Born on July 30: Kate Bush, the "Stranger Things" sensation

Catherine Bush, as unclassifiable and unique as ever, was born in Bexleyhealth (England) in 1958 and is celebrating her 66th birthday today. Released in 1985 and brought back into the spotlight by the Netflix series in 2022, Kate Bush’s hit “Running Up That Hill” hasn’t aged a bit...

Independent and demanding of both herself and her audience, the English singer has never done anything like anyone else. At just 19 years old, she became the first singer-songwriter to have her very first single, “Wuthering Heights,” reach number one on the charts in her home country. For four weeks in a row, no less!

With the patience of a master craftsman, she has released only about ten albums over the course of her 45-year career and has performed live only twice—in 1979 and in 2014 for a 22-concert residency atthe Hammersmith Apollo in London. She has also taken the stage on a handful of occasions alongside David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), notably to perform “Comfortably Numb” at the Royal Albert Hall in 2002.

Spanning the years 1979 to 2011, each of Kate Bush’s ten albums has a distinctive character, often drawing on Baroque influences. Despite the melodic complexity and apparent inaccessibility of her work, the singer manages, as if by magic, to reach a wide audience without ever resorting to the easy route. “The Man With A Child In His Eyes” (from the 1978 album "The Kick Inside"), “How To Be Invisible” (from "Aerial" in 2005), “Babooshka” and “Army Dreamer” (from“Never For Ever” in 1980) as well as “Wow” (from “Lionheart” in 1978), "Sat In Your Lap" (from "The Dreaming" in 1982) and the title track from the 1993 album "The Red Shoes," "The Big Sky" (from "Hounds Of Love" in 1985) and "Between A Man And A Woman" (from "The Sensual World" in 1989) are all gems that stand the test of time.

Not content with having influenced two generations of female singers (Goldfrapp and Emilie Simon, among many others) and even a handful of fashion designers like Alexander McQueen, her music demands an effort from the listener and only reveals itself after several listens. There are, however, a few die-hard critics who find her high-pitched voice absolutely unbearable, but, as is well known, you can’t please everyone...

Now completely free from the constraints of the music business, Kate Bush released two albums in succession in 2011 on her own label, Fish People: "The Director’s Cut," featuring versions of some of her songs that are closer to her original vision, as well as "50 Words For Snow," whose theme—accompanied by piano—is, of course, snow.

In 2022, thanks to the fourth season of the Netflix series “Stranger Things,” she won over Generation Z without even trying. Her song “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” is a central element of this season, much to the delight of actress Wynona Ryder, who appears in it. It even went viral on TikTok. So all the teens and young adults of 2026 know Kate Bush!

In May 2026, Kate Bush won the award for Best Animated Film for“Little Shrew (Snowflake)” at the Carmarthen Bay Film Festival in Wales. This black-and-white animated short film runs about four minutes. It conveys a deeply pacifist message. It tells the story of a little shrew trying to make its way through a city bombed and devastated by war on a winter night. Completely vulnerable in the midst of this “world of giants” and drone strikes, the little rodent moves forward as if guided by a colorful spiritual presence that symbolizes hope. Kate Bush was inspired by the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022. This project was produced in collaboration with the charity War Child (also supported by Robert Smith of The Cure) to raise funds to support child victims of war around the world. In the past, she has also used puppets, shadow puppets, and more traditional-style animations to illustrate certain tracks from her album “50 Words For Snow,” such as “Misty” and “Wild Man.”

And since good news never comes alone, she recently confirmed to the BBC her intention to return to the recording studio to potentially release a follow-up to “50 Words For Snow,” her latest album released in 2011.

Photo: To promote the album “Hounds of Love,” Kate Bush held an extremely rare press conference at the London Planetarium on September 9, 1985