Kylie Minogue to tour North America for the first time

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Australian Pop icon Kylie Minogue is to tour North America for the first time in her glittering 20-year career, organizers announced Wednesday.

The pint-sized singer will kick off a six-city concert tour in Oakland, California on September 30 before further dates in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto and New York.

Minogue, 40, has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide during her career and has had a slew of number one hits on Billboard's US dance chart, including the Grammy-award winning "Come Into My World."

"I've wanted to tour in America and Canada for years and know that fans have been waiting a long time for this," Minogue said in a statement. "I'm thrilled that the opportunity has finally arrived."

As well as her native Australia, Minogue has enjoyed huge success in Britain, where she launched her singing career in the 1980s after rising to fame in the soap opera "Neighbors."

Minogue, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, was last year honored by Britain, becoming an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Last May, France awarded the star its highest cultural honor, the Order of Arts and Letters, and she was praised by the country's culture minister for her public battle against cancer that had inspired women to regular checks.