Kate Bush

• 1. A Squeaky Kiai In A Barn

  ›

  Kate Bush was born on the 30th of July 1958 at a maternity hospital in Bexleyheath, Kent. Her father Robert Bush worked as an English doctor and her mother Hannah Patricia Daly served as an Irish staff nurse. She grew up with two elder brothers named John and Paddy inside a former farmhouse that stood for over three hundred fifty years near Welling. The family home featured a barn behind it where she played the organ and studied the violin. Bush trained at Goldsmiths College karate club where her brother John taught instruction. There she earned the nickname Ee-ee because of her squeaky kiai during practice sessions. Her family background included amateur traditional Irish dancing from her mother and amateur piano playing from her father. Both brothers participated in the local folk music scene while Paddy later became a musical instrument maker. Bush began writing songs when she reached the age of eleven. She taught herself to play the piano without formal lessons before composing lyrics.

• 2. The First Number One Hit

  ›

  David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped finance a demo tape after receiving it through mutual friend Ricky Hopper. The British record industry faced stagnation while progressive rock remained popular among listeners. EMI executive Terry Slater signed Bush after reviewing the professional recording produced by Andrew Powell and Geoff Emerick. The 16-year-old artist received a large advance from the label to fund her early career development. Her debut album The Kick Inside released in 1978 when she was nineteen years old. It contained songs written as young as thirteen including the track Wuthering Heights. EMI originally wanted James and the Cold Gun to be her debut single instead. Bush insisted on releasing Wuthering Heights which topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. This achievement made her the first female artist to reach number one with a fully self-written song. The album sold over a million copies within the United Kingdom alone. A music video featuring her dancing in a grassy area on Salisbury Plain accompanied the release. Another version showed her performing in a dark room filled with mist while wearing a white dress. The song became an international hit that reached number eighty-five on the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1979.

• 3. The Fairlight Cmi And The Dreaming

  ›

  Bush introduced herself to synthesizer technology while providing backing vocals on Peter Gabriel's third album in early 1980. She began using the Fairlight CMI sampler to manipulate sounds and expand her sonic palette significantly. Never for Ever released in September 1980 marked her first album to feature synthesisers and drum machines. The record reached the top position in the UK album charts making her the first female British artist to achieve that status. The Dreaming arrived in September 1982 as the first album she produced entirely by herself. Critics described the dense soundscapes as baffling and less accessible than previous works. The album entered the UK chart at number three but remains her lowest-selling release to date. It garnered only a silver disc despite entering the US Billboard 200 chart at number one hundred fifty-seven. Sat in Your Lap served as the first single from the album peaking at number eleven in the UK. The title track featuring Rolf Harris and Percy Edwards stalled at number forty-eight. There Goes A Tenner reached only number ninety-three despite heavy promotion from EMI and Bush. She drew inspiration from old crime films for some tracks and documentary footage about the Vietnam War for others.

• 4. Twelve Years Of Silence

  ›

  After releasing The Red Shoes in November 1993 Bush dropped out of public view completely. She originally intended to take just one year off before returning to recording studios. Twelve years passed without any new album releases while rumors circulated about her health or appearance. In 1998 she gave birth to Albert known as Bertie fathered by guitarist Dan McIntosh whom she met in 1992. Her eighth studio album Aerial arrived on double CD and vinyl in November 2005 after the long absence. King of the Mountain premiered on BBC Radio 2 on the 1st of September 2005 becoming her third-highest-charting single ever. The album entered the UK albums chart at number three and the US chart at number forty-eight. A Sea of Honey formed the first disc containing unrelated themed songs including an ode to her son named Bertie. The second disc subtitled A Sky of Honey described twenty-four hours passing by through continuous music. Bush sang one hundred seventeen digits of the number pi within a track titled Pi. The press often viewed her as an eccentric recluse sometimes comparing her to Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. She denied being a perfectionist during interviews stating that flaws make art interesting.

• 5. The Hammersmith Apollo Residency

  ›

  Before the Dawn announced itself in March 2014 as Bush's first live concerts in decades. The residency ran for twenty-two nights from August 26th to the 1st of October 2014 at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. Tickets sold out completely within fifteen minutes of going on sale. The concerts received universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike. An album of recordings from the events released on the 25th of November 2016 under the same title. Bush became the first female performer to have eight albums in the UK Top 40 Albums Chart simultaneously. This achievement placed her third behind Elvis Presley who held twelve entries after his death in 1977. The Beatles had eleven entries in 2009 while she maintained eleven albums in the top fifty. Her set list encompassed most of Hounds of Love featuring the entire Ninth Wave suite. It included songs from Aerial covering the entire An Endless Sky of Honey suite plus new material called Tawny Moon. Two tracks came from The Red Shoes and one song originated from 50 Words for Snow. She performed with a band including members like Del Palmer and Stuart Elliott throughout the run.

• 6. Stranger Things And Chart Records

  ›

  Running Up That Hill gained newfound popularity in May 2022 after appearing in the fourth season of Stranger Things. Winona Ryder played Joyce Byers and pushed for the song to be included in the show's plot. She stated she had been obsessed with Kate Bush since childhood and wore her t-shirts on set for seven years. The track became the most streamed song globally across multiple countries including the United States and Australia. On the 10th of June 2022 it reached number two on the UK singles chart surpassing its original peak from 1985. The Chart Supervisory Committee granted an exemption from accelerated chart ratio rules due to ongoing sales resurgence. By June 17th the song hit number one making it Bush's second UK number one single overall. This broke three UK chart records including the longest period taken to reach number one at forty-four years. She surpassed Tom Jones's previous record gap between number ones by two years. Bush replaced Cher as the oldest female solo chart-topping artist at sixty-three years and eleven months old. Running Up That Hill re-entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number eight climbing to number three by July 25th.