(Born Catherine Bush on July 30, 1958 in Bexleyheath, Kent,
England) is a British singer-songwriter who has acquired a large number of
extremely devoted fans since her debut in 1978 with the surprise hit "Wuthering
Heights," which was number 1 in the British music charts for 4 weeks.
David Gilmour of Pink Floyd was largely responsible for bringing her to
prominence, funding her first demo sessions and attracting the interest of the
Floyd's record company, EMI. They have since worked together on occasional
projects and in concert.
While her range of styles does not appeal to everyone, Kate Bush is nevertheless widely respected by many musicians, and has been noted as an influence and inspiration by artists as diverse as Jewel, Tori Amos, Björk, Suede, Paula Cole, Sinéad O'Connor, Pat Benatar, Happy Rhodes, The Utah Saints, Big Boi of OutKast and others. The trip hop artist Tricky has stated her work has been a significant influence on him and that she should be treasured more than the Beatles. Though many outside of Europe remain unfamiliar with her work and its profound intensity, others in her profession are willing to declare her works as those of great genius. Even the iconoclastic punk rocker John Lydon (Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols) has declared her work to be "fucking brilliant" and has labelled her "a true original". Suede front-man Brett Anderson has stated that Wuthering Heights was the first single he ever bought.
Even in her earliest works where the piano was a primary instrument, she wove together many diverse influences, melding classical music, rock, and a wide range of ethnic and folk sources, to produce a uniquely impressive amalgalm, and this has continued throughout her career. More than one reviewer has used the term ''surreal'' to describe much of her music, for many of the songs have a melodramatic emotional and musical surrealism that defies easy categorization. It has been observed that even the more joyous of the pieces is often tinged with traces of melancholy, and even the most sorrowful have elements of a unique vitality struggling against all that would oppress it. The unapologetic use of her voice as an instrument to convey a broad range of emotional intensity and subtlety is one thing that characterizes nearly all that she does.
Kate Bush has tackled sensitive and taboo subjects long before it has become fashionable to do so; ''Kashka From Baghdad'' is a song about a gay male couple; ''Breathing'' explores the results of nuclear fallout. Her lyrics are highly literate and reference a wide array of subject matter, often relatively alternative, such as Wilhelm Reich in ''Cloudbusting'', or G. I. Gurdjieff in ''Them Heavy People''. She has worked with Peter Gabriel on two of his albums, most notably on the hits ''Games Without Frontiers'' and ''Don't Give Up'', (the latter a duet); and his appearance on her 1979 television special. Their duet of Roy Harper's ''Another Day'' was discussed for release as a single, but this never came to pass. Harper is another frequent collaborator, appearing on her song ''Breathing'' and her on his albums ''HQ'' and ''Once'' (both also featuring Gilmour).
She has appeared in duets with Midge Ure, Big Country and others on their albums. A wide diversity of respected artists have worked with her on some of her more recent albums ranging from the rock guitarist Jeff Beck, the legendary guitarist Ian Bairnson, jazz/rock drummer Stuart Elliot, the classical guitarist John Williams, the folk artists The Trio Bulgarka, and Prince. Her first television appearances were in , 1978. Bush's only tour took place in early 1979 (April 3 - May 10 ''see details below''), after which she gave only the occasional live performance. A number of reasons have been suggested as to why she abandoned touring, among them her reputed need to be in total control of the final product, which is incompatible with live stage performance, and the suggestion that the death of 21 year old Bill Duffield, severely affected her. Duffield, her lighting director, was killed in an accident during her April 20 concert at The London Palladium when he fell twenty feet through an open trap door on the stage. Kate Bush held a benefit concert on 12 May, with Peter Gabriel and Steve Harley at Londons Hammersmith Odeon for his family. It was this benefit that was recorded and is the only record of Bush's live performance. In 1993, Bush directed and starred in the short film, ''The Line, The Cross and The Curve'', a musical co-starring Miranda Richardson and featuring music from Bush's album ''The Red Shoes'' which was inspired by the classic movie ''The Red Shoes''.
Kate Bush dropped out of the public eye in the late 1990s, though her name occasionally cropped up in the media in connection with rumours of a new album release. In 1999, she gave birth to a baby boy, Bertie, fathered by guitarist Danny MacIntosh. She has confirmed that she is at work on a new album, with the title of one track "How to be Invisible" having been discussed on at least one of her fan Web sites. She was reportedly recording tracks as recently as November 2003 at Abbey Road Studios, but as of fall 2004 no release date for a new album had been announced, more than a decade after her last recordings were released. In December 2004, she wrote a Christmas letter to her fans announcing an album release in 2005. This album was released in late 2005 and have the title Aerial. It´s a dobble album.