[49] In a review of the album Kylie for AllMusic, Chris True described the tunes as "standard, late-80s ... bubblegum", but added, "her cuteness makes these rather vapid tracks bearable".

[57] Unhappy with her level of creative input on her first two albums, Minogue worked with her manager Terry Blamey and her Australian label Mushroom Records to force a change in her relationship with SAW, and to push for a more mature sound.

Macias also pointed out that the album "showcases the beginning of Minogue's career as a pop icon, propelled by her angelic vocals, sensual music videos, chic fashion, and distinct dance sound.

[52] Nick Levine of Digital Spy labelled the album "lacking a moment of pure pop brilliance to match her [Minogue's] previously released singles.

[75] Director Steven E. de Souza saw her cover photo in Australia's Who Magazine as one of "The 30 Most Beautiful People in the World" and offered her a role opposite Belgian actor Jean-Claude Van Damme in the film Street Fighter.

[76] The film was a moderate success, earning US$70 million in the U.S. box-office,[76] and received "poor" reviews, with The Washington Post's Richard Harrington calling Minogue "the worst actress in the English-speaking world".

[82] The music video for the song was inspired by John Everett Millais's painting Ophelia (1851–52), and showed Minogue as the murdered woman, floating in a pond as a serpent swam over her body.

[88] The album featured collaborations with musicians including James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore of the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers.

[91] Acknowledging Minogue had attempted to escape the perceptions of her that had developed during her early career, she commented she was ready to "forget the painful criticism" and "accept the past, embrace it, use it".

[145] She also performed a mashup of "Can't Get You Out of My Head" and New Order's "Blue Monday" at the show, which was named one of the "50 key events in the history of dance music" by The Guardian.

[149] In November 2003, Minogue released her ninth studio album, Body Language, following an invitation-only concert titled Money Can't Buy, at the Hammersmith Apollo in London.

[199] She performed at events such as Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Concert and BBC Proms in the Park London 2012.

[204] Andy Gill of The Independent called it "a more traditional makeover, an attempt to give a more elegant lustre to callow pop kitsch, usually by slowing the song down and loading on strings.

"[243] The album led several more singles such as "Stop Me from Falling", the title track "Golden", "A Lifetime to Repair" and "Music's Too Sad Without You" featuring English singer Jack Savoretti.

[250] In June 2019, Minogue released the greatest hits compilation album Step Back in Time: The Definitive Collection, featuring "New York City" as the lead single.

[253][254] In the same month, she embarked on her Summer 2019 tour, which included her debut performance at the Glastonbury Festival – fourteen years after her breast cancer diagnosis forced her to cancel her 2005 headlining slot.

[281] Featuring works from British record producer Lostboy, singer-songwriter Kamille, Dutch DJ Oliver Heldens, and previous collaborators Richard Stannard, Duck Blackwell,and Jon Green; Minogue described the album as "a blend of personal reflection, club abandon and melancholic high".

[282] Hannah Mylrea of Rolling Stone UK claimed it as "brilliantly good fun and soaring pop music, with a huge amount of heart that brings big emotions to the dancefloor, much like its creator.

Chris True from AllMusic, reviewed her debut album, Kylie and found her music "standard late-'80s Stock-Aitken-Waterman bubblegum", however he stated she presented the most personality of any 1980s recording artist.

Chris True stated during her relationship with Australian singer-actor Michael Hutchence, "her shedding of the near-virginal façade that dominated her first two albums, began to have an effect, not only on how the press and her fans treated her, but in the evolution of her music.

Chris True of AllMusic stated the album is a "remarkable change from Minogue's previous teen pop material" and the "start of a second phase" in her music career.

"[318] Tim Sendra of AllMusic said her eleventh album, Aphrodite, "rarely strays past sweet love songs or happy dance anthems" and "the main sound is the kind of glittery disco-pop that really is her strong suit."

[321] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine wrote "Golden further bolsters Minogue's reputation for taking risks—and artfully sets the stage for her inevitable disco comeback.

[323] Minogue's efforts to be taken seriously as a recording artist were initially hindered by the perception she had not "paid her dues" and was no more than a manufactured pop star exploiting the image she had created during her stint on the soap opera Neighbours.

"[334] Kathy McCabe for The Telegraph noted Minogue and Madonna follow similar styles in music and fashion,[334] but concluded, "Where they truly diverge on the pop-culture scale is in shock value.

"[340] In June 2023, Barbara Ellen of The Guardian commented "modesty, likeability and vulnerability have aided Minogue enduring appeal", 36 years after the 1987 single "I Should Be So Lucky" was released.

[343][344] Author Constantine Chatzipapatheodoridis wrote about Minogue's appeal to gay men in Strike a Pose, Forever: The Legacy of Vogue... and observed she "frequently incorporates camp-inflected themes in her extravaganzas, drawing mainly from the disco scene, the S/M culture, and the burlesque stage.

[350][351] In 2012, Dino Scatena of The Sydney Morning Herald wrote about Minogue: "A quarter of a century ago, a sequence of symbiotic events altered the fabric of Australian popular culture and set in motion the transformation of a 19-year-old soap actor from Melbourne into an international pop icon."

[362] Minogue's work has influenced pop and dance artists including Olly Alexander,[363] Melanie C,[364] Alice Chater,[351] Ricki-Lee Coulter,[360] Paris Hilton,[365] Dua Lipa,[351][366] Kim Petras,[351] Rina Sawayama,[367] September,[368] Slayyyter,[369][370] The Veronicas,[371] Diana Vickers,[372] Pabllo Vittar,[373] and Jessie Ware.

[406] Her hospitalisation and treatment in Melbourne resulted in a brief but intense period of media coverage, particularly in Australia, where then Prime Minister John Howard issued a statement of support.