Apparently, Kate Bush gave the producers of Stranger Things permission to use her iconic hit because she’s a major fan of the show.
It’s been said that Kate Bush hardly ever approves her tracks for commercial use. But after reading over the script for the latest season of Stranger Things, the English singer-songwriter had no reservations about handing over the rights to her 1985 hit single, Running Up That Hill.
On behalf of the global pop icon, Wende Crowley from Sony Music Publishing told Variety, “Kate Bush is selective when it comes to licensing her music, and because of that, we made sure to get script pages and footage for her to review so she could see exactly how the song would be used.”
Reportedly a massive fan of the internationally-acclaimed sci-fi series, Kate strongly resonated with the creative vision of Stranger Things music supervisor, Nora Felder:
“It immediately struck me with its deep chords of the possible connection to Max’s emotional struggles and took on more significance as Bush’s song marinated in my conscious awareness,” Felder told Variety.
After its launch in 1985, Running Up That Hill claimed the No. 30 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Now, almost four decades on, the synth-pop masterpiece has experienced a record-breaking resurgence on Spotify, thanks to its crucial placement in the season four debut of Stranger Things.
According to Crowley, “Nora Felder came to us pre-pandemic to discuss the idea of using it as Max’s ‘song’ for this season. She wanted to make sure it was within the realm of possibility before she got the [executive producers] The Duffer Brothers on board with the idea since the song was going to be such a focal point to Max’s storyline.”
Nearly three years on from the cliff-hanging end to season three, die-hard fans of Stranger Things are reporting that the action-packed new season is “exceeding expectations” thus far.
Released on May 27 in Australia, the first seven episodes of season four (volume 1) are now available to stream on Netflix.
