What is the Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever?

And why wasn't Kate Bush more famous in the US?

On an otherwise bleak news day last week, I stumbled upon a tweet with a video showing a sea of adults in red dresses dancing.

SHANE REACTION @imshanereaction

If you ever need cheering up just remember that every July thousands of Kate Bush fans gather around the world to perform Wuthering Heights dressed head to toe like Kate Bush herself

They were performing Kate Bush’s hit song Wuthering Heights at an event called The Most Wuthering Heights Day.

Wait, what?

What is all this about?

I was curious…

So let’s start at the beginning – Kate Bush is having a moment.

The 63-year-old British singer/songwriter has seen her 1985 song Running Up That Hill have a massive second life, thanks to the Netflix show Stranger Things.

In the show, Sadie Sink’s character Max is saved – literally – by hearing Kate’s song.

The twitterverse loves Kate Bush’s inclusion in Stranger Things

With the success of Running Up That Hill, Kate has just become the oldest female artist to have a No. 1 song on the charts.

Kate is enjoying a newfound popularity in the US (and beyond) thanks to Stranger Things – and some enthusiastic TikTok videos.

A collection of recent press coverage Kate has received

Of course, in her native UK, Kate Bush has long been a respected and beloved musician. 

She’s had a passionate fan base since the late 1970s, and 25 Top 40 singles in the UK, including Top 10 hits The Man with the Child in His Eyes, Babooshka, Running Up That Hill, Don’t Give Up, and King of the Mountain. 

She was also the first British solo female artist to top the UK album charts, and the first female artist to enter the album chart at number one.

And it’s not just the UK where she’s popular. 

She’s had hits across Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. 

But Kate Bush never achieved the same kind of fame in the US.

Although she has sold nearly 7 million albums over her career, only 500,000 of those were sold in the US. 

In fact, her biggest hit in the US was Running Up The Hill back in 1985 – but it only managed to climb to No. 30 on the Billboard charts.

So why didn’t Kate make a bigger splash in the US years ago?

Kate Bush looking cool

Well, there are several theories.

Some suggest she was ‘too British’ or ‘too theatrical’ for US audiences.

But the US was embracing plenty of British artists in the 1980s.

In fact, Wham! had the No.1 and No.3 songs on the US Billboard charts the same year Kate had her highest charting song stateside.

Wham! was waking up Americans (before we go go) in 1985

And in terms of theatricality, the US was embracing two of Britain’s most theatrical artists at that time: David Bowie and Elton John. 

Perhaps a more likely reason Kate didn’t achieve as much attention in the US is good old fashioned sexism. 

The US Billboard top 20 songs of 1985 included only three songs by women (and two of them were from Madonna; Chaka Khan was the other female singer who made the cut). 

As music critic Lisa Robinson writes in her book Nobody Ever Asks Me About the Girls, many radio stations rejected female artists at that time, and refused to play more than one woman on the radio. 

There wasn’t enough airtime for both Joan Jett and Pat Benatar back in those days.

And if Kate Bush was considered artsy and weird, well, US radio already had that category covered with Cyndi Lauper. 

Kate had to compete with a lot of women in the ‘80s (including Cyndi Lauper)

If US radio stations were going to make time to add another female singer to the rotation, it probably wasn’t going to be someone writing songs inspired by 19th century British literature.

But here’s another theory –

Kate didn’t want (or care) about becoming famous in the US. 

She never toured the US. 

In fact, she only went on tour ONCE in her entire career, for two months in Europe in 1979. 

It would be 35 years before she performed on the stage again (in a series of sold-out concerts in London). 

She also didn’t court the US press, or schmooze radio and MTV – which was essential for popular musicians in the 1980s. 

And doesn’t Kate’s ‘I don’t care if I’m famous’ attitude make her even cooler?

So… back to The Most Wuthering Heights Day.

Kate Bush released her first single in 1978 – a song called Wuthering Heights – inspired by the 1847 Emily Brontë novel of the same name.

Despite protests from her record company, Kate insisted this be her lead single.

And it went all the way to No. 1 in the UK – making Kate the first female artist to achieve a UK number one with a self-written song. 

In the video, Kate dances in the moors while wearing a flowing red dress with a black belt.

And decades later, inspired by Kate’s artistry and powerful vocals, fans decided to recreate the music video and celebrate all things Kate Bush with The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever.

It began in 2013 as part of Brighton Fringe, England’s largest arts festival.

A performance collective called Shambush! gathered hundreds of people dressed as Kate Bush, in an attempt to set an (unofficial) world record.

A sea of fans dressed as Kate Bush danced along to Wuthering Heights, inspired by the choreography of the music video.

Is that Nena’s red luftballoon in a sea of Kate Bush fans?

But the joy of Kate Bush and her music spread.

Three years later, The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever was held around the world – across Australia, Israel, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, and even in Atlanta in the US.

Fans celebrating Kate Bush in New Zealand

Events continued to grow, with more than 25 cities around the world featured in 2019 and again in 2021.

This year, The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever is planned for 30 July, coinciding with Kate’s 64th birthday.

Given that Kate is now topping the charts again (and enjoying her highest charting single in the US ever), perhaps even more fans will want to celebrate this year.

Want to join in? 

You can learn the choreography in advance (although some, like the event in Edinburgh, include time to master the moves as part of their celebration).

All you need is a red dress – and, as one ad read: ‘unadulterated glee!’

Check out Kate’s Wuthering Heights video:

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