Who I Am: From a Demo Tape to Wuthering Heights
I'm Kate Bush, a singer-songwriter born on 30 July 1958 in Bexleyheath, Kent, England. My music is mostly called art pop, with progressive pop, baroque pop and art rock in the mix. This is the short version of how it started, and how it ended up on the merch in this shop.
How did it start?
When I was 16, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour backed a professionally produced demo tape of my songs. That tape reached Terry Slater, an executive at EMI, and EMI signed me.
What was the first single?
"Wuthering Heights", released in 1978 and inspired by Emily Brontë's novel. It spent four weeks at number one in the UK, and with it I became the first woman to top the UK chart with a song I wrote myself. My debut album, The Kick Inside, came out the same year and reached number 3.
What came after?
Ten studio albums in all, from The Kick Inside in 1978 to 50 Words for Snow in 2011. Along the way came an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music in 2002, a CBE in the 2013 New Year Honours and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.
What does that have to do with the merch?
Everything here starts with the music:
- Song titles: a Cloudbusting sunset with the name set in big serif letters.
- Portraits: a black-and-white portrait with a dark cloud of hair.
- Images: red ballet shoes on a stormy sea, engraved line art and blackletter type.
Each design comes on a tee, a long sleeve, a crewneck and a hoodie, plus a kids' tee and a youth crewneck and hoodie.
Where do I start?
Pick the song or the image that means the most to you, then pick the garment. Every product page has its own size chart.