Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill has reached number one almost 37 years after its release.
In doing so, he has broken the record for the biggest difference between being launched and topping the list.
The title of the UK’s longest-running hit was Wham !.
The last Christmas of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley topped the official singles chart last year, 36 years after it was released.
Running Up That Hill is also currently number one in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland, and has reached a new peak in the US charts at number four.
The classic of the eighties has been very present in the fourth series of the hit Netflix hit drama Stranger Things, in which you hear Max Mayfield, played by Sadie Sink, listening to the song on his Walkman.
Bush said he liked the way Running Up That Hill appeared “in such a positive light, like a talisman for Max.”
Fans of the song, many of whom were not even born when it was released in August 1985, have given TikTok a new lease of life.
The main single from Bush’s fifth studio album, Hounds of Love, reached number three for the first time, before reaching number 12 in 2012.
The surprising surprise of 63 years old means that he is now the artist with the longest difference between the number one singles; he also won first place with his debut, Wuthering Heights, in 1978.
And she has become the oldest female artist to ever reach number one in the UK, replacing Cher, who was 52 when Believe topped the charts in 1998.
Image: Kate Bush says “it’s all very exciting”
“It’s all very exciting!” Bush, who last performed live in 2014, wrote on his website.
“The track is responding in many positive ways. I’ve never experienced anything like this before!
“Thank you so much again to the Duffer Brothers: because of their latest and greatest Stranger Things series, the song is being discovered by a whole new audience.”
He added: “I am overwhelmed by the scale of affection and support that the song is receiving, and everything is happening very fast, as if driven by a kind of elemental force.
“I have to admit I’m really excited about it all. Thank you so much for making the song number 1 in such an unexpected way.”
Bush could have topped the charts earlier if it weren’t for the record industry’s broadcast rules designed to make sure the UK’s top 10 isn’t affected by older songs that are played consistently across platforms. subscription.
To ensure that this is not the case, an “accelerated decline” rule was introduced, whereby a new record earns a “sale” when it is played 100 times on a subscription service.
Older songs must be played 200 times before counting a “sale”.
This meant that while Bush comfortably had the most played song in the UK last week, with 2.5 million views, Harry Styles was number one because he had a more favorable sales-to-play ratio.
But record labels may request a “manual reset” in “exceptional circumstances,” which is what EMI did, equalizing the playing field.