Kim Wilde has revealed that touring with Michael Jackson left her questioning her future in the music industry.
The Kids in America singer, who became one of the biggest pop stars of the 1980s, made a confession that as she witnessed Jackson's extreme fame showed her the pitfalls that come with worldwide celebrity.
"Touring with Michael Jackson in 1988 made me realise how frightening extreme fame is," Wilde told the i newspaper.
She went on to share, "It forces you to live inside, in a gilded cage. I saw how isolated he had become, so I felt very grateful I was the support act and still had all the fun."
The tour proved to be a defining chapter for the singer, who later amassed 25 UK Top 50 singles and emerged as the decade's most-charted female artist.
"I got to travel, then go home and have a life - get my groceries without a bodyguard," she said, before adding, "That tour experience was the beginning of me thinking about leaving the music industry and finding another world."
Wilde's comments come as Netflix's three-part documentary Michael Jackson: The Verdict revisits his 2005 trial, in which he denied allegations of child molestation and was acquitted on all counts.
The 65-year-old singer said fame never came as a shock, having grown up around celebrity as the daughter of Marty Wilde.
Notably, the release of Kids in America in 1981 transformed Kim Wilde’s life, taking her from living at home to touring globally.
