Kim Wilde

She was born as Kim Smith in the West London suburb of Chiswick, the eldest child of 1950s rock and roller Marty Wilde (birth name Reginald Smith) and Joyce Baker, who had been a member of the singing and dancing group the Vernons Girls.

She attended Oakfield Preparatory School, in the Southeast London area of Dulwich.

When she was nine, the family moved to Hertfordshire, where she was educated at Tewin and later Presdales School.

Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer.

She holds the record for being the most-charted British female solo act of the 1980s, with seventeen UK Top 40 hit singles.

In 1980, at age 20, she completed a foundation course at St Albans College of Art & Design.

As Kim Wilde, she was signed to RAK Records by Mickie Most.

Wilde's father Marty and brother, Ricky, were responsible for writing virtually all of her material in the early-to-mid 1980s.

Key influences on the songwriting process included Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), Ultravox, John Foxx, Gary Numan, Skids, Sex Pistols, the Clash, Kraftwerk and the Stranglers.

The video for this song appeared in an episode of the 1980s TV hit Knight Rider in 1985.

She first saw success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which peaked at No. 2 in the UK.

Between 1981 and 1996, she had 25 singles that charted within the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart.

Her other hits include "Chequered Love" (1981), "You Came" (1988), and "Never Trust a Stranger" (1988).

Wilde released her debut single "Kids in America" in January 1981.

An instant success, it reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart and scaled the Top 5 in other countries such as Germany, France and Australia.

Her debut studio album Kim Wilde (1981) repeated the success of the single, spawning two further hits in "Chequered Love" (Top 5 in the UK, France, Australia and Germany) and the UK-only single "Water on Glass" (UK No. 11).

Although it achieved only moderate success in the US, peaking at No. 25 when released in 1982, it is often regarded today as Wilde's signature song.

Wilde's follow-up album was 1982's Select, led by the hit singles "Cambodia" and "View from a Bridge".

Both were No. 1 hits in France and reached Top 10 positions in Germany and Australia.

At the time, there was some controversy about Wilde's hesitation to do live concerts.

Her first concerts in September 1982 took place in Denmark, before embarking on a UK-wide tour in October.

In 1983, she received the Brit Award for Best British Female solo artist.

Wilde's third studio album, Catch as Catch Can (1983) was a relative commercial failure.

The first single from the album, "Love Blonde", was another success in France and Scandinavia, but failed to have major success in other countries.

Meanwhile, she had embarked on three European concert tours (1983, 1985 and 1986).

The failure of the album led to her leaving RAK and signing with MCA Records in the summer of 1984.

Wilde's first album for MCA Teases & Dares (1984) was again overlooked in her home country, but fared better in Germany, France and Scandinavia as well as scoring another German Top 10 single with "The Second Time" (which was Top 30 in the UK).

The second single, "The Touch", was not a commercial success, but the third single, the rockabilly "Rage to Love", made the UK top 20 in 1985.

On Teases & Dares, Wilde made her first songwriting contributions, penning two songs.

In 1986, she had a UK No. 2 hit with a reworked version of the Supremes' song "You Keep Me Hangin' On", which also topped the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1987.

On her fifth studio album, 1986's Another Step, Wilde wrote or co-wrote most of the songs.

The album's lead single "Schoolgirl" flopped in Europe and Australia, but Wilde's fortunes improved in spectacular fashion with the album's second single, a Hi-NRG remake of the Supremes classic "You Keep Me Hangin' On".

After topping the charts in Australia and Canada and peaking at No. 2 in the UK, it became a US No. 1 single in 1987.

With that hit, she became the fifth UK female solo artist ever to top the US Hot 100, following Petula Clark, Lulu, Sheena Easton, and Bonnie Tyler.

Her popularity, especially in her native UK, was revitalised and she scored further Top 10 hits in 1987 with "Another Step (Closer to You)" (recorded with Junior) and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (a Comic Relief charity single, recorded with comedian Mel Smith).

In 1988, Wilde released her biggest selling album to date, Close, which returned her to the UK top 10 and spent almost eight months on the UK album chart.

It produced four major European hits: "Hey Mister Heartache", "You Came", "Never Trust a Stranger" and "Four Letter Word" (the last 3 were Top 10 hits in the UK).

Starting in 1998, while still active in music, she has branched into an alternative career as a landscape gardener, which has included presenting gardening shows on the BBC and Channel 4.

In 2003, she collaborated with Nena on the song "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime", which topped the Dutch and Austrian charts.

In 2005, she won a Gold award for her courtyard garden at the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show.