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Latest Official News

Kate wrote and recorded a new song, 'Lyra' which was featured as part of the soundtrack to the major fantasy film The Golden Compass, released December 7th 2007. Kate's new double album AERIAL was released to fantastic reviews on November 7th 2005 and entered the UK album chart at number 3, and the European chart at number 2. Kate's single KING OF THE MOUNTAIN was released on October 24th 2005 and reached number 4 in the UK singles chart. Both the single and album were produced by Kate. Aerial was nominated for Best British Album at the 2006 Brit Awards, Kate was also nominated for Best British Female Solo Artist. Kate says: "I'm so pleased with everyone's work on this record. There are some lovely performances and I hope you will all feel it's been worth the wait. Bertie keeps me very busy, he is so much fun". Contributors to the new album include drummer Stuart Elliott, jazz percussionist Peter Erskine, John Giblin, Eberhard Weber and Bosco D’Oliveira. Paddy Bush and Lol Creme provide vocals. The late Michael Kamen wrote the string arrangements for two tracks which will appear on the new album - Kate recorded what she has described as "some beautiful orchestral movements" with him and the London Metropolitan Orchestra at Abbey Road in October 2003. Chris Hall plays accordion on one track. Del Palmer engineered.

On May 23rd 2002 Kate received the Ivor Novello award for Outstanding Contribution To British Music By A Songwriter. Kate appeared live for the first time in almost 15 years singing Comfortably Numb as David Gilmour's special guest at his Royal Festival Hall concert on January 18th 2002. Kate won the Best Classic Songwriter award at the 12th Annual Q Magazine awards on 29th October 2001. In an interview in December 2001 a happy Kate talked about progress on the new album and her happiness with her son Bertie. After receiving a standing ovation at the Q Awards she said: "This is just great, I am making an album but it is just taking a little longer than I thought and I have been having a great time with my son." We warmly congratulate Kate on all the recent awards and recognition from her industry peers! The very latest news is gathered at our forum's buzzing Medialog section here.

 

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The very latest news is gathered at our forum's buzzing Medialog section here.

15th June 2009: A brief write-up from Irish newspaper The Evening Herald about The Sensual Walk on Saturday is here. Thanks to everyone who took part - a great day as always!

Walpurgis Family (Jeroen Saegeman) performing 'Pull out the Pin' up on Howth Head, as part of The Sensual Walk, June 13th 2009

Legendary 'Kate' BBC Special from 1979 to air on BBC4 Sunday April 26th

18th April 2009: Digital channel BBC4 will be screening the full special that Kate made for the BBC in 1979 on Sunday April 26th at 00:10. The 1979 Christmas special features Kate performing Gymnopedie No 1, Symphony in Blue, Them Heavy People, Madrigal, December, Wedding List, Egypt, Waltz/Why Did I Ever Go Marry Her, Man with the Child in His Eyes and Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake. Guest star Peter Gabriel sings Here Comes the Flood and duets with Kate on Another Day. This seems to be part of an evening of specials devoted to the "Queens of British Pop" featured in the recent BBC documentary.

1st April 2009: Rolf Harris was interviewed by Ken Bruce on BBC Radio 2 on Monday 30th March (his 79th birthday!) and while explaining that he keeps very active and continues to paint he is also "...still recording...I'm trying to get a recording together with Kate Bush at the moment. I've done a couple of bits on albums that she's done, and she's so lovely...she's so shy and so quiet and keeps out of the limelight, but what a talent." Rolf has previously contributed to Kate's tracks The Dreaming, An Architect's Dream and The Painter's Link. UPDATE: WATCH THE KATE SEGMENT FROM THE BBC DOCUMENTARY IN OUR YOUTUBE THEATRE ABOVE (THANKS TO ZOUNDS)

Documentary - view clips and vote at BBC site

31st March 2009: The BBC site has been updated with interview clips (including Del Palmer, John Carder Bush, Peter Gabriel, John Lydon, Anthony Van Laast and Mark Radcliffe all talking about Kate) from Wednesday night's upcoming documentary "Queens of British Pop" here. And in conjunction with this two-part programme, the BBC are asking site visitors to vote on "your favourite Queen of British Pop" - read more here.

31st March 2009: A nice new article which includes the story of his meeting with Kate in 2005 by BBC DJ Mark Radcliffe has been published in The Daily Mail here. The article also recalls his meetings with David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Madonna and Kylie Minogue. The transcript of the radio interview with Kate to which he refers can be found on Gaffaweb here.

31st March 2009: This year I'm again organising the very enjoyable Sensual Walk gathering for fans and friends in Howth, Dublin, Ireland on Saturday June 13th 2009. I'm posting details for this event on this forum thread here. Please don't hesitate to email me if you are interested in joining us or if you have any other questions, I'll be happy to help you out. Hope to see some of you on the hill! Sean T :)

"Queens of British Pop" BBC1 documentary airs 1st April

'Oh Johnny it sounds like a bag of cats!'
John Lydon's mum on Kate Bush (Queens Of British Pop, BBC1)

27th March 2009: As previously reported Kate will be one of the subjects of a major 2-part arts documentary by Dione Newton that celebrates Britain's most admired female singers from the Sixties to present day. Kate will be featured in the first of two programmes airing April 1st BBC1 at 22.45 (except BBC1 Northern Ireland 23.25 and BBC1 Scotland 23.35). Del Palmer has been interviewed for this programme. The Radio Times preview the programme: "There are no surprises in this cheery canter through a roster of British pop queens from the 1970s and 80s, but there are some good old clips and some pretty high-quality talking heads." David Chater in The Times calls it "an engrossing compilation of fresh insight and cheerful nostalgia". From the BBC: "Queens of British Pop and narrator Liza Tarbuck offer a celebration of 6 female pop stars, singers and icons that lit us up from the early 60s to the late 70s. Programme 1 tells the story of Dusty Springfield, Sandie Shaw, Marianne Faithfull, Suzi Quatro, Siouxsie Sioux and Kate Bush - some of the female artists that emerged alongside some of Britain's defining musical movements, from the Swinging Sixties through to glam rock and punk. We give an insight into the lives of these top female artists, offering first-hand or eyewitness accounts of the highs, the lows and the obstacles they had to overcome. Our selected artists have pushed boundaries, played around with gender roles and had their private lives overshadow their success, but it is their experiences that have helped change the face of British pop as we know it today. Includes new interviews with Sandie Shaw, Marianne Faithfull, Suzi Quatro, Siouxsie Sioux and contributions from Tom Jones, Lulu, Burt Bacharach, John Lydon, Martha Reeves, Nancy Sinatra, Mark Radcliffe, Henry Winkler, Marc Almond, Peter Gabriel, Claire Grogan, Jarvis Cocker, Kiki Dee, Nigel Havers, Lily Allen and Adele, to name but a few. The second show takes viewers from the early Eighties to the present day, completing the odyssey by looking at the impact made by Annie Lennox, Alison Moyet, Kylie Minogue, Geri Halliwell, Amy Winehouse and Leona Lewis." (thanks to Greg Gilligan and Thomas Pilcher)

Guess who's been in her studio recently?

17th January 2009: With the great recent coverage in The Word magazine and the upcoming BBC documentary I couldn't resist sharing with you that Del Palmer posted on his Myspace last week that he was in the studio with "you-know-who." Obviously we can't read tooooo much into this but we'd be kidding ourselves if he didn't mean Kate was working (as now expected) on follow-up material to her Aerial album. Wonderful news. We are older and wiser now and don't expect any new music shortly, but can only smile contentedly and send out our wishes that fun is had in the studio yet again.

Kate included in major BBC1 documentary this Spring

7th January 2009: Kate will be one of the subjects of a major 2-part arts documentary that celebrates Britain's most admired female singers from the Sixties to present day, currently scheduled to transmit on primetime BBC1 in Spring '09. Also featured will be Dusty Springfield, Annie Lennox and others. Del Palmer is to be interviewed for the documentary in the coming week and apparently David Gilmour, Tori Amos, Alison Goldfrapp, Mark Radcliffe, Andrew Powell and John Carder Bush have all been approached to talk about Kate. On his Myspace Del reveals that the BBC will ask him about her unique songwriting style, her creativity in the studio and the songs which have inspired so many musicians. With thanks to Del for this news, read more at his Myspace page here. UPDATE: The documentary is expected to air in March 2009.

Kate Featured in latest edition of Word Magazine

7th January 2009: Hoping you all had a great Christmas and are having a good 2009! We've been miserable with chesty coughs and flus around here - ah well. Here's a bit of Katyness to brighten up your January - Kate is featured on the cover (an old photo) of the new edition of Word Magazine and inside the magazine is a 10 page feature with classic interviews. Word is an always-excellent music and culture magazine, I was wondering when they'd get around to featuring Kate. The February issue is out now. Thanks to Justin P Huntley for the news. Read more at the mags site here.

'Hounds of Love' Tribute Band to Tour UK in early 2009

21st December 2008: With their Youtube video clips generating a positive buzz among fans, 'Hounds of Love', the tribute band, are to tour the UK over the next few months. This is an opportunity to hear Kate's music played live by people with a genuine respect and feel for the material. The shows aren't meant to be a pastiche or cabaret act. A six-piece band fronted by singer Josie Mills from York, they communicate Kate's songs with impressive passionate sympathy. Their set includes Wow, The Big Sky, Running Up That Hill, Man With The Child In Eyes, Cloudbusting, And So Is Love, Them Heavy People, Babooshka, Hounds Of Love, James and the Cold Gun, Rubberband Girl and Wuthering Heights. Read more about the band, watch and listen to clips and find out more info on the tour dates here: http://www.myspace.com/thehoundsofloveband

Inquirys about the band or venues interested in booking them should email Richard here.  

17 Jan 2009 20:00 The Square and Compass Ilminster, Southwest
23 Jan 2009 20:00 The Old Market Brighton & Hove, South
29 Jan 2009 20:00 The Robin Wolverhampton, Midlands
30 Jan 2009 20:00 The Brook Southampton, South
13 Feb 2009 21:00 The Fleece and Firkin Bristol
14 Feb 2009 20:00 The Met Theatre Bury, Northwest
07 Mar 2009 20:00 The Picturedrome Holmfirth, Northeast
13 Mar 2009 20:00 Tavistock Wharf Tavistock, Southwest
14 Mar 2009 20:00 Falmouth Pavilion Falmouth, Southwest
26 Mar 2009 20:00 The Stables Milton Keynes, London and South East
16 Apr 2009 20:00 Memorial Hall Sheffield, Northeast

HomeGround - The Book, out next year!!

19th November 2008: Very exciting news for absolutely anyone with an interest in Kate's music and career - it's time to prepare a space on your bookshelf for something extremely special indeed. HomeGround 1982-2009 - An Anthology of the Best of the Kate Bush Magazine will be published by Crescent Moon Publishing in time for Christmas 2009. This will be an A4 sized hardback book (see dummy cover impression above) of some 600 pages which will feature a selection of the best of the writing, artwork, and photographs that have appeared in HomeGround over 27 years. The HomeGround editors are raring to go and intend to begin preliminary work in the next few weeks, with the principal work being done in the first half of next year, so that the book would be published in time for Christmas 2009. At the moment the publisher anticipates that the price will be about £35, and it will be available from on-line retailers such as Amazon. We'll keep you updated on this site with all the news as the book takes shape. Whether you've subscribed to HomeGround in the past or were always curious what all the fuss was about, now you can look forward to the ULTIMATE anthology of this iconic publication.

19th November 2008: Here's a bit of fun for you from Paul Scott's Corporate Zombie cartoon series! See the full strip here: http://www.corporatezombie.net/?p=43 (thanks Paul)

Lost Kate Vocal Performance surfaces on iTunes!

26th August 2008: So this fascinating piece of news has completely caught me napping! For some time it's been known that songwriter Lionel Azulay (the drummer with 'Company', the original band that was later to become the KT Bush Band) was gearing up to release an album of his original work. In the early 1970s Company comprised of Lionel, Del Palmer and Brian Bath and were also occasionally joined live on mandolin by Paddy Bush. Unfortunately, at that time in the 1970s Lionel had a serious road accident and was forced to leave the band, being replaced as drummer by Charlie Morgan, thus missing his chance to play live with Kate. His Myspace page has recently reported that a song called "Wouldn't Change a Thing" was recorded with Kate on prominent backing vocals but has remained unreleased untill very recently! The song is featured on the new CD "Out of the Ashes". It was recorded in the 1990s. Lionel says on his site: "The now legendary and hugely all round nice person Kate Bush kindly lent her unique and wonderful voice to one of my songs (Wouldn’t Change a Thing, engineered and produced by Del at The Farm, Welling)." Luckily permission to include this song has been cleared in time for the album release. And we get to hear some previously unheard Kate!

The full song can be heard at Lionel's Myspace page here. The album is now available to download on iTunes. Special thanks to Dale Stallins at the Kate Bush Tribute page for the care and attention he's been giving to spreading the Myspace word on Lionel, Del Palmer, Brian Bath and more...outstanding work Dale :)

[Myspace and other related links: Company Del Palmer Kate Bush Tribute Page Brian Bath Collin Lloyd Tucker Kylaclayfox]

The very latest news is gathered at our forum's buzzing Medialog section here.

Happy Birthday Kate!

30th July 2008: It's that time of year again, Kate's birthday - this time she hits fabulous 50, a full two weeks before the media go crazy reporting the same event happening to a certain Madonna person...makes you feel glad that Kate avoids all the celebrity madness and can peacefully enjoy what we hope will be a great day surrounded by her loved ones. Wishing you a happy birthday Kate, sending you all the very best. Sean

Viva City Release their new single, and it's called...'Kate Bush'

14th May 2008: From the press release: "Hotly tipped electro-indie four-piece VIVA CITY are releasing 'Kate Bush' - their first UK single, on Monday 23 June, on iTunes for digital download. Mixing dark throbbing baselines with melodic electronica, the Newcastle tunesmiths create a unique sound that leaves fans demanding more. The new single is getting great feedback after airing on BBC 6 Music, with renowned musician and BBC DJ Tom Robinson's ringing endorsement: "Viva City's 'Kate Bush' is a storming two minute slice of leery swaggering electropop. Sheer genius." The UK single follows a collaboration with Dutch DJ maestro Don Diablo, who released a remix of Viva City's track 'Audio Endlessly' in Europe in February. Don Diablo commented that Viva City are creating "a new sound for a new era". Produced by the legendary Kosheen DJs, Viva City's first UK single marks the band's official launch. Viva City's Bruce Tate said: "The track is about old and new, appreciating what has come before, whilst also creating a sound of the future. We want people to sit up and listen - the dirty sirens at the start signal the mayhem kicking off and us launching ourselves onto the music scene." Hear the single at the Viva City myspace page here.

Chris from the band has posted the lyrics of the song on our forum: "Kate Bush, Keep your little hounds of love Kate, Your shoes are in the $$%!#%! lake, and how am I going to get home today? Yeah, in action how like an angel, In apprehension how like a God, You're the greatest beauty of the world, la la la la {CHORUS} Thus, Bad begins, And I'm letting it in, To fear love is to fear life, To fear love is to fear life, In all truth I attend to their sugared words, I attend to the things absurd, I never was to deter, So take a bow, I dote on her every absence, I cherish every spoken word, I idolise the treasured girls, la la la la, {CHORUS} Thus, Bad begins, And I'm letting it in, To fear love is to fear life, To fear love is to fear life.."

1st May 2008: Just to let you know, the address for our forum has changed. The forum content remains and works in the same way, but we have been upgraded to a new Yuku account. From today please login at that page with your username and password as usual. The new address is: http://thehomegroundandkatebushnewsandinfoforum.yuku.com

25th March 2008: Just to let you know about an Irish Kate Bush fan gathering happening in Dublin on June 14th. The Sensual Walk celebrates Kate, Molly Bloom and James Joyce on beautiful Howth Head with live music, a cliff walk and an evening of merry-making. I'm organising it for the second year running and all KB fans from Ireland and abroad are very welcome. NB: Full details and all updates on this page here. Please drop me an email if you're thinking of coming and want to know more. Two other great gatherings happening in the UK this year include the annual Glastonbury gathering on July 27th (more here) and the Wuthering Hike up in Haworth on the Yorkshire moors on November 1st (more here).

23rd February 2008: So, we've tried (reluctantly) to keep this a secret but, Del Palmer has released an exclusive recording of his take on "Watching You Without Me" on his MySpace page here. Please check it out soon as it is not going to be on his Myspace page for long. Great stuff...and adds to our excitement and celebration in this momentous year for Kate. Cheers Del!

23rd February 2008: Dance act Utah Saints are back again with a hugely popular 2008 remix of their smash 1992 UK #4 hit 'Something Good' (which samples Kate's Cloudbusting) and all signs are that it is taking the dancefloors of Europe by storm. The great (we love it) new video can be seen on Youtube here. Here's the blurb for the single from the band: "Utah Saints’ ‘Something Good 08’ (Van She Tech Remix) is the biggest dance record of 2008 so far… Already receiving heavy daytime plays on Radio 1 from the likes of Jo Whiley, Annie Mac, Chris Moyles, Scott Mills, and more, it’s also been a staple for the likes of Zane Lowe and Pete Tong, who’ve made it a Hottest Record In The World and Essential New Tune respectively. Displaying the crossover traits that made the Utah Saints such a formidable force, ‘Something Good 08’, is also picking up huge support at stations ranging from Kiss to XFM, and ILRs across the land. A former No.1 in both the Cool Cuts and Buzz Charts, this release is set to send everyone’s favourite dance band rocketing back to the top of the UK singles charts."

30 YEARS OF KATE'S MUSIC - Wuthering Heights was released this day 30 years ago, 20th January 1978!

20th January 2008: An amazing milestone - we can celebrate 30 years of Kate's music today as Wuthering Heights was released on this day all the way back in 1978. It's incredible to think of that much time having passed. I was just four years old but I do remember seeing a crazy lady (I thought she was a witch!) on the Multi-Coloured Swap Shop on the BBC and being baffled as to what all the arm-waving and shrieking was about. Granted at the time I was more interested in guessing the flavour of the frog's milkshake on Bod, or figuring out which neighbour's garden was best for catching bees, but she had entered my consciousness for the first time. This extraordinary song was the first the world would hear of an artist who has become one of the most highly acclaimed and influential figures in music. So, to celebrate be sure to listen to the classic song that started it all today - make sure you play it loud to annoy the neighbours (who will in turn have their own special nostalgia trip!). To mark today's landmark occasion I asked members of our forum (in finest Q Magazine-esque fashion) to add their own personal take on '30 Reason's Why We Love Kate's Music'. Thanks to all who took part - enjoy the answers below. [Also today marks ten years of me running this website, thanks so much to you all for your support and interest!]

Merry Christmas!

25th December 2007: I'd like to wish all our site visitors and forum members a very merry Christmas, and all the very best for a wise and healthy 2008! Thanks for all your support this year - a year which unexpectedly ended with Kate singing the theme song to a film that has hit No.1 in the box office on both sides of the Atlantic - great stuff. We especially wish Kate and her family all the very best for the Christmas season and a bright and happy new year. 2008 sees a number of landmarks in Kate Bush fandom, not least the 30th Anniversary of Kate's first record, Wuthering Heights, and her debut album, The Kick Inside. We'll even be celebrating 10 years of this website - any excuse for a party eh? Best wishes - Sean.

22nd December 2007: 'I Wanna Be Kate: The Songs of Kate Bush' is now (at last!) available to download on iTunes and Emusic. Generally considered to be the best Kate Bush tribute album out there, you can read all about the CD here.

Kate Updates Her Site - Talks About Lyra...and Extras

2nd December 2007: Kate has updated her official site with a note about Lyra, saying how thrilled she was to have been asked to write for the film and wishing her fans a wonderful Christmas. She advises people that the song will be available to download from iTunes December 10th, but mentions a date of January 22nd for a physical release (which we hadn't heard before). Her site also includes a good quality short clip of the song. Kate also tells us that her classic song 'This Woman's Work' is going to be heard in the Extras Christmas special - the programme by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant is set to be one of the most-watched television shows in the UK over the Christmas period, it being the two-part finale of the popular series. Two potential download hits this December then!

1st December 2007: With all the excitement about Kate's beautiful song for the soundtrack to The Golden Compass, I thought it'd be nice for people to re-listen to the wonderful interview Kate did for the BBC's Front Row programme two years ago. In it Kate discusses what motivates her musically, her creative process particularly in relation to the Aerial album, and her views on the current preoccupation with 'celebrity'. It's a lovely chat with Kate and is happily still available to listen to here. Very nice.

27th November 2007: On the day of the film's world premiere in London Del Palmer has written a very interesting account on the recording of 'Lyra' posted on his official website: "The song was written very quickly as Kate was asked to do it at very short notice. In fact she only had a matter of days to write and produce it. She came to the studio with a rough demo recorded at her home using a ProTools LE system. Our first job was to record the keyboard and the lead vocal so that the Choir arranger could get to work as quickly as possible. This short project was to be a happy return to analog recording for us. We used a Studer A827 24 track recorder. Once the track was recorded it was transferred to ProTools for editing and mixing. This was so that the choir recordings could be done using a small mobile setup supplied by Abbey Road on a Monday morning. They were then imported into the original ProTools session for mixing on the Monday afternoon. Kate then took a car to Abbey Road for mixing in the evening. Abbey Road studio did the 5.1 surround mix. This was because all of the soundtrack music had been done there so it made sense to do the same. The following day we did a stereo mix at our studio for the soundtrack album release. In all, the whole thing took about 10 days to do. I personally think it's a wonderful performance from Kate considering the time restrictions, in particular her vocal." Thanks Del, and well done on an excellent job - I'm looking forward to hearing Kate at the cinema in 5.1 surround for the very first time!

27th November 2007: More Lyra updates: Anyone having trouble hearing 'Lyra' from the BBC links can now see and hear a fan-made video of the radio broadcast in our YouTube theatre above. Our forum has several threads buzzing with an incredible range of opinions on Kate's first recorded output since Aerial, so be sure to check it out. In other 'Lyra' news, the Oxford Mail has revealed that Kate is paying for the choir who sang on her song to take a trip to see the film. Choir director Bill Ives said: "Ms Bush came along to see the boys because it was her song and she wanted to meet them. She was lovely, very quiet and altogether charming, and the boys were very excited to meet her." Magdalen School College choir is made up of 16 boys, aged nine to 13, and 12 men, although only the boys sang on Lyra. On top of that, Kate Bush has very kindly offered to pay for them all to go and see the film when it comes out, so we will be taking them for a treat." The LA Times has reviewed Kate's new track here. We can confirm that the track's length on the soundtrack will be 3 minutes 19 seconds (thanks to Reza).

22nd November 2007: Kate's new song for The Golden Compass soundtrack, 'Lyra', has received it's UK radio premiere on the BBC Radio 6 programme Roundtable, hosted by Steve Lamacq, at 6pm GMT this evening. First impressions: It's a beautiful track, and perfect for the end of this film, I've just finished reading the book and this exactly sums up where audience's hearts should be as they think about Lyra's story. A very loving sentiment towards this character driven by such a gorgeous vocal. As I said, perfect - cannot wait to hear this in the cinema - this song really does have a context yet to come...for the record Steve Lamacq actually called the song Kate's "new single" but it may just be a promo single for radio airplay purposes, we'll have to wait and see. The show is now archived on the BBC 'Listen Again' service, here. 'Lyra' is played at 44 mins 20 seconds into this audio stream.

17th November 2007: New Line Cinema is now actively campaigning members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to vote for 'Lyra' in the category of Best Original Song for the 2008 Academy Awards. The studio is running the traditional 'For Your Consideration' advertisements in the entertainment press in the US. See a photo of one such advertisement here. (with thanks to Vickie)

The Golden Compass CD Cover

16th November 2007: The Golden Compass soundtrack CD is now available to pre-order at www.play.com. The tracklisting also reveals that Kate's song 'Lyra' is featured last out of 26 tracks on the CD, following the 25th track entitled 'Epilogue'.

16th November 2007: News of Kate's new song for The Golden Compass movie has rapidly filtered out across the media. The film's official site announced it here. Click on the following links for reports from Eonline, BBC, NME, Variety, Uncut and Pitchfork. A particularly witty write-up was published by Empire Magazine. Philip Pullman fansites have been buzzing, see here and here. Perhaps the most revealing article comes from the Oxford Mail. It confirms that Kate recorded her vocals for the track in her home studio, but used the Abbey Road mobile unit to record the boys choir at their school in Oxford. Entertainment Weekly in the US has even ran an article proposing Kate as a possible Oscar contender: "New Line wants to be part of the Academy Awards one way or another, and their best bet may be their just-announced news that British singer/songwriter Kate Bush will have her original song titled "Lyra" tacked onto the end credits of The Golden Compass...who knows, now we may get to see her perform at the Oscars." This seems to be a case of putting the cart waaay before the horse, Oscar nominations aren't even announced till January 22nd. Let's all just wait to watch the movie first...

Kate records a new song, 'Lyra', for the film The Golden Compass!

13th November 2007: After a week of speculation we can finally announce the great news - Kate has written and recorded a song, 'Lyra', for the upcoming major fantasy film The Golden Compass, to be released 7th December 2007! It will also be available for download as part of New Line Records' The Golden Compass soundtrack, which will be released Dec. 11. The song, named for Lyra Belacqua, the lead character in The Golden Compass (pictured below), is written and produced by Kate in her own studio, and features the Magdalen College Choir, Oxford. It will be heard over the closing credits of the film. In the most recent issue of HomeGround magazine Del Palmer revealed that Philip Pullman (author of the books on which the film is based) had visited Kate at her home earlier this year, and it's known that she is a fan of his work. This evening's full press release from New Line Cinema is here. [You can watch the film's teaser trailer above in our Youtube theatre, check out the full theatrical trailer in glorious high definition here, or visit the film's official site by clicking the film logo above. I also recommend the fan site Bridge To The Stars.]

12th November 2007: A Dutch documentary entitled 'Come Back Kate' is part of the 20th International Documentary Film Festival, held in Amsterdam 22nd Nov - 2nd Dec. It will be screened at 8.15pm Friday 23rd November (and on 3 further dates over the course of the festival). The documentary, directed by Helena Muskens and Quirine Racké, is 53 minutes long and according to the festival brochure features 'diehard fans of Kate Bush talking about their special bond with the singer...the fans talk about her as if they were good friends...the result is a fascinating peek into the phenomenon of fandom. Bush's devotees create their own magic world around her mythical persona, some of them celebrate her birthday on a beach in southern England..." The description certainly makes the film sound as if it's painting Kate as an odd recluse (and we know what Kate thinks of that description!) and the featured fans as deluded and a little creepy, but having said that I haven't seen the documentary myself. Read more about the film here.

Del Palmer - new album Leap of Faith out now! Update: Use this link to buy Leap of Faith on iTunes!

19th September 2007: Del Palmer's much-anticipated solo album, Leap Of Faith, is now available to order at his official website. Payments can be made via Paypal, and the CD costs just £10 plus £2 postage to anywhere. We wish Del every success with Leap of Faith and encourage all our site visitors to check it out!

Kate's work studied in new text book. Plus new Kate calendar.

19th September 2007: A very in-depth new book about Kate's work and in particular the Hounds Of Love album has just been released by Ashgate publishing as part of their Popular and Folk Music Series. From the publishers: "The album allows the author, Ron Moy, the critical opportunity to explore a wide range of issues relating to technology, production, authorship, grain of the voice, iconography, critical and commercial impact, collaboration, gender, sexuality, narrative, and social and cultural context." Ron Moy is a lecturer in the School of Media, Critical and Creative Arts, at Liverpool John Moores University, UK. As such this book presents a very academic text book approach to appraising Kate's work - I haven't yet seen a copy myself, but on reading the author's introduction the book should be somewhat refreshing after the recent published biographies. And any book which ends with a closing section called "Coda: We Become Panoramic" is a tempting proposition for Aerial-era Kate fans! The book is called 'Kate Bush and Hounds of Love' and can be ordered at Amazon here.A new calendar (above right) featuring photos of Kate has just been issued. While this isn't an official calendar release and won't be featuring any new pics of Kate there will be demand from fans. David over at the KutureShock website is offering the calendar with free postage to UK fans from this site. You just need to enter bush2008 in the coupon section at the checkout. You can order the calendar at this page here.

On such a timeless flight...

20th August 2007: There's a lot of talk right now about Kate's superb cover version of Elton John's 'Rocket Man' (from the Two Rooms tribute album in 1991). It's about to be named the Greatest Cover of all time by reader's of the Observer newspaper in the UK. The single came out between the releases of The Sensual World and The Red Shoes albums and shifted more copies than any singles from either of those two albums. Backed by a memorable appearance on the Wogan BBC TV show and by an exuberant monochrome video, Kate truly made the track her own. Lists, as we know, are controversial things, so you can read comments on this result at the Observer Music Monthly blog here ranging from " marvellously mad" to "nasty Eighties-style plastic white reggae". One witty poster said: "Is Gordon Brown playing the accordion in the video? Never thought I'd ever like seeing our PM right behind Bush." [It's actually Alistair Anderson] All in all it's a great excuse to re-listen to a delightfully inspired piece of work from Kate which she turned into her own personal tribute to the late Alan Murphy. Check out the Rocket Man video in our Youtube Kate theatre above.

Happy Birthday Kate!

30th July 2007: It's Kate's birthday today! Wishing her a wonderful and happy day x

HomeGround 78 - 25th Anniversary edition - Out Now!

3rd July 2007: HomeGround issue 78 celebrates 25 years of the publication of the longest running Kate Bush magazine. From Peter & Krys: "The issue includes: a sixteen page exclusive interview we did at HG Towers in March with DEL PALMER; a 3 page feature written for us by GUY PEARCE on his passion for Kate's music; a two page feature written by Beck Sian plus beautiful photo of Beck when she was a child, with Kate - (Beck is Kate's cousin's daughter), new poems by John Carder Bush, an appreciation of the work of John Carder Bush by fellow poet & writer Collin Kelley, great poetry, photos, a wonderful article by a teacher on introducing Kate's work into the national curriculum, plus a feature about Aerial in perspective with Kate's earlier albums. Anyone who would like to renew their subscription can do so easily by using the Pay-Pal buttons on the HomeGround page. I've read the interview with Del and it's fantastic, do not miss. Get your Paypal orders in now!

NEWSFLASH: The ridiculously silly HomeGround back issue SALE - £1 each plus postage!!!

We have decided to have a very silly HomeGround Sale - we desperately need to create some space in our house & loft before we go completely insane. The Silly HG Sale ends 1st October 2007. You can buy any ten of the listed issues (see the HomeGround page for full listing) for £1 each...plus postage & the total rates (for ten issues plus postage) are: UK £16.50, Europe £18.50, USA & Australia £26. Please note that Issues 74, the two Aerial special issues 76, 77 & the new issue 78 are not part of the back issue offer. Back Issues 76 & 77 can be ordered here. Please send Paypal payment to hgtowers@btinternet.com. Please make cheques payable to "HomeGround Fanzine" and send to the usual HG address.

UK - Issue 78 - £6.00

Europe - Issue 78 - £6.75

USA, Aus & others - Issue 78 - £7.75

Del Palmer - new album imminent, plus his official site is launched!

3rd July 2007: If you haven't already checked it out be sure to visit www.delpalmer.com. As well as information on his upcoming Leap Of Faith album the site is being constantly updated and contains some very interesting photos and comments from Del including his own biographical notes. We can even see unused versions of Del's "kite" design from The Kick Inside! Many of the musician's that Del has worked with over the years are featured. Del says: "Most of you will already know that I have been involved both as musician and recording engineer with Kate Bush for more than thirty years. It has been, from an artistic point of view, an incredibly fruitful liaison for me. I feel privileged to have had a front row seat to watch a true artist create so many musical masterpieces... having just completed the latest studio album to be released by Kate I felt the time was right to try, finally, to make some music myself. I have spent the last year or so recording songs and will soon have the project completed." And we can't wait! Just as we like to keep you up to speed about what Kate's brothers Paddy and John are up to we'll also be carrying all news of this album here at katebushnews.com. It will be really fascinating to hear this music by someone who has played such an important role in shaping Kate's music with her.

Did you know? The very latest news is gathered at our forum's buzzing Medialog section here.

The Sensual Walk - Saturday, 16th June 2007

Regular visitors to the site and forum will know that, lacking live shows to attend, Kate Bush fans have a tendency to organise informal gatherings to meet up with like-minded souls for chat, fun and merry-making. These events are listed in the Announcements & Fan Events section of our forum. I'm giving this first Irish gathering a special mention as I'm organising this one myself! You can click on the banner below for all the up-to-date details or please email me with any questions, whether you're an Irish fan or coming along from further afield. The event itself consists of a meet-up at the summit of Howth Head, a pleasant stroll along the cliff walk (40 minutes or so) and an afternoon and evening quenching our collective thirst in the fishing village of Howth in the Abbey Tavern (one of the oldest pubs in Dublin) - toasting Kate, James Joyce and the Blooms - it's happening on Bloomsday you know! Music on the hill will be provided by Thinguma*jigSaw and Mike Stevens. Hope to see some of you there - Sean.

Homeground The Kate Bush Magazine - 25 Years Young Today!

18th May 2007: "Hello there...this is 'Homeground', the first serious attempt at a Kate Bush fanzine..." With these words 25 years ago today, the longest running Kate Bush publication ever started its incredible journey into the hearts and minds of fans spanning the entire globe. Conceived in Dave Cross's flat in May 1982 the first issue consisted of 25 copies run off an office photocopier! Today, almost 80 issues later, it's impossible to imagine how things would have been without Homeground being there with us. To say the magazine has been a labour of love doesn't even come close to the blood, sweat and tears (and laughs!) that Krys, Peter, Dave, Debi, Sharon, Mandy and more have poured into the definitive coverage of Kate's career for her loyal army of fans. I first subscribed as a teenager and actually thought that "Homeground Towers" was, well, a tower! And I knew I wanted to go there someday. Homeground exhaustively covered every aspect of Kate's music and activities. The depth and authority of the analysis within its pages has informed every subsequent mainstream biography published on the subject. What really puts Homeground in the esteemed position it has in people's hearts however is the warmth, love, care and understanding that is to be found within its pages. Homeground is a place, and we all feel better spending time there. Fans could express their feelings of joy, pain, loss or grief that Kate's music helped them to work through. The letters pages and articles in Homeground are a powerful archive of just what magnificent things can happen when people are invited to share their feelings together in a safe place. The beautiful artwork, in particular by the wonderful Debi Bowes, makes the magazine a feast for the eyes too. Kate herself has always lent words of support to Krys and Peter in particular over the years, and they've been happy to star in a couple of her videos in return! Thankfully the Internet explosion that has happened during Homeground's lifetime hasn't dented their faith in the printed format (it's in the British library you know!). Nevertheless the forum which we launched together has become the largest online community of Kate fans out there, hardly surprising with the Homeground name attached. Whatever their adventures over the course of the next 25 years, I'd like to send a huge hug, and an enormous THANK YOU to Homeground, for simply brilliant work and dedication for quarter of a century! We're all getting ancient!! Sean xxxxNews To Note: The King of The Mountain video, and Aerial TV ads can be seen at www.katebush.com - Kate's excellent official website...the heavyweight double vinyl release of Aerial was released just before Christmas 2005, it comes with the stunning big 24-page booklet...the Aerial sheet music has been issued more info here...to the bafflement of many, Kate's new album was not nominated for the Mercury Music prize in the UK...

Placebo Release Running Up That Hill Single In US

5th April 2007: Placebo are releasing their cover version of Kate's Running Up That Hill in the US to coincide with the release of their iTunes only 'Covers' album. The track has been described as a "slowed down version of Kate Bush’s unbelievably beautiful classic...taking an already gorgeous song and covering it in a way that makes you fall in love with it again". There was huge digital download demand for their cover of Kate’s song after it recently appeared in The O.C. Placebo are recruiting fans to star in the forthcoming video for the song. Placebo fans have been submitting single-camera video clips of themselves singing the cover. From an UnderGroundOnline interview with Placebo's bass guitarist, Stefan Olsdal: UGO: What made you guys want to cover Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill?" Stefan: We cover songs that we like. For us it is something that we do for fun in B-side sessions. We've covered a variety of bands, usually from the '80s. We did a Depeche Mode cover and Robert Palmer even. We're fans of Kate Bush so, when it came to this track, we thought that the lyrics had a real depth and you can't really get that in the original because she's singing it so fast. We wanted to slow it down and it felt really good, and we're really proud of it. UGO: Have you heard whether or not she likes it? Stefan: Yes we did, actually. We met and she does like it and we're relieved by that fact because we're big fans. Full interview here. According to this site "when the band's singer Brian Molko saw Kate at a party, he approached her to see if she was O.K. with their version of the song. Lucky for them, she loved it." You can hear the track on the Placebo Myspace page or see a live version on Youtube.

Did you know? The very latest news is gathered at our forum's buzzing Medialog section here.

Kate Sends A 'Baaaad' Radio Message to Mark Radcliffe!

5th April 2007: Kate has sent a very amusing 'good luck' comment to Mark Radcliffe on BBC Radio 2 (his show is moving to a new 8pm timeslot) - it was played on Thursday April 5th and you can download the MP3 of the clip here (thanks to Looking At Blue on the forum) or listen to the BBC Radio player archive of the show here (the message from Kate starts 31 minutes into the show).

Kate Writes The Foreword To The New David Bowie Special Edition Of Mojo Magazine!

20th Jan 2007: Happy New Year folks! We're still very much enjoying Aerial here at KBN&I and hope that you are too. A Coral Room is still knocking us out this week. We kick off 2007 with the news that Kate has written a special foreword to a MOJO Magazine Classic Special Edition on 60 Years of David Bowie (he's the same age as my mum!). On sale 24th January in the UK and Ireland. Kate writes: "I was sitting in my bath, submerged in bubbles, when I heard David Bowie for the first time..." The magazine writes: "60 Years Of Bowie" A Mojo Classic special edition magazine is a month-by-month, year-by-year celebration of one of rock music's greatest icons. Containing eyewitness stories, previously unpublished photgraphs, classic interviews, album reappraisals, the best Bowie songs from each era, plus a specially written forward by Kate Bush." (can we just squeak that as huge 'we are not worthy' Bowie fans at KBN&I this is a dream come true!...eeep)

 

Merry Christmas To All Our Site Visitors and Forum Members!

Here's a little something Brian rustled up - some decoration for your computer, click image right  to enlarge :)

Kate Sends Christmas Wishes Via Her Official Site! Plus - Aerial track credits in full!

5th Dec 2006: Kate has posted a note today at her official site www.katebush.com and finally, as with the other albums, we get to see who played what and where on Aerial - be sure to check it out at Kate's site. I'm off to listen out for that didgeridoo on The Painter's Link! (I'd also like to mention that our own site has a beautiful new Winter introduction courtesy of Brian Cloughley - check it out at www.katebushnews.com, with big thanks as always to Brian)

Hello everyone,  It has been a very quiet year and lovely for us to catch up on things. We are all well and happy. I know that many of you have asked for more details on Aerial's track-by-track credits - these can now be found in the 'Musicians' section. I am seriously shocked and extremely flattered to be voted in the top 10 living icons on 'The Culture Show'. Thank you so much for voting me in, I feel very honoured. I hope you have a fantastic Christmas, we are really looking forward to it... and here's wishing you all a wonderful new year ahead.

With love, Kate

Living Icon update: Kate has been voted in 7th place of the 10 finalists, with Morrissey, David Attenborough and Paul McCartney making the top three - see Kate's reaction to the voting in her official website note above. 

21st Nov 2006: The BBC television programme The Culture Show is running a vote for people's favourite British Cultural Icon. They have shortlisted the TOP 10 icons nominated by their viewers. Kate is joined in the Top 10 by David Attenborough, Alan Bennett, David Bowie, Michael Caine, Stephen Fry, Paul McCartney, Morrissey, Kate Moss and Vivienne Westwood. You can read more (and more importantly vote for Kate!) at their page here. The National Portrait Gallery will be exhibiting portraits of the winning icons from early December. Watch Antony Hegarty (of Antony & The Johnstons) explain why Kate deserves the allocade here on YouTube.Apart from voting online, in the UK you can vote by SMS - text ICON BUSH to 83199. (Texts charged at your standard rate.) OR you can phone your vote to 09015 22 33 44 (You will hear an automated message which will guide you through a list of the ten icons. To vote you will need to press the corresponding number on your keypad.) Calls cost 15p

18th Oct 2006: Kyla writes to tell us that over the past year she has been helping to put together a book entitled "The Thrill & The Hurting" which is a lovingly compiled anthology of poems and art inspired by Kate's work. The book is 6.99 GBP and will soon be available to order from the Morning Fog Press site here (from the end of October) or from this link at Amazon and also WHsmith. Advance orders on the book have already totalled 40, out of the 100 that will be available. There are 66 pages and colour artworks including a dedication page artwork by Debi Bowes (Debi's work has most famously graced the pages of HomeGround magazine). The foreword is by Krys (of HomeGround) and the blurb on the back taken from her foreword says :- 'Between these covers you will find poetry and artwork by those so inspired by Kate's music, with themes of love, life and broken hearts, just as you will find in her music.' The book has been created by the forum members at this site's HomeGround/KBN&I web community and co-edited by American prize winning poet, Collin Kelley. Design is by Jason Carty. Kyla et al have set up Morning Fog Press (site coming soon, logo left also by Jason Carty) to facilitate ISBN's and further publications. Congratulations to all involved! The book, which has contributors from all over the world, will be officially launched in London on the 4th of November. You can also be sure that one of these special limited editions will be reserved for Kate herself! (Thanks Kyla, visit her Myspace page here, click on the book title above left to see the full cover)

Kate Tells Q: "I'm At A Really Great Point Again...I'm Thinking About Ideas For Projects"

  

29th Sept 2006: Fans across the UK & Ireland have been scouring newsagents today to find the exclusive cover featuring Kate, one of twenty covers to celebrate 20 years of Q Magazine. Kate's interview in the new Q magazine is a relaxed and witty affair accompanied by a charming new colour portrait of Kate (once again by Trevor Leighton). In the interview Kate reminisces with the magazine over the last 20 years. Her high point? "Well it's got to be having my son Bertie" Her low point was of course the death of her mother Hannah which Kate describes as "like the end of the world". Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnstons is going to be overjoyed to hear that his idol considers him to be one of her favourite artists of the last 20 years, as is Rolf Harris. Kate jokes about how 20 years ago she thought the record company's insistence on a greatest hits package was "a crap idea...and of course it turned out to be my biggest selling record". Kate confesses to drinking too much tea, to being "really exhausted" after Aerial came out and she definitely hopes the next album won't take 12 years, in fact she reckons she could get the next album done "in six weeks". We'll wait and see! Lovely to see such a warm, witty and talented artist chosen as one of Q's 20 icons. The subtitle to the article is "National Treasure." Indeed. The kind folks at Q Magazine have provided me with a high-res image of this highly collectable cover for you here. (Thanks to Stephen Peck at Q) UPDATE: Also thanks to Q Magazine for a high-res download of the "clean" cover photo of Kate click here. For a large collage of all 20 Q anniversary covers click here

Kate Is The Cover Star On One Of Q Magazine's 20th Anniversary Covers - Plus New Interview!  

23rd Sept 2006: The next issue Q Magazine will be published with 20 different covers in celebration of the title's 20th birthday. Each cover will feature a musical icon, including Kate. Each artist has given the magazine an exclusive photoshoot and interview, in which they recount their personal high and low points from the past two decades. The issue also includes Q's nominations for the best 20 albums and songs released during its lifetime. Editor Paul Rees said: "The 20th anniversary of Q, the essential music guide, is a landmark moment, and therefore we were determined to mark it with a landmark publishing event. I believe we have done so. I can think of few magazines anywhere in the world who could exclusively photograph, interview and do separate covers with 20 of the biggest and most iconic stars in their world. That Q has done so is befitting for a magazine with its rich history and stature." T