Celebrating the Unique and Influential Kate Bush

One of my all-time favorite recording artists, British singer-songwriter Kate Bush, celebrates her 57th birthday today. Happy Birthday, Kate!

Over at GigWise.com Edward Keeble and Alexandra Pollard have posted an insightful piece that celebrates the uniquely talented Kate Bush by highlighting how her work has influenced fifteen well-known singers and bands, from Madonna to Florence and the Machine.

Keeble and Pollard introduce their piece by noting the following:

It's something of a rite of passage for young musicians in this day and age, particularly female ones, to be compared to Kate Bush. Too often, this comparison is lazy and inaccurate – but there are many, many musicians to whom it undoubtedly applies.

Bush burst onto the scene in a blaze of glory back in 1978, with her acclaimed debut album, The Kick Inside, released when she was just 19-years-old. Once she reached the ripe old age of 21, she decided to take a 35-year break from touring.

It's not the conventional career trajectory for a musician – but then, there's very little conventional about Kate Bush. Over the past forty years, her distinctive sound, her blend of art and pop, and her unflinching aesthetic have influenced generations of brilliant musicians.

To read in its entirety "Happy Birthday Kate Bush: The Musicians We Wouldn't Have Without Her," click here.

Here at The Wild Reed, I celebrate Kate's birthday by sharing the following hour-long 2014 BBC documentary, The Kate Bush Story, featuring interviews with such luminaries as Elton John, Tricky, Tori Amos, David Gilmour, Lindsey Kemp, and Peter Gabriel. The first five minutes alone of this entertaining and insightful documentary will give you a sense of just how unique and influential Kate Bush is. Enjoy!

For me to get into the creative process I have to have a quiet place that I work from. And if I was living the life of someone in the industry, as a "pop star" or whatever, it's too distracting; it's too to do with other people's perception of who you are. And what's important to me is to be a human being who has a soul and who hopefully has a sense of who they are, not who everybody else thinks you are.

– Kate Bush

November 2005

For more of Kate Bush at The Wild Reed, see:
• "A Dark Timelessness and Stillness Surrounds Her Wild Abandonment"
• "Can You See the Lark Ascending?"
• Quote of the Day – August 17, 2014
• Wow!
• Scaling the Heights
• "Oh, Yeah!"
• Celebrating Bloomsday in St. Paul (and with Kate Bush)
• "Rosabelle, Believe . . ."
• Just in Time for Winter
• "Call Upon Those You Love"
• A Song of Summer


Opening image: Kate Bush receiving the Editor's Award for her Before the Dawn concert series at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards – December 2014. Notes ClassicRock.com:

[Kate Bush's] sold-out 22-date residency in London, which ran from August to September [2014], was her first major live commitment since 1979. Bush accepted the Editor's Award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards from actor Sir Ian McKellan. The event was hosted by comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon.

In October she thanked fans for their support for Before The Dawn, calling it “one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life” and adding: “It was a truly special and wonderful feeling for all of us.” But she also suggested it would be “a while” before she appeared again.

Two shows in mid-September were filmed for a possible DVD release. The residency led to reignited interest in her back-catalogue, making chart history when she became the first female artist to have eight albums in the top 40 at the same time.

For The Wild Reed's compilation of "Before the Dawn" review highlights, click here.

For Martin Glover's eloquent and insightful exploration of the mysticism that imbues the persona and music of Kate Bush, click here.