Kate’s extraordinary run of chart success continues this weekend as she is STILL No.1 in the UK singles chart for the second week in a row with Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) – we are starting to run out of superlatives here! In the week in which we heard Kate herself say “just extraordinary … quite shocking really, isn’t it? I mean, the whole world’s gone mad” – well, we will happily take the madness! Kate holds off the ubiquitous ‘As it Was’ by Harry Styles at no.2 and a fast rising chart hit ‘Afraid To Feel’ from LF System at No.3. And as we know, this is the third week running that Kate has outsold every other song on the chart, and the chart rule reset two weeks ago has rightfully sent her to the top spot for two weeks.
Kate has written about her second week at the UK Number 1 AND her Irish Number 1 on her official site:
It’s so exciting! RUTH is at No. 1 in the UK for the second week running and is now No. 1 in Ireland. My mother was Irish and would’ve really loved this.
I’ve received so many positive messages in response to the interview on Woman’s Hour this week. I’m a great admirer of Emma Barnett who now presents the show with fellow host, Anita Rani. I really enjoyed Emma’s uncompromising stance on Newsnight and I love to hear her challenging and championing so many different issues on Woman’s Hour now. It seemed the perfect place for me to express my gratitude for the extraordinary attention the song is receiving. It took me a long time to build up the courage to listen to the interview. I was so touched, not just by Emma’s lovely comments but also by Caitlin Moran’s ‘warm up’, as she put it. Both Emma and Caitlin responded with such genuine affection to my work. It means a great deal. It really does.
I’d also like to thank everyone in the team around me, who are just as excited with the scale of the response to the song as I am. We’ve all worked together for many years and I feel very privileged to have people with such a huge range of talents and sensitivities who are involved in the many processes that are needed to get the work out there.
Just a week to go until the last two episodes of Stranger Things. I can’t wait to see how the story is going to unfold. I think we’d better all hang on to our hats…
Thank you so much for your beautiful feedback and for your continued support for the song, Kate
For the 50th episode of The Kate Bush Fan Podcast, Seán has produced a HUGE special to celebrate Kate’s unprecedented global chart success with Running Up That Hill! Seán chats to fans all around the world about what this momentous time for Kate Bush fans means to them in this extraordinary moment. Thanks to everyone who took part. Don’t miss this one! It includes an excerpt from today’s wonderful BBC Radio 4 chat with Kate herself.
The beautiful image of Hello Earth above is taken from the book Finding Kate which we highly recommend – you can order it here.
You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or Spotify or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.
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A wonderful interview with Kate this morning on the Woman’s Hour programme on BBC Radio 4. Kate said the situation was “just extraordinary … quite shocking really, isn’t it? I mean, the whole world’s gone mad.”
“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,” Kate said. “The Duffer brothers created the series and actually we watched it from the first series onwards, so I was already familiar with the series. And I thought what a lovely way for the song to be used in such a positive way. You know, as a kind of talisman almost really for Max. And yeah, I think it’s very touching, actually.”
The news of Kate’s second ever Number 1 in the UK with Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) has become a huge story as the UK midweeks chart indicate that Kate could hold on to the Number 1 spot in her home country for a second week running, a story picked up by the NME here and Official Charts site here, though she of course faces competition from the likes of Drake and LF System…we will see what happens. The BBC have called it a “remarkable resurgence” in popularity for Kate. Music Week have described the result as “incredible.” The Guardian called her UK Number 1 “improbable and inspiring” while Billboard says that Kate has “run a UK chart race like no other artist.” Across the Irish sea, Entertainment.ie and The Journal celebrate her Irish Number 1 chart success here and here.
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Article in Saturday’s The Guardian Newspaper
Kate herself wrote yet another heartfelt post on her official site thanking everyone for supporting the song with the headline “On Top of that Hill.”
The Duffer Brothers have created four extraordinary series of Stranger Things in which the child actors have grown into young adults. In this latest series the characters are facing many of the same challenges that exist in reality right now. I believe the Duffer Brothers have touched people’s hearts in a special way, at a time that’s incredibly difficult for everyone, especially younger people.
By featuring Running Up That Hill in such a positive light – as a talisman for Max (one of the main female characters) – the song has been brought into the emotional arena of her story. Fear, conflict and the power of love are all around her and her friends.
I salute the Duffer Brothers for their courage – taking this new series into a much more adult and darker place. I want to thank them so much for bringing the song into so many people’s lives.
I’m overwhelmed by the scale of affection and support the song is receiving and it’s all happening really fast, as if it’s being driven along by a kind of elemental force.
I have to admit I feel really moved by it all. Thank you so very much for making the song a No 1 in such an unexpected way.
Kate
Sky News report on Kate reaching Number 1 in the UK
By landing at Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart, Kate achieves three all-time Official Chart records simultaneously; the longest-ever gap between Number 1 singles (44 years since Wuthering Heights), longest time taken for a single to reach Number 1 (37 years), and, as well as being the youngest ever with Wuthering Heights aged 19, Kate also becomes the oldest female artist (at 63) ever to score a UK Number 1 single, replacing Cher, who was 52 when Believe topped the Official Singles Chart in 1998. Cher has congratulated Kate on beating her record on Twitter:
Martin Talbot, Chief Executive, Official Charts Company, comments: “It has been fantastic to see the iconic Kate Bush climbing up the Official Singles Chart with Running Up That Hill – and to see her breaking a slew of records into the bargain. The way that a new generation of music fans have taken her classic track to their hearts really does cement Kate’s position as an all-time great, if that were at all necessary.”
BBC Radio 2 had an excellent hour long Sounds of the 80s Kate Bush Special hosted by Gary Davies on Friday night and featuring our own Dave Cross selecting his favourite Kate tracks from that decade – you did an amazing job, Dave! Also featured were Midge Ure, Suzanne Vega, Moya Brennan from Clannad, Sananda Maitreya and Def Leppard‘s Joe Elliott. Listen back to the show here. BBC Radio 6 also had a two-hour Now Playing show hosted by Tom Robinson “celebrating her back catalogue with two hours of listener picked hits, hidden gems, lost classics and vintage album tracks.” Lovely to hear the likes of Houdini and Rocket’s Tail played on the radio! Listen back here.
On Celebrity Gogglebox on Channel 4 in the UK, some well-known faces were gripped by Kate’s song as they watched THAT scene from Stranger Things. Excellent.
Legendary producer, Alan Parsons has congratulated Kate in a Facebook post. He writes: “I am so thrilled for Kate Bush for making music history as the oldest song to hit #1 on the Streaming Charts and hitting #1 on Billboard Global 200! I have always had the highest regard for her artistry. Stuart Elliott and Ian Bairnson played on many of her records, and Andrew Powell (Alan Parson’s Project Orchestral Arranger) produced her first two albums.”
The Sunday Times Style Magazine has a quote from me, Seán (!), on Kate’s fashion sensibilities here. I was also briefly quoted in an article for the prestigious Christian Science Monitor newspaper by Stephen Humphries, syndicated to Yahoo News in the US, here.
Vanity Fair magazine has interviewed Stranger Things actress Sadie Sink about her thoughts on Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God).
What was your familiarity with Kate Bush before filming this season?
I did not know Kate Bush beforehand, but then I immediately skimmed through her work and then became increasingly more obsessed, and then I was listening to her all the time. I cannot even tell you how many times I’ve listened to “Running Up That Hill.” It’s been a lot, but I’m still not sick of it, which is good. [Laughs.] Knowing the emotional connection that she has to that song, and how it’s kind of her anthem, played into it. It’s something about the energy of the song, the synth and the lyrics and everything. It’s so perfect. They could not have picked a more perfect song.
So how were you listening to it as you filmed the sequence, and as you prepared for it?
I think on the day that we were filming the running sequence in episode four, we had the song playing. And I always would have it playing in my headphones. There was an actual cassette in the Walkman and I could listen to it if I wanted to, but I did do a whole day in my own time where I just was home and had it playing on in the background for the entire day, just to see if I would go insane, because that’s what Max was having to do. So I’m like, Oh, my God. Would you get sick of it? How is she doing this all day?
And you did not get sick of it!
Honestly! It just brings up so many emotions, and it’s such an epic sequence, and I feel like it’ll always be tied to that moment.
Drummer Stuart Elliott
Finally, drummer Stuart Elliott, who played drums on Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) and also on the vast majority of Kate’s albums, has been interviewed by the Percussion Discussion podcast and has some great things to say about Kate and the current global success of the song here.
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Official Charts Updates: Kate is number ONE in the UK, Ireland, Australia (2nd week at the top!), New Zealand (2nd week at the top!), Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Austria. She is number 3 in France and remains at number 4 in Germany! She remains in the Top 5 in the USA, dropping one place from 4 to 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA, and she holds at #2 in Canada. Hounds of Love has reached 12 in the US Albums charts, her highest ever US album chart placement.
Billboard Charts: Kate is Number 1 on the Global 200 and No.1 in the US on both the Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales sales charts. Also number 1 in the Billboard regional charts in Belgium, Iceland and Luxembourg.
Spotify: Kate moves down one place to #2 on the Global Weekly Spotify chart after reigning at the very top of the world’s biggest music streaming platform for a week! On the national weekly Spotify charts, she is number 1 in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, UK and USA. Kate is No.1 on the daily Global Spotify viral music chart.
iTunes: Kate is number 3 in the world on iTunes, and number 1 in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand.
Shazam: Kate drops 1 place to number 2 in the most searched for songs on the Shazam app in the world!
A few short weeks ago I’d never have imagined I’d be running this headline. For us fans, it feels historic. Kate has achieved her second NUMBER ONE single in the UK Top 40, something she hasn’t done since Wuthering Heights in 1978. It reflects the huge global chart success that Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) is having after it was used so powerfully in Stranger Things on Netflix. Reaching the summit in her home country in this way feels like her crowning achievement. We’ll have all the media reaction and chart facts and figures in upcoming posts, but for now I’d simply like to congratulate Kate on her astounding success. You deserve every minute of it – Seán x
Dave Cross from HomeGround writes: “When Running Up That Hill first came out it was such a special time for us at Homeground, and all Kate fans as we watched the world catch up with Kate and her beautiful music, and now nearly 40 years later it’s quite extraordinary and a bit surreal to watch it happen again, but this time it’s bigger. Congratulations to Kate, and everyone involved. Dave xx“
And here are some words from Krys on behalf of herself and Peter at HomeGround: “What a wonderful and exciting time we find ourselves in in this crazy world. Number One! Over the last couple of weeks we have watched as Running Up That Hill has exploded around the planet. It shows the power and longevity of this remarkable song. It was powerful in 1985, when most of us were in our teens and twenties. There was nothing like it – it was fresh and full of energy. Now it’s happening to a new audience: a brilliant and positive song for them to enjoy and feel just like we did then and have carried it with us ever since. Congratulations, dearest Kate. With love, Krys xxx“
Kate has posted yet again on her official site as the chart excitement just continues to mount. She sounds very excited. Us too, Kate!
Running Up That Hill…
It’s all so exciting! Since the last post, Running Up That Hill has gone to No 1 in Norway and Austria. This is such great news and we just heard today that it’s up from No 8 to No 4 in the US. The track is being responded to in so many positive ways. I’ve never experienced anything quite like this before! I just want to say a really big thank you to everyone in the US who has supported the song. It’s the first time I’ve had a top ten single over there and now it’s in the top 5! Thank you so much again to the Duffer Brothers – because of their latest, extraordinary series of Stranger Things, the track is being discovered by a whole new audience. Best wishes, Kate
In previous posts last week we touched on the controversy surrounding a UK chart rule, called ACR (accelerated chart ratio), which prevented Kate from reaching Number 1 in the UK charts last Friday for the second time (and preventing all of us fans having a big celebratory party after 42 years!). It had been brought to the attention of the industry by Alan Jones writing about it in Music Week. The great news is that Kate’s record label has finally stepped in to request a reset of the rule for Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) – a revoking of which will hugely help Kate to score her second ever career UK Number 1 single.
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In an article today, the BBC set out to explain what happened, why the rule is there, and why it didn’t work as intended in the case of Kate’s huge viral hit:
“The Top 40 used to consist of songs you could buy in a record shop, and every sale was equal. If a record label hadn’t pressed enough copies of a 7-inch or CD single, it might miss the chart altogether. In some instances, record labels even stopped manufacturing a hit single in order to convince people to buy the album instead (Wet Wet Wet’s Love Is All Around and the Fugees’ Killing Me Softly both suffered this fate). But in the streaming era, every song is available everywhere all the time. This poses the charts with a problem. If you counted streams on a like-for-like basis, classic songs like The Killers’ Mr Brightside would never leave the Top 40; and a modern hit like Ed Sheeran’s Bad Habits would currently be spending its 50th week in the Top 10.
In order to give other artists a chance and keep the charts from becoming stale, the record industry invented something called “accelerated decline“. It works like this. A new record earns one “sale” when it is streamed 100 times on a subscription service like Apple Music or Spotify Premium; or 600 times on an ad-funded service. But older songs need to attract 200 premium / 1,200 ad-funded streams before a “sale” is counted.
The current UK midweeks chart reveals Kate out in front.
Which leads to the bizarre situation where Running Up That Hill was comfortably the most-streamed song in the UK last week (with more than 2.5 million plays) but Harry Styles was able to waltz into the number one spot because his song, As It Was, enjoyed a more favourable streams-to-sales ratio. This week, the playing field has been levelled.
The Chart Supervisory Committee, which oversees the Top 40, revoked the accelerated decline rule for Running Up That Hill over the weekend, meaning its streams are now worth the same as all the singles around it, including Harry Styles.
The situation is unusual, but not entirely without precedent. Under chart rules, the “standard” streaming ratios can be applied to any single if its sales increase by 25% week-on-week. Record labels can also request a “manual reset” to the ratio “in exceptional circumstances, where a track is being scheduled for promotion”. This is exactly what EMI Warners (Peter: you got the record company wrong, BBC!) did for Kate Bush. It’s not clear why the request took a fortnight to be enacted (the rules state that one week’s notice is sufficient) but it seems no-one could deny the feel-good factor of granting the star her first number one single since 1978’s Wuthering Heights. By Monday, the singer was already 5,000 sales ahead of Styles, a lead that’s unlikely to be surpassed.”
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On the Billboard Global 200, Kate is on top of the world, climbing from 3 last week to Number 1 GLOBALLY! This astounding result has Kate’s hit song ranked based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world.
Kate has climbed 4 places on the Billboard Hot 100 with Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) to secure her first ever Top 5 single in the USA, at #4! The song is the top-selling and most-streamed title in the U.S., as it tops the Digital Song Sales chart for a second week and rises to No. 1 on Streaming Songs, only more US radio play and Youtube plays would have pushed her higher in the Top 5. Billboard writes: “Running Up That Hill also completes the longest run to the Hot 100’s top five in terms of years from a debut to the top five – 36 years, nine months and two weeks – for a non-holiday hit in the chart’s 63-year history.”
Canada: Kate has climbed to number TWO on the Canadian Hot 100, her highest ever placing on the singles chart there.
Kate is Number 1 on the UK midweeks on Monday
UK: Kate (currently at number 2 on the UK Top 40) is looking like she may have her second UK number 1 on her hands according to those industry midweeks charts! Word is that she is far outselling Harry Styles who is at #2. France: Kate has today climbed to number 3 in the French charts – her highest ever singles chart position there. Merveilleux!
Iceland: Kate is now no.1 in Iceland!
Belgium: Kate is now No.1 in Belgium!
And, finally, Kate has added a short 1 minute video, “Running Up That Hill 2022 Edit“, to her social media channels and also to the front page of her official site, www.katebush.com. It has the tagline “Created in honour of Stranger Things Season 4“
As Kate Bush continues to storm the charts across the world with Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God), Seán chats to performer Danimay Palmer about the global, sudden success Kate is enjoying right now. Danimay has gained a following recreating Kate’s looks and performances on social media – and this is a chance to check in with someone who represents the younger generation of fans Kate is gathering worldwide! A great chat between two very excited Kate Bush fans.
You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.
Kate has this morning posted yet another message to her fans via her official site, www.katebush.com – delighted for you, Kate! Enjoy it all, richly deserved.
Running Up That Hill has just gone to No 2 in the UK charts and No. 1 in Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Sweden…. How utterly brilliant! It’s hard to take in the speed at which this has all been happening since the release of the first part of the Stranger Things new series. So many young people who love the show, discovering the song for the first time. The response to Running Up That Hill is something that has had its own energy and volition. A direct relationship between the shows and their audience and one that has stood completely outside of the music business. We’ve all been astounded to watch the track explode! Thanks so much to everyone who has supported the song and a really special thank you to the Duffer Brothers for creating something with such heart . All best wishes, Kate
Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) is now nothing short of a global hit single phenomenon and we have the chart update bullet points for you to prove it this evening!
UK: Kate has climbed to #2 in the official UK Top 4o Singles Chart, beating her previous best chart placing with the same song in 1985 when it reached #3. Only Wuthering Heights placed higher for her in the UK chart at #1 in 1978. Kate’s compilation album, The Whole Story, has climbed to Number 19 in the UK albums chart.
Australia: Kate has climbed to #1 (!!!) on the ARIA Australian Singles Chart with ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’. It is her second Australian No.1 single after Wuthering Heights reached the top for three weeks in 1978.
Kate is number 1 in Australia!
Ireland: Kate has climbed to #3 in the Irish Singles Chart with Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)! This beats her previous Irish chart placing with this song in 1985 when she reached number 4. It now matches The Man With The Child In His Eyes as her second highest placed Irish single ever!
New Zealand: Kate is No.1 in New Zealand! This is Kate’s second Number 1 in the country after Wuthering Heights in 1978.
Germany: Kate has climbed 10 places to number 4 on the German Singles charts, almost matching her chart peak with the same song in 1985 when she reached number 3, which was her highest ever German singles chart placing to date.
The Netherlands: Kate has climbed to #3 in the Dutch singles charts! It is now tied with Wuthering Heights in 1978 as her highest ever Dutch single chart placing!
Lithuania: Kate has climbed to the number ONE spot on the Lithuanian singles chart today!
Sweden: Kate is Number 1 on the Swedish singles chart!!
Switzerland: Kate is Number 1 on the Swiss singles chart!!
USA/Canada and more: As we reported earlier this week Kate had her highest ever entry in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart this week at 8 and entered the Canadian chart at number 4. On the Billboard Global 200 Chart Kate is the highest new entry this week at number 3.
And let’s take a look at those streaming/download charts:
Spotify: As you can see above, today Kate has climbed to Number 1 in the Spotify Weekly Global music chart, a week that has seen Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) dominate the world’s largest music streaming service. As of today, Friday, she is having her fourth day on top of the Daily Global Chart, but this weekly one cements that jaw-dropping success. Kate has been getting over 8,000,000 streams of the song each day. We can now confirm that she is Number 1 on the Spotify weekly charts in Ireland, Australia, Belgium, Canada, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, UK and the USA and Top 5 in many more.
iTunes: Kate remains number 1 on iTunes in Ireland, Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, Poland – with the release of a new album by BTS saw tracks by the very popular Korean boy band leaping to the top of many iTunes charts.
Shazam: Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) remains the number 1 most searched for song on the Shazam worldwide.
UK Chart Analysis: A very interesting (and chart geeky!) note about her UK placing at number 2 this week. Writing in Music Week, Alan Jones mentions the impact on Kate’s UK chart placing of a relatively new rule in the UK charts called the ACR or “Accelerated Chart Ratio” designed to keep the chart fresh. He writes: “Despite its continuing presence at the top of the chart, As It Was wasn’t No.1 on digital downloads or streams this week, trailing some distance behind Kate Bush’s resurgent Running Up That Hill on both metrics. In fact, the only measurement on which As It Was was more popular was CD sales, where its one trumps Bush’s zero – and yet, there it sits, No.1 again. Back on the chart for the first time since 1985, when it peaked at No.3, Running Up That Hill’s current popularity is fuelled by its prominent and frequent use in Season 4 of the Netflix sci-fi/drama series Stranger Things. No.8 last week, Running Up That Hill now surges to No.2 (a new peak), with consumption of 44,739 units, made up of 5,863 digital downloads, 38,875 sales-equivalent streams and one 10-inch picture disc dating from 2013. It is, of course, encumbered with ACR, otherwise its combination of 7,470,792 premium audio streams, 1,029,666 ad-funded audio streams and 657,694 premium video streams, when added to its digital sales, would give it a total of 83,613 sales, relegating Styles to No.2 and providing Bush with a richly-deserved second No.1, more than 44 years after her first single, Wuthering Heights, topped the list. Running Up That Hill’s renaissance is also reflected on the album chart, where Bush’s chart-topping 1986 compilation The Whole Story leaps 76-19 (2,729 sales) – its highest position for eight years – while RUTH’s parent album Hounds Of Love is back in the Top 200 at No.84 (1,431 sales).”
ACR explained: On 10 March 2017, Ed Sheeran claimed 9 of the top 10 positions in the UK Singles chart when his album ÷ was released. The large number of tracks from the album on the singles chart, 16 in the top 20, led to a change in how the chart is compiled with tracks from a lead artist eligible for entry limited to three. Also the idea of Standard Chart Ratios (SCR) and Accelerated Chart Ratios (ACR) were introduced, with ACR halving streaming points for records that have been in the charts for a while (which includes most catalogue tracks, excepting certain cases). So there you have it!
Okay, we will bravely try to summarise where we are in terms of the seemingly unstoppable global popularity of Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) in the wake of it appearing on the Stranger Things TV show. Kate’s phenomenal chart numbers and statistics on this have resulted in hundreds of articles and press reports and we will compile these in a separate post. We’ll contain our excitement (eep) to calmly bring you these bullet points this Tuesday, 7th June 2022:
Kate has scored her first ever Top Ten hit in the USA on the Billboard Hot 100 with the highest new entry at number 8. Her previous best was with the same song at number 30 in 1985. 37 years is the longest ever gap between a song’s debut and its first appearance in the US top 10.
Hounds of Love has re-entered the Billboard 200 Album Charts at Number 28, matching Kate’s highest ever US album chart position (The Red Shoes also placed at 28 in 1993).
Hounds of Love tops the Billboard Alternative Albums chart, which of course we’d have swooned at in 1985, but it is technically her first ever number one on a Billboard album chart. It follows Love and Anger’s appearance at the same position on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in 1989. She’s also the highest new entry at number 3 with Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) in the Billboard Global 200, however that one is calculated. We’ll take it!
She has entered the official UK Top 40 at number 8 (a record run of Top 20 hit singles for a female artist across 6 consecutive decades). The UK midweeks chart has her climbing to Number 2, indicating an even higher placing on Friday’s official UK chart.
She entered the Irish Top 40 at 10, Australian Top 40 at 2, New Zealand Top 40 at 2, Canadian Top 100 at 4, and German Singles Chart at 14.
Kate has posted a message about her excitement at this unprecedented response on her official site and also a separate press release.
As of today, Kate has climbed to Number 1 on the Global Daily Spotify Chart for the first time, which means more people are listening to Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) on the world’s largest music streaming platform than any other song. A truly momentous milestone. See all the stats breakdown from today here. It is also the Number 1 song in 18 different countries on Spotify; Australia, Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, UK, USA.
It remains the Number 1 song on iTunes in Ireland, the UK, the USA, Australia, Canada, France, Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg and New Zealand.
It remains the Number 1 most searched for song in the world on the Shazam app.
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We’ll be juggling all the various chart watching as the week progresses, with a keen eye on where she lands in the UK Top 40 on Friday, with Kate’s song having just been added to BBC Radio 1‘s “Hot Recurrents” Playlist (probably first time she’s been play-listed on that station since the 1990s!) A clear indication of how young the audience for Running Up That Hill is now skewing – Kate is usually a BBC Radio 2 fixture when she enters the charts.
The UK press have typically shared in the excitement with articles discussing Kate’s work. Alexis Petridis suggests “10 Kate Bush tracks to delight new listeners” in The Guardian here while Rebecca Nicholson on why Kate is timeless in the Observer here. She writes: “If any song can steel itself against over familiarity, it’s Running Up That Hill. Whether it is for the first time or the 500th time, you still hear it now and think, what the hell was that? And then you play it again.” Many, many media outlets in the UK, Ireland and elsewhere ran stories when Kate posted her message on her official site. It’s always cause for excitement.
Mike Chester, Warner Records EVP of radio and commerce
Over in the USA, the world’s largest music market, Mike Chester, Warner Records EVP of radio and commerce has said: “Kate Bush’s global resurgence by way of her song’s integration into Stranger Things has catapulted her back into the zeitgeist of popular culture. This exciting moment of discovery moved us to service the song to all formats of radio, immediately. We’re thrilled that our partners at the DSPs and radio are reacting so favourably to this watershed moment.”
According to an excellent article in Primetimer: “That means Bush’s record company is pushing the song like it’s a brand new hit, and it’s looking for airplay on stations that play current tunes instead of stations that only play classic rock. That’s incredibly rare, because labels want listeners to focus on what’s new. By reactivating “Running Up That Hill,” the record company is indicating its faith that the song is going to outlast this first wave of attention.” A strategy that has worked in the past for songs like “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen and “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers. The article goes on to say that “After decades as a beloved alternative artist, she’s suddenly in the mainstream alongside Harry Styles and Lizzo. It’s hard enough for an alt rock artist to crack the top of the Hot 100, but it’s unprecedented for a legacy alt rocker to make her first top 10 appearance after so many years.”
If you want to read some very in-depth geeky US chart discussion on what it is about Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) that made it so rife for this kind of revitalisation – well some Billboard staffers discuss this question and more here. And we recommend this excellent blog post by Sean Ross over on Radio Insight which discusses Kate’s career journey on that heavily formatted medium, US radio.
Stranger Things’ music supervisor Nora Felder
Stranger Things’ music supervisor Nora Felder, who has given a few interviews at this stage, is once again interviewed by Billboard and asked about the current chart success: “With regard to the phenomenon of this surreal Kate Bush moment, I’d have to say my reaction is still, “Ummm, is this really happening?!?” I was hopeful that Kate’s song would resonate for the show and be significant for today’s youth for a variety of reasons. But honestly, who could have possibly imagined or foreseen this lightning-in-a bottle moment?….for me, that reflects the power of a meaningful, timeless song – such as “Running Up That Hill” – and how its significance can be revived and re-conceived when it is married to a remarkable story such as Stranger Things …this season and Kate Bush’s song really seem to touch on the experience of alienation and emotional struggle that a lot of teens have been and continue to be going through, albeit in different ways…it was such a breath of fresh air to hear Kate Bush’s public message this weekend, particularly since it was my understanding that she’s known to be a very private person. I also believe that her decision process/mantra in relation to her art (the music) is simply to follow her heart. I truly believe her decisions throughout life are not motivated by anything else other than that. She clearly loves Stranger Things, and has a deep respect for the Duffer brothers’ vision. The fact that she allowed her song to be aligned with such powerful messages warms my heart. It makes me incredibly happy that a whole new audience is re-experiencing her song, and hope it can provide a source of strength, as many run up their own hills in life.”
Another excellent article in The Ringer by Nate Rogers has this to say: “Even when considering the way charts are changing to include more older music, though, the Kate Bush resurgence is still an aberration. “We have songs that kind of bubble up and then bubble back down,” Jason Lipshutz, the executive director of music at Billboard, explains, “and then you have the other instances like this, where it’s, like, a monumental leap on the charts.” Rogers goes on to say that “…the supernova pop-cultural moment surrounding “Running Up That Hill” has been building for decades.”
Entertainment Tonight make good use of an archive interview with Kate
Finally, while we’re in this crazy bubble of activity, give a listen to a 14 minute discussion today about Kate’s return to the US charts on the All Of It podcast here.
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Kate has released a new statement to the press via her PR representative reiterating her praise for the show Stranger Things and how touched she is by the response to her song. The above image of Kate was included with the press release, a version of which was originally used on the rear cover of the Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) single sleeve.
“When the first series came out, friends kept asking us if we’d seen ‘Stranger Things’, so we checked it out and really loved it. We’ve watched every series since then, as a family. When they approached us to use Running Up That Hill, you could tell that a lot of care had gone into how it was used in the context of the story and I really liked the fact that the song was a positive totem for the character, Max. I’m really impressed by this latest series. It’s an epic piece of work – the shows are extremely well put together with great characters and fantastic SFX. It’s very touching that the song has been so warmly received, especially as it’s being driven by the young fans who love the shows. I’m really happy that the Duffer Brothers are getting such positive feedback for their latest creation. They deserve it.” – Kate Bush
MASSIVE NEWS! Kate has secured her highest ever placement in the US charts, as Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) enters at number 8! This is her first Top Ten hit single in the US. We cannot believe this. Huge result for Kate! More updates later!
