FEATURE:
Kate Bush in 2026
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a promotional photo from 1989
How Do We Keep Potential Fans Engaged Without Any Big Anniversaries?
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NEXT year…
IN THIS IMAGE: And If I Only Could I’d Make a Deal With God by Susie Hamilton
is going to be very different to this one when it comes to Kate Bush. As I have said in another feature, this one has been pretty busy in terms of album anniversaries. We have celebrated forty-five years of Never for Ever, forty years of Hounds of Love and twenty years of Aerial. Kate Bush gave an interview earlier in the year about the animated video for Little Shrew (Snowflake). She has posted updates and there has been a lot of activity. Bush put out Best of the Other Sides. This was released because of fan demand. There was War Child Presents Sound and Vision and Kate Bush bringing together fifty-two artists to interpret a lyric from Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God). I have missed some stuff out. The point is, there has been a lot happening this year. In 2027, it will be the forty-fifth anniversary of The Dreaming (her fourth studio album) and fifty years since she signed with EMI. 2028 is going to truly huge. However, what comes next year? I have written a feature about the fortieth anniversary of Hounds of Love’s fortieth anniversary. The Dreaming’s Sat in Your Lap turns forty-five. No big album anniversaries. Kate Bush cannot really remaster anything more. In terms of other anniversaries, I guess there is some stuff from 1976. Apart from Kate Bush taking her driving test twice in 1976, there is not too much we can celebrate from that year. However, that EMI deal is a milestone: “Kate finally settles a recording deal with EMI. The contract is for four years, with options at the end of the second and third year. Kate receives a 3,000-Pound advance [and 500 Pounds for publication rights]. EMI are content for Kate to take time to write songs, sharpen her lyrics, train her voice and generally have time to "grow up". Kate pursues her dancing, first at the Elephant and Castle, South London. But after seeing Lindsay Kemp perform in Flowers, she attends his classes at the Dance Centre in Covent Garden. After Kemp goes to Australia, Kate trains with Arlene Phillips, choreographer of Hot Gossip. [It is probably at this time that Kate's association with Gary Hurst and Stewart Avon-Arnold, her longtime dancing partners, begins.]”. This year has provided us some treats. I do like Best of the Other Sides, so I wonder whether there could be any reissues or compilations that could satisfy fan demand.
After Stranger Things used Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and its streaming numbers were given another boost – something I will focus on in another feature -, there is building interest in Kate Bush. More and more fans coming her way. We cannot know for sure whether Bush will release a new album next year. She may wait until 2027. Of course, there will be opportunities for Kate Bush to post to her official website. I am sure that there will be stuff happening. Maybe another project like she did with artists creating images based on some famous lyrics. That was tied to Hounds of Love turning forty or Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) very much being in the spotlight. I can see nothing coming next year that would provoke celebration and a lot of new fan interest. Journalists tend to tie any celebration and specials around album anniversaries. Rarely spotlighting albums and work unless there is a big anniversary or something like the Stranger Things boom. 2026 is going to be a bit sparse in that sense. Kate Bush is aware that a lot of new listeners have discovered her work, so they will need to look back and do their own research and digging. Will Kate Bush give any interviews and will there be any news coming? Maybe not. I think there will be a lot of requests from filmmakers to use her music, though I don’t feel we will get any big viral moments where one of her songs has this new lease because it is used on the small or big screen. I don’t know if any Kate Bush books will be published, so it is all up in the air at the moment. Unless there is new music released, will there be a bit of an issue keeping new fans engaged or recruiting new ones?
I guess it is not a major concern. The momentum Kate Bush’s music has at the moment and the fact many modern-day huge artist are inspired by her and cite her as such means that this will keep some heat on her. However, next year is one where there are few natural and notable opportunities to keep her music in the spotlight. I am sure that Kate Bush will be active in other ways. I did get the impression, when she spoke with Emma Barnett at the end of last year, that she was done when it comes to retrospection and anything other than new music. That keenness to do something new and engage in the recording process. If we don’t get an album until, say, 2027, what fills the gap in 2026? I would say it is a perfect opportunity to remind people about Kate Bush’s music in general and how we do not need to peg everything to big anniversaries or wait for these viral moments. I do hope there is more exploration of songs and albums not talked about as much as others. I have been looking more closely at The Sensual World and how fascinating that period was. In 1989, as we headed to the end of a decade where Kate Bush released four albums, Bush was releasing some of her most remarkable work. I do hope that we get a documentary or two. Kate Bush is probably not keen to feature in any of them, but I know for a fact one that I am involved in comes out next month. Maybe there will be books about her. Perhaps another entry in the 33 1/3 series (after Leah Kardos’s Hounds of Love book from last year). It is vital that we keep hooked those who may have discovered Kate Bush through Stranger Things. Or younger listeners that have discovered her in other ways. Also, hook in those who do not know about her. 2026 is not going to have many anniversary opportunities and these projects where Kate Bush’s name will be out there. It is going to be hard to follow…
SUCH an eventful 2025.