Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill has been named UK’s song of the summer

Virgin Radio

7 Sep 2022, 09:02

Kate Bush’s 1985 hit Running Up That Hill has been crowned the UK’s song of the summer 2022, according to the Official Charts.

The song, which was released 37 years ago, became popular again after it appeared in the fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things and became synonymous with one of the show’s main characters, Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink).

After featuring in a particularly memorable scene, the track soared to number one in the UK charts and broke the record for the longest time a song has ever taken to reach the top spot. It also become Bush’s first ever song to reach the Top 10 in the US and made the singer the oldest female artist to reach No.1 on the UK Official Singles Chart.

Now, another achievement has been added to the list as Running Up That Hill has been named the UK’s song of the summer.

According to the Official Charts, the song was streamed 86.6 million times between June and August and was the most downloaded song of the summer, with 42,000 sales, which is more than any other song.

Back in June, Bush made a rare public statement addressing the song’s resurgence and praised “young fans” for giving it a newfound popularity.

Taking to her website, the singer wrote: “You might’ve heard that the first part of the fantastic, gripping new series of Stranger Things has recently been released on Netflix,” she said. “It features the song, Running Up That Hill, which is being given a whole new lease of life by the young fans who love the show – I love it too!”

She continued: “Because of this, Running Up That Hill is charting around the world and has entered the UK chart at No. 8. It’s all really exciting! Thanks very much to everyone who has supported the song. I wait with bated breath for the rest of the series in July. Best wishes, Kate.”

Stranger Things series 4 is now streaming on Netflix.