

Madonna’s mother, Madonna Louise Ciccone snr, died of breast cancer when the singer was a child. The reigning queen of music, now 47, said she had thought about writing personally to Minogue, but had not yet found out the best way to contact her in France.

“I keep meaning to write her letters, but I don’t know how to get in touch. Obviously there’s a way to,” Madonna said. “(But) I do wish her all the best.”

The singer said she believed in Minogue’s fighting spirit. “I think that she’s a tough cookie and I think she’s going to be all right,” she said. Madonna’s candid comments about Minogue came during a visit last week to Japan, where she was promoting her new album.

Madonna’s association with Minogue stretches back a number of years. Minogue has always named Madonna as a role model. Madonna, who enjoys supporting younger artists, famously showed her interest in Minogue’s career by wearing a “Kylie” T-shirt on stage. The outfit started something of a trend for slogan T-shirts among some of the world’s biggest artists.

Both women are among the few musicians in the world to have No. 1 hits in three separate decades.

It is unlikely Minogue will be able to return to Melbourne for Christmas, as she had hoped, because of continuing treatment in France. But she plans to release a Christmas single via digital download – a cover version of the classic Somewhere over the Rainbow, recorded during a live performance in London.

From an article by Christine Sams, The Age