Warm congratulations to Kate today! At a special investiture ceremony in Windsor Castle she received her CBE from the Queen.

Kate chose not to speak to the press after the ceremony but issued a short statement:

“I feel incredibly thrilled to receive this honour which I share with my family, friends and fellow musicians and everyone who has been such an important part of it all. Now I’ve got something really special to put on top of the Christmas tree.”

Kate has now added to the statement on her official site:

“The ‘everyone’ in the quote above of course includes all of you.  Thank you so very much for all your fantastic support and encouragement.  I feel extremely privileged to still have an audience.  It’s you that have made my work, which would otherwise have just been creative projects, into a success.
Many, many thanks to the best fans ever,
Kate  x

PS  I hate the term ‘fans’ but couldn’t think of how else to word it.”

We hope that you are enjoying your special day, Kate – richly deserved for the years of sheer talent, joy, inspiration and excitement you have poured into this world. Have a blast!

Peter, Krys, Dave and Seán x

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A dog made of snow, called Snowflake, wearing a Santa hat. Perfect! Kate sends her fans a Christmas message on her official site.

Thanks for all your lovely messages of encouragement over the year. It means such a lot. Wishing you a merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. With love, Kate

On the official UK chart mid week update today RUTH 2012 was at NUMBER 4…

Of course this is only sales from Sunday and Monday, but well done to Kate, it’s well deserved and we love the new version.

On the official site Kate says:

“I am completely thrilled and touched by the overwhelming response from everyone to the remix of RUTH.  I thought the whole closing ceremony of the Olympics was extraordinary and I’d like to thank everyone there for choosing me to be a part of it.  It is such a huge honour”

And if you think the new version should be on the radio in the UK, we suggest you send an email or text to Chris Evans and Ken Bruce at BBC Radio 2 and just ask them to play it… 🙂

Contact Chris Evans HERE

Contact Ken Bruce HERE

[Graphic credit Antonis Glicos]

Running Up That Hill (2012 Remix) is now also available from iTunes USA

Update: Kate writes on her official site: 

Hi there,
I hope you all enjoyed the remix of  Running Up That Hill this evening at the Olympics Closing Ceremony. They certainly put on a brilliant show.                       
       Kate

Kate’s 2012 remix of Running Up That Hill with a brand new vocal was featured in a crucial section of the closing ceremony of the London Olympic Games, after the entry of athletes, and whilst a pyramid was built in the centre of the Olympic Stadium from blocks representing each of the Olympic events, and prior to the presentation of the medals for the Marathon.

“As the insanity begins again, here come some white clad geezers playing tribal drums, and then some actor-model-dancer sorts in white body stockings come on and position cubes on the stage. 303 of them. In honour of the 303 events of the Games, as Huw Edwards tells us. Alright, smarty pants. A superb remix of the mighty Kate Bush: ‘Running Up The Hill’ plays.” Daily Telegraph live blog

“It’s Indian drummers. Sorry, but Stomp beat you to it, guys. Now they’re playing Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill. Does this mean she’s not actually playing it live? Do we even need Kate Bush when we have people assembling 31 giant white cubes? More importantly – will she jump out of one of these boxes?” Guardian live blog.

“Even Kate Bush made an appearance, albeit only over the speakers, which played out a remix of Running Up That Hill as performers pushed white boxes into a pyramid on to which highlights of the Olympics were projected.” Daily Telegraph review of the event.

“Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill makes the point that men and women cannot trade places. It was fitting at a Games where women have made up a greater percentage of the athletes than ever before, and been allowed to box. To gold medal-winning effect for Britain.” BBC review of the event.

See a clip of the closing ceremony HERE

The closing ceremony has been met with “mixed” reviews after the huge success of the opening. The entire spectacle was broadcast live on the BBC, but only segments were relayed on NBC in the US and it appears that NBC excised the segment featured Running Up That Hill. This certainly infuriated Big Boi and many US fans.

The 2012 Remix of Running Up That Hill is available on itunes.

See the official announcement of the track and Kate’s comments on the official site about that and the closing ceremony, also reported by the NME.

The Guardian has run a story about Acts which were invited but did not appear at the closing ceremony including this: “Kate Bush was among those Gavin and Arnold hoped would appear, and there were rumours in the industry that she had agreed to perform. However, Bush too is reluctant to appear in public. Organisers agreed to play a remix of Running Up That Hill, and the singer released a statement on her website on Monday praising a “brilliant show”.”

This has been rereported second, third and fourth hand on various music news sites, each inevitably putting its own twist and spin on the story.

KateBush.com Kate’s official site, has announced that they have a last 200 copies of the Lake Tahoe picture disc:

“On 9th May 2012 at 18.30 GMT (UK Time) the discs will be exclusively available to purchase in our shop here

We only have a very small number of these discs so purchases will be limited to one per customer on a first come first serve basis.  We apologise in advance if anyone isn’t able to get a copy, but as this release is truly limited we’re lucky to be able to offer this many directly to fans.  Anyone who is found trying to abuse the shop system to purchase more than one copy will have their additional orders cancelled and run the risk of losing out entirely. 

The discs will remain on sale while stocks last.“

Update: Kate has now sent a message of good luck to Bo on her official site:

Dear Bo, Many congratulations on your fantastic performance last night on The Voice. I thought it was really beautiful and very moving. I feel so proud of you. Good luck for tonight and very best wishes to you and your mum. With love, Kate Bush  xx

From Michael Hogan’s Daily Telegraph live blog: “20.26 The final act tonight is Bo Bruce for Team Danny. The aristocratic girl with the quirky indie voice. Her mother is seriously ill at the moment, which was reported in the papers this morning and she admirably doesn’t mention but Danny does. Another great song choice – they’re ending strongly in that sense – with Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush. 20.28 Slightly static staging and hard to compete with La Bush, but she’s got a lovely tone to her voice. 20.29 Nice acapella coda there and an emotional climax. “Art is the only justification for pain,” says Danny. Well-meaning but rather melodramatic. Will calls her an artist. Compliments come no higher on this show, it seems. Jessie’s proud and loves being part of the show. Tom comes over all avuncular, tells her to channel her current experience into her voice and let it all flow. Bless him.”

The Judges comments in full:

JESSIE J: I was ready to stand up before you finished your song. This is a great show to be a part of, what a wonderful ending! WILL.I.AM: This is a great show and you are all singing to represent your country. You Bo are an incredible artist and I know there is a Voice US and a Voice Australia, but singing like you did, the UK has something really special out of all The Voice’s TOM JONES: If there are things that are bothering you or on your mind you should try to use it as a strength and tonight you let it all flow and it was fantastic! DANNY O’DONOGHUE: It’s been very tough, the reason why I came on the show is to find someone like you. Someone who is willing to bare their soul to the whole world. I am proud, your mum is really proud and the whole of the UK is really proud too.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Y8rYDv1jU[/youtube]

Useless fact: Bo Bruce is daughter of the Earl of Cardigan and a descendant of the Lord Cardigan who led the charge of British cavalry known as “the charge of the Light Brigade” against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War.

Kate writes on her official site:

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

We want to say a special thank you to Barney who is sadly leaving us to go on to a very exciting new job. He has put so much incredible work into both the projects this year. Good luck Barney, we’ll miss you.

With love and best wishes,
Kate and everyone on the team

Kate has tonight published the following on her official site:

Everyone will know that events in Tibet have taken a terrible turn. I want to express my sadness at such a gentle and spiritual culture suffering so greatly. I am so shocked by the desperate measures being taken by people whose only way to call out for help is by taking these horrific actions. I would feel ashamed if I didn’t express my feelings. I just hope the world is listening.  

Kate

To follow on from Kate’s words, we are providing this link for you at the Amnesty International website here and also this link from the UK Independent newspaper here and Mikel Dunham’s blog here.