Quote of the Day

Kate Bush looks set to achieve another week at Number One with “Running Up That Hill” following its recent inclusion in Stranger Things.

According to The Official Charts Company, Bush is on track for a second week at Number One, followed by Harry Styles’ at Number Two with “As It Was” and LF System’s “Afraid To Feel” at Number Three.

Last week, “Running Up That Hill” was the most streamed track on the planet and reached Number One on both the Spotify charts in the UK and the US after earning 57 million streams in just one week.

As well as being Number One now in the UK, it’s also Number One in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Switzerland. In the US, it’s currently Number Four in the main chart and Number One on the Billboard Global 200 chart, making it Bush’s biggest ever hit in America 37 years after its original release.

“Running Up That Hill” originally reached Number Three in the UK in 1985 and charted again in 2012, when it reached Number 12 [after being used in the London Olympic Games Closing Ceremony]. The song was also recently used in It’s A Sin, the award-winning TV series by Russell T Davies [and in Ryan Murphy’s FX series Pose (2018-2021)].

. . . The song was written and produced by Bush and featured on her fifth studio album Hounds Of Love, which was released in 1985, debuting at 30 on the Billboard chart, where it currently stands at No 12.

Bush now has the longest-ever gap between Number One singles in Official Chart history, with 44 years between her 1978 chart topper “Wuthering Heights” and 2022’s “Running Up That Hill.”

Bush now also claims the record of longest time taken for a single to reach Number One on the Official Singles Chart, with it being 37 years since the single was first released.

– Elizabeth Aubrey
Excerpted from “Kate Bush Looks Set for Another Week
at Number One with ‘Running Up That Hill’”
NME
June 19, 2022

Related Off-site Links:
Ethereal, Evocative, and Inventive: Why the Music of Kate Bush Spans Generations – Lorna Piatti-Farnel (The Conversation, June 14, 2022).
The Story of Kate Bush – James Purtill (DoubleJ, June 16, 2022).
Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” Sets Three Chart Records and Hits UK Number 1 – Bruce Haring (Deadline, June 18, 2022).
Kate Bush Continues to Set Records With 1985 Song Featured in Stranger Things – Jesse O’Neill (Page Six, June 18, 2022).
Cher Lauds Kate Bush for Breaking Her Record as Oldest Woman to Reach No. 1 – Niomi Harris (Daily Mail, June 18, 2022).

UPDATES: Kate Bush Gives Rare Interview on “Running Up That Hill” Resurgence – IMN Music News (June 22, 2022).
Kate Bush Breaks Silence on “Running Up That Hill”’s “Extraordinary” Number 1 Success Thanks to Stranger Things in Rare Interview: “It’s So Special” – Carl Smith (OfficialCharts.com, June 22, 2022).
The Enigmatic Power of Kate Bush – Keshena Booker (LWOS, June 23, 2022).
Kate Bush UK No.1 for Second Week . . .“It’s So Exciting!” – Kate Bush News (June 24, 2022).
Kate Bush Breaks Three Guinness World Records with “Running Up That Hill” – Tom Skinner (NME, June 30, 2022).
“An Old Strain of English Magic Had Returned”: Stars on Why They Fell in Love with Kate Bush – Rachel Aroesti (The Guardian, July 1, 2022).
“Running Up That Hill” – 3rd Week at UK No.1 – Kate Bush News (July 1, 2022).
Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” Retains Australia’s Chart Crown – Lars Brandle (Billboard, July 8, 2022).
Kate Bush Still Ruling Worldwide Charts – Kate Bush News (July 8, 2022).

For more of Kate Bush at The Wild Reed, see:
• “A Kind of Elemental Force”
• The Kate Bush Renaissance of 2022
• “A Dark Timelessness and Stillness Surrounds Her Wild Abandonment”
• Celebrating the Unique and Influential Kate Bush
• Ben Hewitt on the 40th Anniversary of Kate Bush’s Never for Ever
• Happy Birthday, Kate!
• Quote of the Day – July 20, 2018
• “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
• “There’s Light in Love, You See”