Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” was 2022’s song of the summer, according to the Official Charts.
The singer’s 1985 hit experienced a resurgence this summer after it featured in a pivotal scene in Netflix’s Stranger Things.
“Running Up That Hill” is heard in the first episode of the Netflix series on Max Mayfield’s (Sadie Sink) Walkman and continues to be an important song for the character in subsequent episodes.
The track topped the UK charts 37 years after it was first released, marking the longest time a song has ever taken to reach UK No 1. It was also Bush’s first ever song to reach the Top 10 in the US.
According to the Official Charts, the song was streamed 86.6 million times between June and August, more than any other song.
“Running Up That Hill” was also the most downloaded song of the summer, with 42,000 sales.
According to earlier reports, Bush reportedly earned £1.9m in streaming royalties in the first month after Stranger Things featured the song alone.
Speaking at length for the first time about the song’s newfound popularity with BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour in June, Bush said “I thought that the track would get some attention. But I just never imagined that it would be anything like this. It’s so exciting.
“But it’s quite shocking really, isn’t it? I mean, the whole world’s gone mad.”
