Pride Single Stories: Kylie Minogue, “All The Lovers”

It’s Pride Month, an annual event which began as a way to memorialize the Stonewall Riots of 1969, but has evolved into an opportunity for a monthlong celebration of the world's LGBT communities and their freedom to be themselves. Here at Rhino, we’re using the month to celebrate some key songs which can regularly be heard during such celebrations, and today we’re spotlighting a track which was one of the final songs written for Kylie Minogue’s 2010 album APHRODITE and yet turned into the LP’s biggest hit single.

Written by Jim Eliot and Mima Stilwell, who also penned “2 Hearts” for Kylie, and produced by Eliot and Stuart Price (CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR), “All the Lovers” was specifically chosen by Kylie as the first single from the album. As she said in the press materials for APHRODITE at the time, “As I was recording it I knew that ‘All The Lovers’ had to be the first single; it sums up the euphoria of the album perfectly. It gives me goose-bumps, so I'm really excited to hear what everyone thinks of it."

Everyone loved it, of course: it hit #3 on the UK Singles chart, and it went on top the US Dance Singles chart. The BBC Chart blog wrote that “All the Lovers” offers a “dancing/crying/loving feeling...applied to everyone in a universal gesture of affection and regret,” making it decidedly unsurprising that it was immediately added to the playlists of many LGBTQ events.

Mind you, it’s also unsurprising because Kylie’s music has been a staple of LGBTQ events for virtually as long as she’s had a career. But who cares? Just listen, dance, and love it.