Progressive rock was very popular and visually oriented rock performers were growing in popularity, thus record labels looking for the next big thing were considering experimental acts. The British record industry was reaching a point of stagnation. Not many females succeed with that." īush, speaking to Melody Maker magazine in 1977. It really puts you against the wall and that's what I like to do. And most male music – not all of it but the good stuff – really lays it on you. "Every female you see at a piano is either Lynsey de Paul or Carole King. The tape was sent to EMI executive Terry Slater, who signed her. The tape was produced by Gilmour's friend Andrew Powell, who went on to produce Bush's first two albums, and sound engineer Geoff Emerick, who had worked with the Beatles. Three tracks in total were recorded and paid for by Gilmour.
Impressed, Gilmour helped the 16 year-old Bush record a more professional demo tape. Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour received the demo from Ricky Hopper, a mutual friend of Gilmour and the Bush family. During this time her family produced a demo tape with over 50 of her compositions, which was turned down by record labels. 1975–1977: Career beginnings īush attended St Joseph's Convent Grammar School, a Catholic girls' school in nearby Abbey Wood which, in 1975, after she had left, became part of St Mary's and St Joseph's School in Sidcup. She soon began composing songs, eventually adding her own lyrics. She also played the organ in a barn behind her parents' house and studied the violin. Her family's musical influence inspired Bush to teach herself the piano at the age of 11. There, she became known as "Ee-ee" because of her squeaky kiai.
īush trained at Goldsmiths College karate club, where her brother John was a karate instructor. Both brothers were involved in the local folk music scene. Bush came from an artistic background: her mother was an amateur traditional Irish dancer, her father was an amateur pianist, Paddy worked as a musical instrument maker, and John was a poet and photographer. She grew up in a former farmhouse in the outer London suburb of East Wickham, Welling, with her elder brothers, John and Paddy. Life and career 1958–1974: Early life īush was born in Bexleyheath, Kent, to an English doctor, general practitioner Robert Bush (1920–2008), and Hannah (1918–1992), née Daly, an Irish staff nurse, daughter of a farmer in County Waterford.
In 2002, Bush was recognised with an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. She has been nominated for 13 British Phonographic Industry accolades, winning for Best British Female Artist in 1987, and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. Bush drew attention again in 2014 with her concert residency Before the Dawn, her first shows since 1979's The Tour of Life.īush's eclectic and experimental musical style, unconventional lyrics, and literary themes have influenced a diverse range of artists. She took a hiatus between her seventh and eighth albums, The Red Shoes (1993) and Aerial (2005). Bush slowly gained artistic independence in album production and has produced all her studio albums since The Dreaming (1982). Her debut album, The Kick Inside, was released in 1978. She was signed to EMI Records after Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour helped produce a demo tape. She was 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.
All 10 of her studio albums reached the UK Top 10, including the UK number one albums Never for Ever (1980), Hounds of Love (1985), and the compilation The Whole Story (1986). Bush has since released 25 UK Top 40 singles, including the Top 10 hits " The Man with the Child in His Eyes", " Babooshka", " Running Up That Hill", " Don't Give Up" (a duet with Peter Gabriel), and " King of the Mountain". In 1978, aged 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female artist to achieve a UK number one with a self-written song. Catherine Bush CBE (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, dancer and record producer.