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Kate to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!

Well, it’s a case of fourth time lucky for Kate as she is officially announced today to be one of the seven music acts to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the USA along with Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine, Missy Elliott, Sheryl Crow, George Michael and the Spinners. Congratulations to Kate!

UPDATE: Kate has responded to the news on her official site:

I have to admit I’m completely shocked at the news of being inducted into the Hall of Fame!  It’s something I just never thought would happen.
   Thank you so much to everyone who voted for me. It means a great deal that you would think of me. It’s such a huge honour.
     Now as part of the initiation ceremony I get to find out about the secret handshake… there is one, right?

Kate

Eligible for nomination since 2004 (nominated artists must be at least 25 years into their careers), Kate had previously been nominated in 2018, 2021 and 2022 before finally being inducted this year, her massive US chart success last year perhaps making this inevitable.

These honorees will be celebrated in an induction ceremony and concert to take place November 3rd at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Obviously there is no word as of yet if Kate wishes to attend or perform at the ceremony. Hall of Fame president and chief executive Joel Peresman told Rolling Stone that he hoped Kate would perform at the induction ceremony: “We open that door. It’s up to her.” If she did perform, it would be her first live performance since her 2014 London concert residency, Before the Dawn. More about the Hall of Fame inductees here.

There are six more inductees beyond that list, with the distinction of being selected by a select Hall of Fame committee to join the seven performers who were voted in via general balloting. These are singer Chaka Khan, instrumentalist-producer Al Kooper and lyricist Bernie Taupin, all in the “musical excellence” category; pioneering rock guitarist Link Wray and hip-hop originator DJ Kool Herc in the “musical influence” division; and “Soul Train” TV host Don Cornelius as the recipient of the annual Ahmet Ertegun Award.

Kate’s Stranger Things scene is BAFTA nominated!

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts, BAFTA, have revealed the nominations for the inaugural P&O Cruises Memorable Moment Award, which honours “the impact of television in the UK and its power to entertain, inform and bring the nation together – looking back at key moments from 2022 that inspired and moved audiences at home”. It includes a nomination for that momentous scene from Stranger Things that featured Kate’s Running Up That Hill which went on to make the song the most massive worldwide hit of Kate’s career.

The six nominees are:

  • Derry Girls, Channel 4 – The Finale, the people of Northern Ireland vote overwhelmingly for peace
  • Heartstopper, Netflix – Nick and Charlie’s First Kiss
  • Platinum Jubilee: Party at the Palace, BBC One – Paddington Meets The Queen
  • Stranger Things, Netflix – Lucas, Dustin, and Steve rescue Max from the demonic Vecna by playing her favourite song – Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill
  • The Real Mo Farah, BBC One – Sir Mo Farah revealing he was illegally trafficked to the UK
  • The Traitors, BBC One  – The Final Roundtable

Members of the public can vote for their P&O Cruises Memorable Moment online via bafta.org/moment. Voting will close at midday on May 2, 2023 and the winner will be announced at the BAFTA Television Awards with P&O Cruises on May 14, 2023 on BBC One and iPlayer from 7pm.

Kate nominated for Ivor Novello Award!

Kate’s Running Up That Hill has been shortlisted for “Most Performed Song” at this year’s Ivor Novello Awards, after the song’s massive global success last year. As the BBC reports, the track is up against several contemporary hits including As It Was by Harry Styles, Heat Waves by Glass Animals and two tracks by Ed Sheeran – Bad Habits and Shivers. The award recognises the song that was played most often on TV and radio, and at concerts and DJ sets, over the last year. The awards, which are named after Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, will be handed out at a ceremony in London on Thursday, 18 May.

Running Up That Hill was previously nominated for best contemporary song at the 1986 Ivor Novello Awards, but lost out to Tina Turner’s We Don’t Need Another Hero. Kate has previously won two Ivor Novellos: Best lyric for The Man With The Child In His Eyes in 1979 and best song for Don’t Give Up, a duet with Peter Gabriel, in 1987. In 2002 Kate won an award from the Ivors for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. In September 2020 Kate became a fellow of the Ivors academy, receiving much praise from her peers in the music industry, the highest honour the awards can bestow.

How To Be Invisible paperback edition now out!

Kate’s book of lyrics, How To Be Invisible was published in a new paperback version last week and is now available in book shops across the UK and Ireland. A very limited amount of signed copies have also been sent out to those who managed to pre-order them from selected retailers in January. Publisher Faber have announced that they are “delighted that the paperback of Kate Bush’s How To Be Invisible has entered the charts this week as a Top Ten Sunday Times Bestseller

Kate’s new introduction is a lovely addition to this paperback edition. Replacing the original introduction to the 2018 hardback edition written by Kate’s friend and collaborator David Mitchell, Kate has now written a very personal five page piece about what her written words mean to her, remembering how she would crawl as child, under her father’s piano, and listen to him while he played, leading to her profound relationship with that special instrument and her songwriting. “I was extremely prolific when I was very young”. It’s a truly wonderful read, well worth the purchase alone.

Sunday Times Bestsellers April 16th 2023

It’s great to hear that so many fans are now reading her lyrics with new eyes, much as she had hoped herself. Kate references the process involved in creating the lyrics to songs like Cloudbusting, Mrs Bartolozzi and Snowflake while citing the influence of the likes of author Alan Garner, singer Frank Sinatra, The Trio Bulgarka and the band King Crimson on her wordcraft. She even reveals the roots of her very early composition The Man With The Child In His Eyes; a mystery man she recently met again who had no idea he was the subject she was “madly in love with” as a young teenager!

As announced, a very small number of those copies have invisible ink messages inscribed on the signed page from Kate – only visible under UV light. Secret messages from Kate include “Boo!”, “Now, You’ve Read Between the Lines”, “Can’t See The Words For The Trees?”, and “Now You Don’t, Now You See Me!” Special copies indeed!

RIP Ian Bairnson, guitarist 1953-2023

It was very sad to hear today that the wonderful Scottish guitarist, Ian Bairnson, has passed away after a long battle with dementia. The news was confirmed by a post on his wife Leila’s Facebook page. Ian played guitar on many tracks on Kate’s first two albums and also backing vocals on Oh To Be In Love and beer bottles on Room For The Life. Later he recorded bass voices on the song Delius and went on to play guitar on Leave it Open from The Dreaming album. He is probably best known to fans for his iconic guitar solo on Wuthering Heights which closes out Kate’s hit single. His stunning work on these songs will forever have a place in our hearts.

Update 21st April: Kate has added her thoughts on Ian’s passing on her official site:

Ian

I was very sad to hear the news about the death of Ian Bairnson. He was a very sweet man.
  He was a huge talent and had a fabulous voice with an extraordinary vocal range but he was mainly known for his guitar work.
     We lost touch after we worked together on my early albums but I remember he had a lovely, warm smile and he played the inspired solo on Wuthering Heights with a broken arm. He was still wearing the cast! He was in a lot of pain but soldiered on and like all great artists, he truly suffered for his art.
    Making my first album was pretty daunting and I was working with people I’d never met before. Ian was kind and supportive and that meant such a lot. Thank you, Ian.
              Kate

Ian Bairnson

He was a session guitarist before joining up in 1973 with former Bay City Rollers musicians David Paton and Billy Lyall in the band Pilot, and contributed the harmony guitar parts to their hit single, ‘Magic’. Ian was best known for being one of the core members of The Alan Parsons Project. A glittering career included work on over one hundred albums and a huge amount of live work with artists such as Al Stewart, Joe Cocker, Jon Anderson, Chris DeBurgh, Mick Fleetwood, Neil Diamond, Sting, Eric Clapton, Beverley Craven and many more.

Sending our sincere thoughts and condolences to his wife, family, friends and loved ones today.

New Podcast Episode – 25 Years of Katebushnews.com!

In January this year the katebushnews.com website turned 25 years old! In this episode of The Kate Bush Fan Podcast Seán celebrates this hard-to-believe milestone by asking some fan friends to cherry-pick their choice of news stories, both obscure and momentous, from the site archives which date back to 1998! An enjoyable, eclectic chat with guests Dave Cross, Paul Thomas and Darrell Babidge! Here’s links to the news stories that we chose from the archives:

You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or Spotify or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.

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Kate donates signed CD singles to charity auction!

Kate has signed copies of the Running Up That Hill CD single, issued in 2022

Kate has donated a number of signed Running Up That Hill CD singles to the annual Cabaret vs Cancer charity music auction. Cabaret vs Cancer was set up in 2016 and raises money through cabaret and burlesque shows as well as themed online auctions to help people coping with the effects of cancer. Kate has donated signed items for the previous two music auctions. Dave Cross from HomeGround Magazine is a patron of the charity, and last year organised a Kate themed cabaret fundraiser at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London. The music auction also includes signed items from Kim Wilde, Belinda Carlisle, The Pet Shop Boys, Stormzy, Taylor Swift, Joan Armatrading and many limited edition vinyl and CD collectibles. Please do check out the auction online here, a wonderful cause – thanks Dave!

The Kick Inside released 45 years ago today!

The seven variants of The Kick Inside sleeve, including the 1988 Swedish cassette variant! Photo: Monty Moncrieff

Today marks 45 years since the release of The Kick Inside, Kate’s brilliant debut record! It sounds as beguiling today as all those years ago. This album is a companion for life. Below you can hear Kate in 1978 talking about the songs on the album from the US “Self Portrait” radio special promotional disc.

As we celebrate, don’t forget our news archives have lots of features about this album and its legacy: like the time the entire album was played live by Cloudbusting for the 40th anniversary of the album when Del Palmer played Kate Bush songs on stage for the first time in decades…or this detailed look at the creation of the famous ‘Kite’ cover…don’t forget to listen to the recent BBC Radio feast of programming to mark the 45th anniversary…not to mention the many, many news features we have ran about the album’s worldwide hit single, Wuthering Heights! And do check out all those The Kick Inside collectibles

Czech coloured vinyl reissues of The Kick Inside. Photo: Monty Moncrieff
Seán Twomey www.katebushnews.com

Katebushnews.com is 25 years old today!

Site artwork by Brian Cloughley from 2007

It’s hard to believe, but on this day, 25 years ago, I launched the Kate Bush News & Information website on the 25th January 1998. I had no training in HTML or web design or photoshop (could you tell?!!) but I was driven by a need to put something on the web that I felt was sorely lacking at the time – a site that told the world that, despite a 5 year absence (at that point) Kate was still a contemporary and very influential artist and there was still PLENTY of Kate-related news to report and get excited about. Basically…I wanted to make a website that I could browse myself and enjoy (and weirdly I often found myself doing just that!) It was a different online world then – no Google, Facebook, Youtube or Twitter, and it was a lot of hard work gathering news and doing updates without the luxury of things like WordPress – it was a labour of love.

The News page of Kate Bush News & Information in 1998

Luckily the site rapidly gained in popularity and fans became very generous and helpful informing me of all kinds of news from all over the world. Five years later, in April 2003, I launched the site forum which became a thriving meeting place for all manner of discussion and debate among Kate fans. My friends in HomeGround even agreed to have their home here on the site and we have enjoyed many exclusive stories and announcements over the years – like when Kate wanted to tell her fans about her son’s birth through the site or when we were the first place anywhere in the world to officially announce the Aerial release after 12 long years between albums! More recently we’ve had the most extensive coverage anywhere of Kate’s massive global success with Running Up That Hill in the summer of 2022.

Wallpapers designed by Brian Cloughley celebrating our 5th anniversary in 2003

I’m very proud of the fact that this site is still the highest ranked dedicated Kate Bush site on Google searches for “Kate Bush” after Kate’s own official site. As we continue to do what we do, here on the main site and across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and on our Kate Bush Fan podcasts, I’d like to thank you all so much for all the support and goodwill you’ve shown this site over the last two and a half decades. Special thanks to Peter, Krys and Dave from HomeGround, to Paddy Bush, John Carder Bush and Del Palmer for their warm support, to Brian Cloughley for so much amazing graphic work over the years, to Paul and Darrell for their Bush Telegraph podcast series, to Mike Wade for steering the forum through all kinds of drama during the early years, and to my family and friends who must have often thought I was a bit mad. And of course to Kate for making the extraordinary music that has brought us all together. You’ve been great – THANKS! – Seán x

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The News page of Kate Bush News & Information in early 2005

Wuthering Heights – released 45 years ago today!

The one that started it all. Kate’s breathtaking debut single, Wuthering Heights, was released 45 years ago today on January 20th 1978! Music writer Sam Liddicott has put together a new podcast episode to celebrate. You can hear Seán talking about Wuthering Heights [Seán is at 1:02:15 but this special also includes DJ Mark Radcliffe, performer Sarah-Louise Young and the music writer Tom Doyle] Thanks, Sam!

Here is what Kate herself had to say about the song in a 1979 Kate Bush Fan Club newsletter:

Well, I wrote it in my flat, sitting at the upright piano one night in March at about midnight. There was a full moon and the curtains were open, and every time I looked up for ideas, I looked at the moon. Actually, it came quite easily. I couldn’t seem to get out of the chorus – it had a really circular feel to it, which is why it repeats. I had originally written something more complicated, but I couldn’t link it up, so I kept the first bit and repeated it. I was really pleased, because it was the first song I had written for a while, as I’d been busy rehearsing with the KT Band.


I felt a particular want to write it, and had wanted to write it for quite a while. I remember my brother John talking about the story, but I couldn’t relate to it enough. So I borrowed the book and read a few pages, picking out a few lines. So I actually wrote the song before I had read the book right through. The name Cathy helped, and made it easier to project my own feelings of want for someone so much that you hate them. I could understand how Cathy felt.


It’s funny, but I heard a radio programme about a woman who was writing a book in Old English, and she found she was using words she didn’t know, but when she looked them up she found they were correct. A similar thing happened with ‘Wuthering Heights’: I put lines in the song that I found in the book when I read it later.


I’ve never been to Wuthering Heights, the place, though I would like to, and someone sent me a photo of where it’s supposed to be.


One thing that really pleases me is the amount of positive feedback I’ve had from the song, though I’ve heard that the Bronte Society think it’s a disgrace. A lot of people have read the book because of the song and liked it, which I think is the best thing about it for me. I didn’t know the book would be on the GCE syllabus in the year I had the hit, but lots of people have written to say how the song helped them. I’m really happy about that.


There are a couple of synchronicities involved with the song. When Emily Bronte wrote the book she was in the terminal stages of consumption, and I had a bad cold when I wrote the song. Also, when I was in Canada I found out that Lindsay Kemp, my dance teacher, was in town, only ten minutes away by car, so I went to see him. When I came back I had this urge to switch on the TV – it was about one in the morning – because I knew the film of Wuthering Heights would be on. I tuned in to a thirties gangster film, then flicked through the channels, playing channel roulette, until I found it. I came in at the moment Cathy was dying, so that’s all I saw of the film. It was an amazing coincidence.

Kate bush 1979

This Woman’s Work featured in new Tom Hanks movie!

If you’re planning to go see the new Tom Hanks film, A Man Called Otto, listen out for Kate’s song This Woman’s Work which is used to score a big emotional set-piece in the film. Directed by Marc Foster, here is the film synopsis: “When a lively young family moves in next door, grumpy widower Otto Anderson meets his match in a quick-witted, pregnant woman named Marisol, leading to an unlikely friendship that turns his world upside down.” We are hearing that fans who have seen the film have been particularly moved by the sequence featuring Kate’s classic song.

Massive Running Up That Hill success reflected in year end charts!

New 2022 CD single available exclusively from Rhino Records here

As 2022 draws to a close, various charts and sites have been looking back at the big selling singles and tracks this year and we are reminded once again of the breathtaking success of what is now Kate’s biggest ever global hit single – Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God). Just to remind ourselves, Kate had the biggest song in the world on the official global charts for three weeks this summer, and so, so much more No.1 success around the world which also included her triumphant 3-week return to the top of the UK singles charts and her biggest ever hit in the USA. The Ringer has recently described it as the most important song of the year and “the song that dominated the zeitgeist more than any other in 2022” calling it “a genuine sensation that people inside the industry and out couldn’t stop talking about.” Google year end search results have Kate as one of the most searched terms in music for 2022. On the music search app, Shazam, Running Up That Hill was the 12th most searched for song of 2022 globally.

Spotify 2022 throwback songs Top 5

Kate has placed at No.18 on the Billboard Global 200 for the year, meaning she had one of the biggest selling singles in the whole world this year. She also places at No.23 in the US Billboard Hot 100 for all of 2022. Kate could well also place in the Top 10 of 2022 on the UK Official chart when those figures are released. On the world’s largest streaming music service, Spotify, Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) was the 10th most-played song for the whole year AND the No.1 “throwback” song globally (defined by Spotify as songs originally released over 20 years ago). Kate’s song saw a 8,700% increase in Spotify streams this year, and currently has been streamed over 820 million times. In the UK it was the 4th most streamed track of 2022 on Spotify, and the 8th most streamed song on Spotify USA. The music video has been viewed over 150 MILLION times on Youtube.

Spotify 2022 throwback albums Top 5

On the video streaming platform, Tiktok, where Kate has a huge following among younger site users, Running Up That Hill was in the Top 10 most popular songs in both the US and the UK for all of 2022. And look out for a (groan worthy) joke about Kate in Christmas crackers if this Top Ten of topical 2022 jokes is to be believed!

To hear the full story of Kate’s incredible year, the charts, the No.1s, the world records, the media reaction, the excitement, Kate’s own reactions and much more, don’t miss our podcast episode on The Summer of Kate here!!

New podcast – The Dreaming Part 2 – Teri Reed interview!

Teri Reed
Teri Reed, Engineer on The Dreaming album

In this new Kate Bush Fan Podcast episode, Bush Telegraph duo (Darrell in the States and Paul in the UK) continue to discuss Kate’s fourth album The Dreaming, in their second installment celebrating the 40th anniversary of this iconic album. As school friends, they bought the album on the day of its release, and the next day met Kate at the album signing in London. We hear more snippets of their experiences in 1982, but the major part of this podcast is Darrell’s interview with Teri Reed, senior engineer at Odyssey Studios. Teri talks about his collaboration with Kate, as Odyssey was one of the studios she used for The Dreaming. We find out, not surprisingly, what a generous and warm colleague she was, as well as the extraordinary levels she went to, to get the right sound for a track. For example, why was Teri coaxed into a car park to find a specific sound she needed? All will be revealed. That, and a whole lot more. The final and third episode to follow will be an interview with Nick Launay, another collaborator with Kate. Enjoy!    

You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or Spotify or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.

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Happy 70th Birthday, Del Palmer!

Photo by Edward Quant – Del playing his “Egly” bass at the Belfast Empire, Nov 25th 2018

Today we wish our friend, Del Palmer, a very happy birthday as he celebrates his 70th! We hope you know how much you are loved and respected by all the fans, Del, and how thrilled we are for the success you shared in this year with Running Up That Hill taking over the world – you can be so proud of your work with Kate, truly astounding.

With love and hugs from, Seán, Krys, Peter and Dave xxx

New Kate Bush Fan Podcast: The Summer of Kate!

In this detailed new episode of The Kate Bush Fan Podcast Seán packs an hour looking back over all the amazing landmark events of Summer 2022 when Kate’s song Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) was featured on Stranger Things and became her biggest ever global smash hit – all the summer chart news, the reaction from Kate, the media and the fans! A souvenir of an extraordinary few months.

You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or Spotify or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.

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