Kate Bush is officially running up more than just the Billboard charts. The British singer broke three Guinness World Records in the U.K. this month, thanks to the Duffer Brothers’ hit series Stranger Things featuring her 1985 song “Running Up That Hill.”
Bush holds the following Guinness World Record titles: Oldest Female Artist To Reach Number One, Longest Time For A Track To Reach Number One On The UK’s Official Singles Chart, and Longest Gap Between Number Ones.
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Before the song resurfaced on Stranger Things, “Running Up That Hill” was No. 3 on the Billboard Charts in the UK when it was first released in 1985. It also briefly appeared in 2012 when the song was used to close out the London Olympics.
Recently, Bush told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour that “[t]he thought of these really young people hearing the song for the first time and discovering it is, well, I think it’s very special.”
But to wade more into specifics, Bush took Cher’s place as the Oldest Female Artist To Reach Number One. Cher was 52 when her 1998 hit single, “Believe” topped the charts, and now, Bush is 63 with “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” topping the charts.
Cher congratulated Bush in a tweet, “Bravo Kate,” she wrote. “Records are meant to be broken!! Remember back in the day when women had short sell by dates!? We had 2 fight our way through the testosterone curtain, & we did it so the girls who came after us could sing as long as they want to. With mega respect.”
Additionally, “Running Up That Hill” beat Wham!’s “Last Christmas” (1984) for Longest Time For A Track To Reach Number One. The holiday track took 36 years and 23 days to top the spot in January 2021. Bush’s record has taken 36 years and 310 days.
Beyond the Guinness World Record and Billboard Charts, “Running Up That Hill” became the most-streamed song in the world this month. The song reached No. 1 on Spotify’s charts in the U.K. and the US, and earned over 57 million listens in less than a week.
In the meantime, Volume 2 of the final season of Stranger Things is set to release on Netflix on July 1.
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