Photo: Redferns
Kate Bush's resurgence has literally been record-breaking. It's also earned the '80s star millions.
According to Luminate (via CBS News), Bush's Stranger Things sync has racked up $2.3 million in streaming royalties in the month since the show's fourth season premiered, and because she owns the copyrights to her recordings she's likely pocketing at least 80% of that money.
"While we've seen a notable increase in catalog music streams in recent years β with an annual 20[%] growth alone in 2021 β the Kate Bush story has taken the phenomenon to a new level," Rob Jonas, CEO of Luminate, said in a statement to CBS.
Those who have watched the latest season of Stranger Things know just how big of a role Bush's 1985 song "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" has in the show. The song has topped the UK charts for three weeks and counting, and broke the top 5 on Billboard's Hot 100.
Because it took nearly 40 years for the single to get to No. 1, the feat hasΒ broken a few Guinness World Records: Longest time for a track to reach No.1 on the UKβs Official Singles Chart, Oldest female artist to reach No.1 on the UKβs Official Singles Chart, and Longest gap between No.1s on the UKβs Official Singles Chart.
Bush recently sat down for a rare interview to discuss her whirlwind month. βIt's just extraordinary. I thought that the track would get some attention, but I just never imagined that itβd be anything like this," she toldΒ BBC Radio 4βsΒ Womanβs HourΒ of the song's success "Itβs so exciting that itβs quite shocking really, isnβt it? The whole world has gone mad.β
βThe thought of all these really young people hearing the song for the first time and discovering it, well, I think itβs very special,β Bush continued.