This month has seen a resurgence for the British music icon and singer-songwriter Kate Bush, with her 1985 hit song 'Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)' charting around the world!
The song has come to prominence recently thanks to its inclusion in season 4 of the Netflix sci-fi series 'Stranger Things', making the Top 10 in Canada, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, New Zealand, Slovakia, Switzerland, the UK, the US and reaching the No. 2 spot in Australia on the ARIA Singles chart.
Although Kate Bush never competed at Eurovision, she does have a number of connections to the Contest.
One of these connections is the covers of her music by Eurovision and Eurovision national final artists.
Let's take a look at some of these interesting covers.
Glennis Grace - 'This Woman's Work'
Represented The Netherlands at Eurovision in 2005
Glennis Grace represented the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest with 'My Impossible Dream' back in 2005. The Whitney Houston-inspired ballad unfortunately didn't make the Eurovision Grand Final, finishing in 14th place in the semi-final. Luckily for Grace, her Eurovision entry did make the Dutch Top 20 singles chart at No. 15, becoming her second Top 20 single.
Grace would go on to compete on 'America's Got Talent', in which she auditioned with the classic 'Run to You', which went viral. During the semi-final she sang a cover version of Kate Bush's 'This Woman's Work'. Grace's cover has amassed over three million views on YouTube.
Jorn - 'Running Up That Hill'
Competed in 'Melodi Grand Prix 2021' (Norway)
Jorn competed at 'Melodi Grand Prix 2021' with the song 'Faith Bloody Faith'. He went on to make it to the Gold Final but was then eliminated, with Tix and KEiiNO battling it out in the Gold Duel to win the right to represent Norway at Eurovision.
In 2016 Jorn released his third studio album 'Heavy Rock Radio', which includes covers of songs by artists who inspired his musical career.
The album featured songs by ABBA’s Frida, Queen, Journey, Foreigner and Australia's own John Farnham, just to name a few. A cover of Kate Bush's newly revived hit 'Running Up That Hill' is also included and is a pretty cool rock version of the song.
Kate Miller-Heidke - 'Wuthering Heights'
Represented Australia at Eurovision in 2019
Kate Miller-Heidke represented Australia at Eurovision in 2019 with her breathtaking performance of 'Zero Gravity'. She finished in ninth place, continuing Australia's success in the Contest.
Kate Miller-Heidke is known for covering many songs during her tours. Fittingly, she has covered Kate Bush's 'Wuthering Heights'. You can check out Miller-Heidke's rendition of Bush's 1978 No. 1 global hit above during the live Sydney New Year 2020 celebration.
Lara Fabian - 'The Man With The Child In His Eyes'
Represented Luxembourg at Eurovision in 1988
Lara Fabian was invited by the broadcaster RTL to represent Luxembourg at the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest. Fabian’s 'Croire' finished in 4th place in the year that Celine Dion went on to win for Switzerland.
Over 20 years later in 2009, Fabian released an English language album entitled 'Every Woman In Me', which features a cover version of 'The Man With The Child In His Eyes' by Kate Bush.
Bush had originally released the single in 1978, when it reached No. 3 in Ireland and No. 6 in the UK and also charted in Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the US.
In 2007 Australia's own Tina Arena covered the song on her seventh studio album 'Songs of Love & Loss'.
Linda Carriere - 'Running Up That Hill'
Competed at 'Countdown Grand Prix 2002' (Germany)
Linda Carriere entered the German Eurovision national selection show 'Countdown Grand Prix 2002' with her entry 'Higher Ground', aiming to represent Germany in Tallinn, Estonia. She finished in 12th place, failing to make the second round.
Back in 1993, Carriere recorded a cover version of Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill' together with the anonymous dance act called Sweep.
Mia Martini - 'Cime Tempestose' ('Wuthering Heights')
Represented Italy at Eurovision in 1977 and 1992
Mia Martini represented Italy twice at the Eurovision Song Contest. The first time was in 1977 with the song 'Libera' which finished in 13th place. She returned with 'Rapsodia' which finished in 4th place, giving Italy their 12th Top 5 finish at the Contest.
In 1983, Martini performed an Italian-language version of Kate Bush's 'Wuthering Heights' called 'Cime Tempestose'.
It was translated by Martini herself and she performed it at the Teatro Ciak in Milan. The show was recorded for the live album 'In Concerto - Miei Compagni Di Viaggio'.
Myrra Malmberg - 'Wuthering Heights'
Competed at Melodifestivalen 1998 (Sweden)
Myrra Malmberg competed in the Swedish Eurovision national final 'Melodifestivalen' in 1998 with the song 'Julia'. Malmberg made it to the second round, ultimately finishing in third place.
Her 2011 album 'Another World' is a classical album which she recorded with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and internationally renowned conductor Paul Bateman. The first track on the album is a beautifully-produced cover of Kate Bush's 'Wuthering Heights'.
Saara Aalto - 'Wuthering Heights'
Represented Finland at Eurovision in 2018
Before competing at Eurovision 2018 for Finland with 'Monsters', Saara Aalto covered 'Wuthering Heights'. Above is a performance of 'Wuthering Heights' during her 2017 show 'In My Wildest Dreams' at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki.
Saara Aalto has also performed the song with Finnish singer Teemu Roivainen.
Sam Ryder - 'This Woman's Work'
Represented the United Kingdom at Eurovision in 2022
This year's Eurovision 2022 runner-up Sam Ryder wowed Europe and Australia with his performance of 'SPACE MAN' in Turin, giving the UK its best Eurovision result since 1998.
Ryder has released many covers of hit songs, having entertained his fans on social media, especially on TikTok where he has nearly 13 million followers.
One of Ryder's most impressive covers is of Kate Bush's 1989 single 'This Woman's Work'. You can check out Ryder's cover above when he performed the song at York Hall in London back in 2021. That voice, woah!!
Margét Eir - 'Heiðin Há' ('Wuthering Heights')
Competed at 'Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins' 1992 and 1993 (Iceland)
Margrét Eir competed twice in the Icelandic national final 'Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins' in 1992 and 1993.
Eir first competed in 1992 with 'Þu mátt mig engu leyna' which finished in 6th place. She returned the following year with 'Ó hve ljúft er að lifa' and finished in 5th place.
In 2003 Eir released her studio album 'Andartak', which features a cover of 'Wuthering Heights' in Icelandic called 'Heiðin Há'.
Other Eurovision connections with Kate Bush
Mike Moran co-wrote the UK’s 1977 Eurovision entry 'Rock Bottom' with Lynsey de Paul. The song came second at the Contest and went on to chart across Europe.
Moran went on to become a much sought-after musician and songwriter and ended up working with Kate Bush on her 1980 album 'Never for Ever'. Moran played the Prophet-5 synthesizer on track five on the album called 'Egypt'.
Michael Aspel hosted the BBC's Eurovision selection show 'A Song for Europe' in 1969 and 1976. He also provided the commentary for the UK for the 1969 and 1976 Contests and presented the Contest previews.
Aspel was a presenter on many shows including 'Come Dancing', 'Crackerjack', the Miss World competition and 'Ask Aspel'.
'Ask Aspel' aired on the BBC and ran for various years from 1970 to 1981. On the show, viewers would request to see repeats of their favourite clips from the BBC.
The show also included interviews, and on September 5 1978 Aspel interviewed Kate Bush. She performed her song 'Kashka From Baghdad' on the show.
Bill Whelan is the composer behind the Riverdance interval act at Eurovision 1994, which went on to become a worldwide hit. Before this Whelan wrote and arranged pipes and strings for Kate's song 'Night of the Swallow', and went on to handle all the Irish arrangements on her albums 'Hounds Of Love' and 'The Sensual World'.
Fiachra Trench was the conductor of the 1996 French Eurovision entry 'Diwanit bugale' which was performed by Dan Ar Braz and l'Héritage des Celtes. The song finished in 19th place.
In 1995 Kate Bush recorded an English language version of 'Mná Na hÉireann' called 'Women of Ireland', which was translated by Bush herself. The song featured on her 1996 compilation album 'Common Ground - Voices of Modern Irish Music'. Trench worked on the song, taking responsibility for its arrangement and conducting the strings on the track.
In 2018 Bush released a remastered version of the original 'Mná Na hÉireann'.
That’s just a few of covers of Ms Bush’s music that we've been able to link to artists with a Eurovision connection.
We're sure there are many more out there!
Do you know any?