It has been 37 years since singer Kate Bush released her single Running Up That Hill, and now she is experiencing unprecedented success with the hit. The Netflix series Stranger Things (2016– ) chose the song as the anthem for the character Max. Although Bush today leads a secluded life, it has already earned the singer $2.3 million in royalties since the release of Stranger Things season 4.
Although much music is copyrighted by record companies, it’s fortunate that Bush herself owns the rights to the song Running Up That Hill and that she can at least pocket most of the millions. However, Bush’s success goes beyond dollars alone. She has since broken three records. Never before has a single been at number 1 in the UK charts for so long. Furthermore, Bush is now the oldest woman to reach a number 1 spot and finally, there has never been so much time between two number 1 rankings for the same song. Cher, who previously held the record for her song Believe, congratulated Bush on Twitter.
Running Up That Hill is used in Stranger Things as Max’s favorite song. The song can be heard in both the first and fourth episode, but plays an especially important role in the fourth when Max is face to face with death. Bush’s song seems to empower the character to fight for her life. It became the most talked-about episode of the season, reason enough for actress Sadie Sinks and director Shawn Levy to discuss the scene at length. Netflix took a look behind the scenes.
