- Born
- Birth nameCatherine Bush
- Nicknames
- Cathy
- Kate
- Height5′ 3½″ (1.61 m)
- Kate Bush began playing piano at a young age and, by her mid-teens, had composed over 200 songs. Her talent caught the notice of David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd) who assisted in arranging her contract with EMI. The first song she released, "Wuthering Heights", soared to #1 in England in 1978. Since then, Kate has achieved a notable career as a singer and musician. Kate began producing her own albums and videos early on. Her growing interest in film was highly evident in the 1985 video for her song, "Cloudbusting", which starred Donald Sutherland, which is a mini-film in itself. Another 1985 video, "Hounds of Love", is a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. Following the release of her 1993 album, "The Red Shoes", influenced by filmmaker Michael Powell, Kate produced the short film, The Line, the Cross & the Curve (1993), using five songs from the album as a basis for the film in a mysterious, mythical retelling of the tale of "The Red Shoes".
- IMDb mini biography by: Karen Newcombe <kln@sirius.com>
- SpouseDanny McIntosh(1992 - present) (1 child)
- Children
- ParentsRobert
- RelativesPaddy Bush(Sibling)John Carder Bush(Sibling)
- Strong four octave soprano voice
- Wide-eyed expression during her performances
- Elaborate, fluid dance moves
- 1984-1985: Due to the fact MTV showed little interest in the airing the video, the clip for Kate's 1985 single "Cloudbusting" was aired in cinemas before the main attraction, 'Back to the Future (1985)'.
- 1993: Declined singing "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", the theme song to 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)'. Annie Lennox and Lisa Stansfield also turned it down before it went to Bryan Adams.
- In 2022, her song "Running Up That Hill" gained renewed attention after it was used in season 4 of the show Stranger Things (2016). It became such a massive hit that, according to the Official Charts Company, it broke several records many countries. Not only did the song enter the Billboard Charts again and peaked at #1, it was also the oldest song to do so. Also, at the age of 63, Bush became the oldest female artist in the UK to ever reach #1 in those charts.
- Movies-specifically of the Gothic horror genre have had a significant influence on Kate's back catalogue. The French revenge film The Bride Wore Black (1968), in which a widowed woman hunts the five men who killed her husband on her wedding day, provided Kate the inspiration to pen "The Wedding List", from her third album, 'Never for Ever' (1980). Other films that inspired Kate's music include, Wuthering Heights (1939) ("Wuthering Heights"), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) ("Hammer Horror"), The Innocents (1961) ("The Infant Kiss"), The Shining (1980) ("Get Out of My House"), Curse of the Demon (1957) ("Hounds of Love"), Witchfinder General (1968) (Waking the Witch"), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) ("Hello Earth"), The Red Shoes (1948) ("The Red Shoes"),.
- December 1978: Appeared on Saturday Night Live (1975) (episode: "Eric Idle/Kate Bush (1978)"). Performed "The Man With the Child in His Eyes", seated on a piano, to the accompaniment of veteran rock keyboardist Paul Shaffer; and "Them Heavy People", in a raincoat and Fedora hat. Kate was invited by Eric Idle, who is host of that edition; and is visited by Mick Jagger. Paul Simon also dropped in to watch the performance.
- I am a private person, but I don't think I'm obsessively so. It's more that I choose to try and have as normal a life as possible. I don't like to live in the glare of publicity. [As quoted in "Album nearly killed me, says Bush" (1 November 2005)]
- [Speaking in 1993] It's interesting how many young people are getting into old records, because there's a buzz they just can't get from contemporary music. Look how many old songs are hits again.
- [on the songs of The Beatles] They were just so beautifully, beautifully written, and they still stand up, and for pop music it's so well crafted. On every level: not just the songs but the arrangements and the vocal performances.
- I don't think of myself as a musician. I only ever play the piano to accompany myself singing. I could never sit and read a piece of music. At best, I'm an accompanist.
- I like classical music, but I wish I was more eloquent with it. I hear things and think, 'That's beautiful,' but don't know what it is. As you get older, you do get more into instrumental music, don't you? It's as if as you get older you don't want people telling you what they think or what you've got to think or do. Also, those great composers really knew what they were doing. A lot of contemporary art is made by people who haven't got any talent. Art made by talentless people can sometimes really work, but it's not the same as real craft.
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