# Kate Bush discography
The Kate Bush discography is the recorded output of the English singer-songwriter [Kate Bush](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-bush): ten studio albums released between 1978 and 2011, a live album, compilations, and a body of singles and non-album tracks issued chiefly on EMI and, from 2011, on her own Fish People label.[1](https://bbcinsight.pages.dev/culture/article/20250117-the-surprising-story-behind-kate-bushs-first-hit-wuthering-heights) • [2](https://music.katebush.com/buy/directors-cut/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 10, from *The Kick Inside* (1978) to *50 Words for Snow* (2011)[1](https://bbcinsight.pages.dev/culture/article/20250117-the-surprising-story-behind-kate-bushs-first-hit-wuthering-heights) |
| Debut | "Wuthering Heights" and *The Kick Inside*, both 1978, released when Bush was 19; the album reached UK No.3 in February 1978[3](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kate-bush-mn0000855423) • [4](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/kate-bush-best-albums) |
| First self-produced album | *The Dreaming* (1982), from which point she produced her own records[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/13/kate-bush-where-to-start-in-her-back-catalogue) |
| Best-selling album | *Hounds of Love* (1985), her fifth album[4](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/kate-bush-best-albums) |
| Compilation | *The Whole Story* (November 1986), reached UK No.1[6](https://www.katebushnews.com/leaving-her-tracks/discography/) |
| Own label | Fish People, launched with *Director's Cut* (16 May 2011)[2](https://music.katebush.com/buy/directors-cut/) |
| 2022 resurgence | "Running Up That Hill" reached No. 1 on the UK Official Singles Chart in 2022, after peaking at No. 3 on its 1985 release, following its use in Netflix's *Stranger Things*[7](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/27937/kate-bush/) • [19](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/kate-bushs-running-up-that-hill-is-official-charts-number-1-single-singer-becomes-3-x-official-charts-record-breaker-with-stranger-things-success__36605/?fs=e) |
## The EMI years, 1978 to 1993
**The Kick Inside and Lionheart (1978).** Bush signed to EMI as a teenager after a demo tape reached David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, and her debut single "Wuthering Heights", drawn from [Emily Brontë](https://www.edgepedia.org/emily-bronte)'s 1847 novel, made her an immediate UK star at 19.[3](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kate-bush-mn0000855423) • [4](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/kate-bush-best-albums) It became the first UK chart-topper self-written by a woman.[4](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/kate-bush-best-albums) *The Kick Inside* reached No.3 in February 1978, and the follow-up single "The Man With the Child in His Eyes", written when she was 13, reached No.6 in May 1978.[4](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/kate-bush-best-albums) • [8](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/the-whole-thing-was-so-exciting-for-me-to-actually-have-control-of-my-baby-for-the-first-time-i-was-very-nervous-too-because-you-really-wonder-if-youre-capable-how-kate-bush-created-a-classic-single-and-became-a-completely-self-sufficient-auteur) *Lionheart*, released in November 1978 while she was already preparing the Tour of Life stage show, reached UK No.6 and contained the hit "Wow"; Bush has said she was hurried into it by EMI and was unhappy with her vocals.[6](https://www.katebushnews.com/leaving-her-tracks/discography/) • [4](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/kate-bush-best-albums)
**Never For Ever and [The Dreaming](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-dreaming-album) (1980 to 1982).** *Never For Ever* (1980), on which Bush co-produced and wielded greater control, became the first original album by a single female artist to reach No.1 in the UK.[8](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/the-whole-thing-was-so-exciting-for-me-to-actually-have-control-of-my-baby-for-the-first-time-i-was-very-nervous-too-because-you-really-wonder-if-youre-capable-how-kate-bush-created-a-classic-single-and-became-a-completely-self-sufficient-auteur) Its singles included "Babooshka", which reached No.5 in the UK Singles Chart.[8](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/the-whole-thing-was-so-exciting-for-me-to-actually-have-control-of-my-baby-for-the-first-time-i-was-very-nervous-too-because-you-really-wonder-if-youre-capable-how-kate-bush-created-a-classic-single-and-became-a-completely-self-sufficient-auteur) *The Dreaming* (1982) was her first album produced entirely by herself, built with an expensive Fairlight sampler; it was her first album to dent the US chart while going top three in the UK, though it was the worst performing of her studio albums in Britain.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/13/kate-bush-where-to-start-in-her-back-catalogue) • [4](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/kate-bush-best-albums)
**Hounds of Love and The Whole Story (1985 to 1986).** Having built her own studio in the barn behind the family home, Bush recorded *Hounds of Love* (1985), her best seller, structured as five accessible songs on the first side and a suite, later described by her as "two separate albums", on the second.[4](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/kate-bush-best-albums) It produced "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)", "Cloudbusting", and "The Big Sky".[4](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/kate-bush-best-albums) Its success was followed quickly by her first compilation, *The Whole Story* (November 1986), which gathered her previous eleven singles, added the new song "Experiment IV", and included "Wuthering Heights" with a newly recorded vocal; it reached UK No.1.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/13/kate-bush-where-to-start-in-her-back-catalogue) • [6](https://www.katebushnews.com/leaving-her-tracks/discography/)
**The Sensual World and The Red Shoes (1989 to 1993).** *The Sensual World* (1989) featured the Bulgarian vocal ensemble Trio Bulgarka and "This Woman's Work", written for a John Hughes film and later among her most-streamed songs.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/13/kate-bush-where-to-start-in-her-back-catalogue) *The Red Shoes* (1993) included guest appearances from [Eric Clapton](https://www.edgepedia.org/eric-clapton), Prince, and [Gary Brooker](https://www.edgepedia.org/gary-brooker).[4](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/kate-bush-best-albums)
## The long intervals, 1993 to 2011
After *The Red Shoes*, Bush took a twelve-year break from releasing albums while raising her son, and returned in November 2005 with *Aerial*, a double album issued on 2 CD, double vinyl, and digital formats.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/13/kate-bush-where-to-start-in-her-back-catalogue) • [6](https://www.katebushnews.com/leaving-her-tracks/discography/) Its second disc is a song cycle, *A Sky of Honey*, which she performed in full at her 2014 London shows.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/13/kate-bush-where-to-start-in-her-back-catalogue)
In 2011 she released two albums on her own label, Fish People. *Director's Cut*, her ninth studio album, appeared on 16 May 2011 and revisited songs from *The Sensual World* and *The Red Shoes*, re-recording some elements while keeping the best musical performances.[2](https://music.katebush.com/buy/directors-cut/) *50 Words for Snow* followed on 21 November 2011.[9](https://www.katebush.com/category/news_article/page/3/)
## Live album and rarities
Bush's reluctance to perform live, broken only by the 2014 [Before the Dawn](https://www.edgepedia.org/before-the-dawn-kate-bush-concert-residency) concerts at which she played her first solo shows since 1979, produced the live album *Before the Dawn*, released on Fish People and distributed by Rhino Records in Europe and the UK and by Concord Music in the United States.[10](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/let-me-grab-your-soul-away-kate-bush-gothic-films) • [11](https://time.com/33156/kate-bush-live-shows-perform-concert/) • [3](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kate-bush-mn0000855423) Its three CDs run from "Lily" and "Hounds of Love" through the *Hounds of Love* suite to the *A Sky of Honey* cycle and a closing "Cloudbusting".[12](https://www.katebush.com/news_article/kate-to-release-the-live-album-before-the-dawn/)
Her non-album recordings, B-sides such as "Under the Ivy" and "Ran Tan Waltz", and covers including "Rocket Man" and "Sexual Healing", were gathered on the rarities collection *The Other Sides* (2019).[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/13/kate-bush-where-to-start-in-her-back-catalogue) Her earliest released recording is "Passing Through Air", produced by [David Gilmour](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-gilmour) around August or September 1973 and issued in 1980 as the B-side of "Army Dreamers".[13](https://www.discog.info/katebush.html)
## Remasters and reissues
In November 2018 Bush remastered her entire catalog with producer James Guthrie and reissued it as an 18-record vinyl set split into four box sets and two CD box sets, with the first batch arriving on 16 November and the second on 30 November; the sets included a disc of covers and B-sides and bonus tracks previously unavailable on vinyl.[14](https://pitchfork.com/news/kate-bush-reissuing-entire-catalog-on-vinyl/) The remaster campaign also collected the 12-inch mixes and rarities on discs titled *The Other Side 1* and *The Other Side 2*, and a covers disc, *In Others' Words*.[15](https://www.katebush.com/news_article/album-remasters-and-rare-tracks/) Since then, Fish People has kept the catalog in print in new physical editions, including illustrated vinyl reissues of *Hounds of Love*, *The Dreaming*, and *50 Words for Snow*, and a further compilation, *Best of the Other Sides*.[16](https://music.katebush.com/katebush/) • [17](https://www.katebush.com/homepage/)
## Renewed chart life
The 2022 fourth series of Netflix's *Stranger Things* took "Running Up That Hill" to No. 1 on the UK Official Singles Chart for the first time, 37 years after *Hounds of Love* was released, and the song returned again when the series' fifth season launched in late 2025.[7](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/27937/kate-bush/) • [4](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/kate-bush-best-albums) • [19](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/kate-bushs-running-up-that-hill-is-official-charts-number-1-single-singer-becomes-3-x-official-charts-record-breaker-with-stranger-things-success__36605/?fs=e) Bush said in 2024 that she wanted to make music again, thirteen years after *50 Words for Snow*.[18](https://los40.com/2024/10/26/kate-bush-quiere-volver-a-hacer-musica-13-anos-despues/)
## References
1. [The surprising story behind Kate Bush's first hit Wuthering Heights, BBC](https://bbcinsight.pages.dev/culture/article/20250117-the-surprising-story-behind-kate-bushs-first-hit-wuthering-heights)
2. [Kate Bush – Director's Cut, Fish People](https://music.katebush.com/buy/directors-cut/)
3. [Kate Bush – Biography, Discography, Albums & Expert Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kate-bush-mn0000855423)
4. [Nine Kate Bush albums you should definitely hear, Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/kate-bush-best-albums)
5. [Kate Bush: where to start in her back catalogue, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/13/kate-bush-where-to-start-in-her-back-catalogue)
6. [Discography, Kate Bush News](https://www.katebushnews.com/leaving-her-tracks/discography/)
7. [Kate Bush songs and albums – full Official Chart history, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/27937/kate-bush/)
8. [How Kate Bush created a classic single and became a self-sufficient auteur, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/the-whole-thing-was-so-exciting-for-me-to-actually-have-control-of-my-baby-for-the-first-time-i-was-very-nervous-too-because-you-really-wonder-if-youre-capable-how-kate-bush-created-a-classic-single-and-became-a-completely-self-sufficient-auteur)
9. [News archive, Kate Bush official website](https://www.katebush.com/category/news_article/page/3/)
10. [Let me grab your soul away – Kate Bush and gothic films, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/let-me-grab-your-soul-away-kate-bush-gothic-films)
11. [Kate Bush to Play First Solo Concerts in 35 Years, Time](https://time.com/33156/kate-bush-live-shows-perform-concert/)
12. [Kate to release the live album "Before the Dawn", Kate Bush official website](https://www.katebush.com/news_article/kate-to-release-the-live-album-before-the-dawn/)
13. [Kate Bush – Discography for the UK](https://www.discog.info/katebush.html)
14. [Kate Bush Reissuing Entire Catalog on Vinyl, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/news/kate-bush-reissuing-entire-catalog-on-vinyl/)
15. [Album Remasters and Rare Tracks, Kate Bush official website](https://www.katebush.com/news_article/album-remasters-and-rare-tracks/)
16. [Kate Bush – Fish People store](https://music.katebush.com/katebush/)
17. [Homepage, Kate Bush official website](https://www.katebush.com/homepage/)
18. [Kate Bush quiere volver a hacer música 13 años después, Los40](https://los40.com/2024/10/26/kate-bush-quiere-volver-a-hacer-musica-13-anos-despues/)
19. [Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill is Official Charts Number 1 Single: Singer becomes 3 x Official Charts Record Breaker with Stranger Things success](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/kate-bushs-running-up-that-hill-is-official-charts-number-1-single-singer-becomes-3-x-official-charts-record-breaker-with-stranger-things-success__36605/?fs=e)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Artist discographies and song lists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 20, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 20, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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