Here's Why Kate Bush Approved "Stranger Things" Using Her Classic
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We recently told you about Kate Bush’s hit “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” appearing in the latest season of “Stranger Things” and now she’s talking about why she let the show use it. Bush’s 1985 classic is enjoying massive increases in streams and sales thanks to its repeated use in season four of the hit Netflix series and it seems securing use of the song was years in the making.
“Stranger Things” music supervisor Nora Felder was reportedly given free range by the series’ creators and showrunners, The Duffer Brothers, to pick a song that would become a recurring theme for the season and she felt the lyrics made “Running Up That Hill” the perfect fit for the storyline. Once she knew she wanted that song, Felder had to get clearance approval from the reclusive singer and her music publisher, Sony.
Those talks began “pre-pandemic,” so it was in the works for a while, and involved thorough reviews of scripts, scenes and all the specific uses for the song since “Kate Bush is selective when it comes to licensing her music,” according to Sony Music Publishing SVP of Creative Marketing, Film, and TV Wende Crowley. But Felder’s “elaborate scene descriptions” helped make the process easier and it didn’t hurt that Bush was already a fan of the show.
Source: Variety
