London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 14, 2026

Kate Bush excited to be discovered by new audience after 37 years thanks to Netflix 'Stranger Things'

Kate Bush excited to be discovered by new audience after 37 years thanks to Netflix 'Stranger Things'

The 63-year-old singer said, 'The thought of all these really young people hearing the song for the first time, I think it’s very special."

Kate Bush has admitted she is shocked and excited to be discovered by young people thanks to the recent chart success of Running Up That Hill.

The 63-year-old singer's1985 hit has climbed back to the top of the charts after being featured in popular Netflix sci-fi show Stranger Things and Bush has given a rare interview to BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour as a result.

Bush told host Emma Barnett: “It’s just extraordinary. I mean it’s such a great series, I thought that the track would get some attention.

“But I just never imagined that it would be anything like this. It’s so exciting. But it’s quite shocking really, isn’t it? I mean, the whole world’s gone mad.”

Kate Bush, pictured in 1979, is fiercely private.


She added: “What’s really wonderful, I think, is this is a whole new audience who, in a lot of cases, they’ve never heard of me and I love that.

“The thought of all these really young people hearing the song for the first time and discovering it is, well, I think it’s very special.”

Running Up That Hill has just reached number one in the UK Singles Chart thanks to a rule change that allowed the number of streams of the song to count to more equivalent 'sales' of newer tracks.

By hitting the top spot the track broke three records, including the longest time taken for a song to reach number one, 37 years after it was originally released.

Stranger Things' Max Mayfield listens to Running Up That Hill on her Walkman.


Bush also secured the record for the longest gap between number one singles, 44 years after her debut single, Wuthering Heights, hit the top spot in 1978.

And at 63-years-old the British singer-songwriter is now the oldest female artist to achieve a UK number one single.

In the fourth series of 80s-set Stranger Things, currently airing on Netflix, Max Mayfield, played by Sadie Sink, listens to the song on her Walkman in an attempt to ground herself to the real world.

Bush said: “I thought what a lovely way for the song to be used in such a positive way, as a kind of Talisman almost really for Max. I think it’s very touching, actually.”

Kate Bush performing on her debut tour in 1979.


She added she wants new fans to “take from it what they want," from the song.

Running Up That Hill has been number on in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland since the show aired and achieved a peak of number four in the US charts.

Famously private Bush - also known for hits Babooshka and Don't Give Up - released her last album 50 Words For Snow in 2011.

In 2014 she performed a 22 date residency at London's Hammersmith Apollo theatre. It was her first series of live shows since her debut tour in 1979. Tickets sold out within 15 minutes.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Condemns Houthi Actions and Warns of Red Sea Threat to Global Trade
UK and Solomon Islands Open Wildlife Photography Exhibition in Honiara
UK Small Businesses Face Continued Cash Flow and Tax Pressures
Greatham Marsh Restoration Restores Tidal Wetland in Hartlepool After More Than 200 Years
UK Health Regulator Urges University Students to Check Meningitis and Measles Vaccination Status
Mining Remediation Authority Completes Major Ground Stabilization Works in Scottish Community
UK Food Crime Investigators Seize 33 Tonnes of Illegal Food in Multi-Agency Operation
Technical Qualification Uptake Hits Record High as Advanced Mathematics Results Improve
UK Summer Temperatures on Course to Challenge Long-Standing Records, Met Office Says
UK Farmers Bring Forward Cereal Harvests as Drought Threatens Yields
Wildfires Surge Across England and Wales as Fire Chiefs Report Record July
UK Nurses Warn of Heat Risks as Hospital Staff Struggle With Extreme Temperatures
Southern Water Seeks Drought Order for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Amid Water Shortages
UK Heatwave Pushes West London Temperature to 38.1 Degrees as Health Alerts Continue
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in Second Quarter Despite Global Uncertainty
China’s Kimi Launches AI-Focused Credit Card With Agricultural Bank of China and American Express
UK Residents Gather to Watch Rare Partial Solar Eclipse
Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice Faces Criticism Over Legal Threat Against Guardian Journalist
Michael Forsyth Elected Speaker of the House of Lords
Cambridge Researchers Launch £20 Million Human Organoid Drug Testing Programme
Heathrow Loses European Passenger Traffic Lead to Istanbul Airport
Households Near New UK Electricity Pylons to Receive £250 Annual Energy Bill Discount
UK Government Estimates Zero-Hours Contract Ban Could Cost Employers Up to £3 Billion a Year
Robert Jenrick Leaves Conservatives for Reform UK in Major Parliamentary Defection
UK Police Chiefs Urge Government to Block Early Release of Andrew Harper Killers
UK Government Holds Emergency Cobra Meeting as Drought and Heatwave Raise Wildfire Risks
Former Labour Adviser Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for China Held Privileged Access as Top Party Donor
Turkish Parliament Passes Landmark Bill Granting Conditional Amnesty to Disarmed PKK Members
Donald Trump Warns FIFA Against Ousting Gianni Infantino Amid Revolt by Global Football Leaders
Jeff Bezos Joins Investor Group Closing In on $6 Billion Liverpool FC Stake
Police Conduct Cross-Border Raids Against Northern England Drug Network
Nicola Sturgeon Protested at Edinburgh Festival Fringe Event
Major UK Retail Chain Enters Administration With One Hundred Fifty-Four Stores Set to Close
Heathrow Renews Call for Runway Expansion After Losing Europe’s Busiest Airport Ranking
Government Condemns One Million Pound Thames Water Executive Bonus Amid Drought
NHS England Says More Than One Hundred Thousand Hepatitis C Patients Have Been Cured
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband Calls for End to West Bank Settler Violence
UK Prepares for Deepest Partial Solar Eclipse Since Nineteen Ninety-Nine
UK Heatwave Triggers Amber Health Alerts as Economic Losses Reach Four Point Four Billion Pounds
UK Offers Electricity Bill Discounts to Communities Hosting New Power Infrastructure
Bank of England Expected to Hold Interest Rates at Three Point Seven Five Percent
UK Government Moves to Ban Subscription Traps and Misleading Retail Discounts
Andy Burnham Gives Councils New Powers to Block Betting and Vape Shops
UK Councils to Receive Sweeping Planning Powers to Ban New Vape and Betting Shops
Nicola Sturgeon Says She Has No Contact With Estranged Husband After SNP Embezzlement Case
Police Arrest Two Men After Aberdeenshire Defense Technology Office Break-In
Greater Manchester Councils Gain Powers to Restrict New Vape and Betting Shops
Coroner Finds Treasury Workplace Failures Contributed to Personal Assistant’s Suicide
English and Welsh Courts Ban Meta Smart Glasses Over Recording and Privacy Risks
Strait of Hormuz Disruption Could Double UK Inflation and Trigger Recession, Forecasters Warn
×