FEATURE:
The Deepest Understanding
IN THIS PHOTO: Big Boi/PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Schmelling
Kate Bush’s loving and loyal fanbase before, I wanted to take it in a different direction this time. I am going to discuss Bush’s famous fans. I will come to her 2014 residency, Before the Dawn, and some of the well-known figures who were in attendance through the twenty-two nights. I will finish by including artists who are influenced by Bush and, therefore, are big fans. I know that every artist has a certain degree of popularity. When you think about Kate Bush, she draws in fans from all corners and areas of the world. I love the fact she has such a wide-ranging fanbase that has swelled through the years. This article from a few years back highlights just a few of the big names who are devoted to Bush’s music and exceptional talent:
“This woman’s work has found favour in some far-flung corners of the music industry, gaining her a whole host of celebrity fans. Lily Allen, Holly Johnson and Paul Rutherford from Frankie Goes To Hollywood attended Kate’s comeback shows, as did Lily Allen and Madonna, who also turns 60 next month. Fellow Eighties icons Annie Lennox and Toyah never tire of singing her praises, and Tricky and Sir Bob Geldof swear by her.
Her most famous hip-hop fans are Outkast: “Kate Bush’s music opened my mind up,” the dandyish André 3000 once gushed. “She was so bugged-out, man, but I felt her. She’s so fuckin’ dope, so underrated and so off the radar.” Big Boi went further and once spent a month in England “just to find her”. They eventually met during the Before the Dawn shows. “I talked to her and drank some wine and it was just fucking incredible,” he said. Tupac Shakur was also reportedly an admirer.
Public Image Limited’s John Lydon is similarly enraptured by the idiosyncratic songstress. “Kate Bush is a true original,” the former Sex Pistol once said. “It’s not nice that she’s been imitated by artists like Torrid Aimless, sorry, Tori Amos.” Ouch! Indeed, Lydon went as far as to write a song for Kate in the form of a little number entitled Bird In Hand. The lyrics concerned the illegal exportation of parrots from South America. “I don’t think she understood it,” he said back in 2007. “I think she thought it was a reference to her, which it certainly wasn’t!”
IN THIS PHOTO: Gemma Arterton
I know that actor Guy Pearce is a big fan of Kate Bush. Not only does he love her voice and unique talent; when two massive anthologies were published compiling letters, photos, interviews and all sort of fan-made tributes to Kate Bush, Pearce talked about his love of one of his favourite artists of all time:
“Homeground: The Kate Bush Magazine, Anthology One Wuthering Heights to The Sensual World runs to 648 pages, while Homeground: The Kate Bush Magazine: Anthology Two: The Red Shoes to 50 Words for Snow runs to 568 pages.
The books are available at Amazon, Play, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones and all online booksellers - or direct from the publishers, Crescent Moon.
Actor Guy Pearce, a longtime fan of the singer, has said of the anthologies: "For a Kate Bush fan there was nothing more satisfying, other than perhaps Kate herself dropping around for a quick cup of tea, than the arrival of a much awaited issue of HomeGround.
"Just as the illusion of being the one and only devotee reaches overwhelming heights a surprise package is delivered as a joyous reminder of Kate Bush's hold over, not just me, but many of us”.
Pearce has been a fan for some time now. Another actor that holds a lot of affection for Kate Bush is Gemma Arterton. In 2010, she revealed how she would like to play Bush in a film someday:
“Gemma Arterton has named 'Wuthering Heights' singer Kate Bush as the musical artist she'd most like to play in a movie.
The Tamara Drewe star told ITN that she would prefer not to play a living musician, fearing that they might not endorse her portrayal.
She said: "Kate Bush, maybe, in the future. There are a few people [I'd like to play], but they're still living. I just think it's weird playing someone who's still alive. If they're rock stars they can be quite scary, people like Courtney Love.
"I love Kate Bush and I reckon I could do a good Kate Bush impression but she's still alive - good!"
On the prospect of starring in a musical biopic, the British actress commented: "I feel like I'm a rock star trapped in an actress's body, I'm just rubbish, but luckily I might play a rock star one time. I don't have to worry about writing music”.
Maybe it is a bit late for Arterton to play Bush. If there is a biopic, maybe they will go for someone a little younger – though Arterton could play Bush from The Red Shoes (1993) onwards. It is so cool that Bush has such amazing fans!
IN THIS PHOTO: David Mitchell/PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Stuart
Arterton was one of the many who attended Before the Dawn in 2014. I will not double-up here, so I will name-check some of the artists who were there in the section where I mention Bush’s influence on other artists. In terms of Bush’s appeal and influence, she has engaged fans from different generations and professions. Think of authors Neil Gaiman, Jeanette Winterson, David Mitchell (who contributed words to Before the Dawn and wrote the foreword to the book of lyrics, How to Be Invisible, in 2018). Comedian Jo Brand was also there. Other comedic figures who adore Kate Bush include Stephen Fry (who was part of her 2011 album, 50 Words for Snow). Stella McCartney and Kate Moss were at the Before the Dawn shows. Toss in another band of comic including Bill Bailey, old friends Lenny Henry and Dawn French, plus Frank Skinner and Noel Fielding (who dressed as Kate Bush in her Wuthering Heights video for Let’s Dance for Comic Relief in 2011). I have mentioned Gemma Arteton. Other actors at Before the Dawn were Miranda Richardson (who was one of the stars of Bush’s 1993 film, The Line, the Cross and the Curve), Stephen Fry, Jude Law, Keira Knightley, Ian McKellen, Terry Jones and Kirsten Dunst.
IN THIS PHOTO: Charli XCX/PHOTO CREDIT: Ira Chernova for METAL
Musicians, of course, are going to be massive Kate Bush. At Before the Dawn were legends from the likes of Orbital, Prefab Sprout, Pulp, and Sparks. Another artist who appears on 50 Words for Snow and Bush counts as a close personal friend is Elton John (she was at his wedding to David Furnish). Of course, having celebrity fans is both cool and shows far your influence stretches. It is the music community and the artists who have come through and those who are new that matter most. In terms of the scale of the artists Bush has inspired, there are some seriously impressive names!
“Musicians who have cited Bush as an influence include Beverley Craven, Regina Spektor, Ellie Goulding, Charli XCX, Tegan and Sara, k.d. lang, Paula Cole, Kate Nash, Bat for Lashes, Erasure, Alison Goldfrapp of Goldfrapp, Rosalía, Tim Bowness of No-Man, Chris Braide, Kyros, Aisles, Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, Darren Hayes, Grimes, Solange Knowles, and Steven Wilson. Nerina Pallot was inspired to become a songwriter after seeing Bush play "This Woman's Work" on Wogan. Coldplay took inspiration from "Running Up That Hill" to compose their single "Speed of Sound". In 2015, Adele stated that the release of her third studio album was inspired by Bush's 2014 comeback to the stage.
In addition to those artists who state that Bush has been a direct influence on their own careers, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for her work including Tori Amos, Annie Lennox, Björk, Florence Welch, Little Boots, Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins, Dido, Sky Ferreira, St. Vincent, Fiona Apple, Lily Allen, Anohni of Antony and the Johnsons , Stevie Nicks, Steve Rothery of Marillion, and André Matos. According to an unauthorised biography, Courtney Love of Hole listened to Bush among other artists as a teenager.
IN THIS PHOTO: Tricky/PHOTO CREDIT: Mustafah Abdulaziz for The New Statesman
Tricky wrote an article about The Kick Inside, saying: "Her music has always sounded like dreamland to me.... I don't believe in God, but if I did, her music would be my bible". Suede front-man Brett Anderson stated about Hounds of Love: "I love the way it's a record of two halves, and the second half is a concept record about fear of drowning. It's an amazing record to listen to really late at night, unsettling and really jarring". John Lydon, better known as Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, declared her work to be "beauty beyond belief". Rotten once wrote a song for her, titled "Bird in Hand" (about exploitation of parrots) that Bush rejected. Bush was one of the singers whom Prince thanked in the liner notes of 1991's Diamonds and Pearls. In December 1989, Robert Smith of the Cure chose "The Sensual World" as his favourite single of the year, The Sensual World as his favourite album of the year, and included "all of Kate Bush" in his list of "the best things about the eighties".
Kele Okereke of Bloc Party said about "Hounds of Love": "The first time I heard it I was sitting in a reclining sofa. As the beat started I was transported somewhere else. Her voice, the imagery, the huge drum sound: it seemed to capture everything for me. As a songwriter you're constantly chasing that feeling". Rufus Wainwright named Bush one of his top ten gay icons”.
I wanted to spend a few moments, not only demonstrating how many artists from various walks of life are inspired by Kate Bush. Like all icons and major innovators, her brilliance and relevance is felt right across the arts! From directors and actors through to journalists like Caitlin Moran and broadcaster such as Mark Radcliffe, she is someone who has such an adoring following. This will only swell and expand when we know…
IN THIS PHOTO: Robert Smith/PHOTO CREDIT: Andy Vella/The Guardian
WHAT she decides to do next.