Kate Bush Thanks Fans as ‘Running Up That Hill’ Hits One Billion Streams
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Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” has continued its ascent, now reaching one billion streams. The song, originally released in 1985, saw a resurgence of interest after being prominently featured in the latest season of Stranger Things last summer.
“A billion streams!” Bush wrote on her website. “I have an image of a river that suddenly floods and becomes many, many tributaries — a billion streams — on their way to the sea. Each one of these streams is one of you.”
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She added, “Thank you so much for sending this song on such an impossibly astonishing journey. I’m blown away.”
The track, the first single from Bush’s Hounds of Love LP, played a pivotal role in Stranger Things, ultimately saving the character of Max (Sadie Sink). It quickly went viral and returned to the charts decades after its original release.
The show’s music supervisor, Nora Felder, told Variety that the song was perfect for the scene. “In the face of Max’s painful isolation and alienation from others, a ‘deal with god’ could heart-wrenchingly reflect Max’s implicit belief that only a miracle of unlikely understanding and show of support could help her climb the hills of life before her,” Felder noted.
Last summer, Bush reflected on the song’s sudden success during a rare interview with BBC Radio 4. “I thought that the track would get some attention,” she noted. “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.”
“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 singer added. “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.”
Earlier this year, Bush was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame alongside Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine, and the Spinners. She told Rolling Stone, “I have to admit I’m completely shocked at the news of being inducted into the Hall of Fame! It’s something I just never thought would happen… It’s such a huge honor.”
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