Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ Reportedly Earning Millions
Nearly 40 years after Kate Bush released "Running Up That Hill" in 1985, the song has found new life after being used in the fourth season of Stranger Things. The Netflix show boosted the track to the top of the charts and reportedly earned Bush millions of dollars in streaming revenue.
According to Luminate (formerly known as SoundScan), the resurgence of the song - — which has just entered its third week at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart — has brought roughly $2.3 million in streaming royalties, according to CBS News. Because Bush owns the copyright to her recordings, she is likely taking away at least 80% of those earnings.
"While we've seen a notable increase in catalog music streams in recent years — with an annual 20[%] growth alone in 2021 — the Kate Bush story has taken the phenomenon to a new level," Rob Jonas, CEO of Luminate, said in a statement to CBS.
Bush has been amazed by the song's traction, noting in a recent blog post that "I can’t believe it — No. 1 for the third week. We’re all so excited! In fact, it’s all starting to feel a bit surreal."
"Running Up That Hill," which peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was released in 1985, has become Bush's first Top 5 in the U.S.
She's not the only artist to have work featured in Stranger Things. Metallica’s 1986 song “Master of Puppets” was recently used in the fourth-season finale, and tracks by the Police, the Clash, Duran Duran, Toto, Bon Jovi, Peter Gabriel, Journey and Kiss have appeared over the show's four seasons.
"I feel deeply honored that the song was chosen to become a part of their roller-coaster journey," Bush wrote. "I can’t imagine the amount of hard work that’s gone into making something on this scale. I am in awe. They’ve made something really spectacular."