'Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever' as Kate Bush turns 65
July 30, 2023
If this weekend you encounter a group of people all dressed in red and attempting a synchronized choreography to Kate Bush's debut single from 1978, "Wuthering Heights," chances are it's not performance art or a religious cult, but an expression of love for the iconic British singer, who turns 65 on July 30.
Launched in 2016, "The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever," is an annual event held in cities around the world. From Melbourne to Dublin via Amsterdam and Cologne, to name but a few, people attempt to recreate the dance moves from one of the two music videos made for the song, along with Bush's costume of red dress and tights, accented with a black scarf around her waist.
A new audience
The fact that most of the people who take part in the event weren't even born when the song was released is testament to Bush's enduring appeal. That also got a huge boost last year, when her 1985 hit "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" landed back in the charts again, thanks to being used in a pivotal scene in Season 4 of the hit Netflix series "Stranger Things." That led to a whole new generation discovering the legendary artist.
Breakout star and innovator
Kate Bush was just 19 years old when "Wuthering Heights," inspired by the Emily Bronte novel of the same name, was released and became an immediate smash hit. Despite Bush's eclectic musical style and eccentric aesthetics, and her fondness for lyrics based on obscure or esoteric subjects, she landed hit after hit through the 1980s and into the '90s, before taking a 12-year break to focus on her family.
Her innovative approach extended to technology, as she became the first musician to have a wireless headset microphone made for her. This allowed her to sing while also using her arms to dance — a technology that's now standard for many live performers.
Bush continues to release new work and has even played live in recent years. And in 2014, she became the first woman to have eight albums in the UK charts at the same time. She remains hugely influential for many other artists, with Icelandic singer Björk calling her "Mother" earlier this month in Interview magazine.
An earnest yet silly iconoclast
Björk has also spoken critically of the sexist way the mainstream music media tended to write about Bush in past decades, dismissing her as a "crazy witch" in an interview with NME. That ignorance may have come from an inability to accept the very qualities that have made Kate Bush so beloved by her fans: a certain iconoclasm and a fierce adherence to her own artistic vision — and the fact that, as one fan put it in a New York Times article about an annual tribute event in Philadelphia, "The tone of the show, like Kate's work, is a mix of deeply earnest and really, really silly."
That fusion of sincerity and lightheartedness also characterizes "The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever," as Kate Bush fans everywhere celebrate this enigmatic and innovative artist.
Edited by: John Silk