Kate Bush

While introspective female singer-songwriters have received widespread attention since the 1960s, in recent years few have received the critical and commercial attention bestowed on British prodigy Kate Bush. Born in England on July 30, 1958, the acclaimed singer-songwriter began composing original music while still in her early teens, cutting her first demo in the mid-1970s; when Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour heard the tape he arranged a deal for Bush with his label, EMI Records. In 1977 the young talent recorded her debut album, Kick Inside. Thanks to the U.K. No. 1 single "Wuthering Heights," the album was a huge critical and commercial success in Britain, selling over a million copies; Bush, not yet 18, was a superstar. Her 1979 follow-up Lionheart was supported by what turned out to be Bush's only live tour - though she has since made rare public appearances, mostly for charity, Kate Bush has not toured in nearly 20 years, making her one of the more iconoclastic musicians of recent decades.

Bush returned to the British charts in 1980 with Never For Ever and its Top 5 spin-off single "Babooshka." Following 1982's The Dreaming (a U.K. No. 3 album), Bush built a home studio and began producing her own albums, marking her independence with 1985's Hounds Of Love. The single "Running Up That Hill" reached the Top 5 in Britain and broke Bush in the U.S., where it entered the Top 40. In 1989 she returned with The Sensual World, followed by 1993's Red Shoes, her first album to reach the U.S. Top 30. With a fiercely loyal cult following on both sides of the Atlantic, Kate Bush continues to pursue her music, ignoring trends and industry pressures and all the while inspiring other artists, such as Tori Amos. Her most recent release was a 1994 live album recorded during the late 1970s.

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