Kate Bush - Influence

Influence

From the 1980s onward, it has become almost standard for individualistic female singer-songwriters to be compared to Bush by the media. She has been noted as an influence on female artists such as Tori Amos, Björk, Alison Goldfrapp, Nerina Pallot, KT Tunstall, Natasha Khan of Bat for Lashes, Happy Rhodes, Lily Allen, PJ Harvey, Little Boots, and Florence Welch, in addition to acts as diverse as Muse, OutKast, and Bloc Party. Paula Cole named Bush as an influence while accepting the Best New Artist Grammy in 1996. Ariel Pink wrote a tribute song for her titled "For Kate I Wait" on the album The Doldrums. The trip-hop artist Tricky has said about Bush, "I don't believe in God, but if I did, her music would be my bible".

Punk rocker John Lydon, better known as Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, declared her work to be "beauty beyond belief", and labelled her "a true original". Rotten once wrote a song for her, titled "Bird in Hand" (about exploitation of parrots) that Bush rejected. Rotten theorised that Bush thought the song contained insulting references aimed at her. Marc Almond chose "Moments of Pleasure" as one of his 10 favourite songs on Radio 2 in June 2007, saying that the song had a profound influence on him when he was combating drug addiction in New York in the 1990s. In November 2006, the singer Rufus Wainwright named Bush as one of his top ten gay icons. Outside music, Bush has been an inspiration to several fashion designers, most notably Hussein Chalayan.

Many artists around the world have recorded cover versions of Bush songs, including Charlotte Church, The Futureheads (who had a UK top ten hit with a cover of "Hounds of Love"), Placebo (whose cover of "Running Up that Hill" has featured in many TV series and films), Pat Benatar, Faith and the Muse, Hayley Westenra, Jane Birkin, Natalie Cole, Ra Ra Riot, Maxwell, The Church and Nada Surf. The British dance act Utah Saints sampled a line from "Cloudbusting" for their single, "Something Good". Artists such as Tori Amos, Nolwenn Leroy, Patrick Wolf and Happy Rhodes (whose upper vocal range has been compared with the one of Kate Bush) have covered her songs in live performances. Coldplay said their track "Speed of Sound" was originally an attempt to re-create "Running Up that Hill".

Suede front-man Brett Anderson has stated that "Wuthering Heights" was the first single he ever bought and mentioned "And Dream of Sheep" in Suede's song "These are the Sad Songs". British folk singer Jim Moray also references "And Dream of Sheep" in his self-penned track "Longing for Lucy". Progressive death metal act Novembre also covered "Cloudbusting" on their album Novembrine Waltz. In 2009, John Forté released a hip hop version of "Running Up that Hill".

In 2010, composer and vocalist Theo Bleckmann released an album of Kate Bush covers, titled Hello Earth! – The Music of Kate Bush which includes his interpretation of fourteen Bush classics, which he also performs live around the world. In an interview with Hungarian online music magazine Kortár's Blog, Bleckmann explained his choice to explore Bush's work: "The music of Kate Bush has been a saviour throughout my teenage years when I lived in a small town in Germany...To come back to her music fresh...and to discover more depths and beauty in it, became an overwhelming confirmation of the endurance of great music regardless of genre and time."