The famously hard working pop singer Kylie Minogue is celebrating her 40th birthday today by taking a day off.

View a slide show of Kylie's career

The diminutive chart-topper performed in Cologne, Germany last night and will be back on stage in Munich tomorrow, but will spend today with her family.

The Australian singer, touring Europe to promote her latest album X, will be joined by her X Factor judge sister, Dannii, in Germany. Her parents, Ron and Carol, are flying in from Australia.

Last week, she booked a three-story hotel in Athens, Greece and threw a birthday party for 100 guests.

A long-time sex symbol, Minogue recently insisted she was not afraid of ageing: "I'm not scared of turning 40. I think it's going to be quite liberating.”

The London-based performer has spent more than two decades in the public eye, after first finding fame on Australian soap Neighbours. Her tomboy character Charlene remains one of the long-running show’s all-time most popular personalities.

She launched her music career in 1987 scoring an Australian No. 1 with her first single Locomotion and hitting the top of the UK charts the same year with I Should Be So Lucky.

In the intervening years, she has racked up five UK No. 1 albums and a total of seven No. 1 singles – making her the second most successful female solo artist of all time, after Madonna.

Her latest album, X, is her first since she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005.

In 2007, Minogue was awarded an OBE, and last month, France awarded her the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.

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