Why the music of Kate Bush spans generations

Her resurgent popularity shows that Kate Bush is seemingly unfettered by the restrictions of both time nor space, writes Lorna Piatti-Farnell.

Keen observers of popular culture will have become aware of the recent inclusion of Kate Bush’s 1985 song ‘Running Up That Hill’ into the storyline of the widely-watched Netflix show Stranger Things. As a result of this inclusion, Kate Bush’s classic song was catapulted (again) into the mainstream musical scene, experiencing a true resurgence in popularity and ranking highly in download charts around the world.

An anecdotal look would seem to suggest that, somehow, Kate Bush is reaching greater fame in 2022 than she did during the 1980s, a prolific creative period that many would rank (unkindly) as the peak of her musical journey. And yet, while there is no denying the instant hold that Kate Bush’s music seems to be having on current listeners, there is definitely something strange in suggesting that her fame was only moderate in previous decades.

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