The reason why Björk thinks people were sexist toward Kate Bush
If you wish to point to two women who have done more for the progression of music in the last 40 years, you probably can’t do any better than Kate Bush and Björk. Although both have unique qualities that make them distinct, both are critically acclaimed, commercially successful boundary pushers who have led the charge in progressive pop music for decades.
On one side is Bush, the classically trained former dance student turned intellectual pop star. Bush is the first woman to ever score a solo number one hit in the UK with a song she wrote and sang herself. This year, Bush nabbed another historic first: the longest gap between number ones, with ‘Wuthering Heights’ hitting the top of the charts in 1978 and ‘Running Up That Hill’ doing the same in 2022, a solid 44 years between number one singles.
On the other side is Björk, the incredibly futuristic genre-blender who has taken on everything from traditional Icelandic rhythms to grime beats to orchestral arrangements, sometimes within the same song.
In an interview with The Guardian, Björk opened up about how Bush’s reception was inherently misogynistic. “It was kind of sexist. People thought that Kate Bush was insane. People were embarrassed about admitting that they actually liked her and I think that is something, actually, one good thing about feminism nowadays is that she is not a threat at all”.
Björk doubled down on her fandom of Bush in an interview around the time of her album Debut. She called Bush “one of my heroes” and referred to her as “one of the biggest pioneering producers. Everybody just says, ‘Oh, she’s just a singer. She’s just a chick’. But they forget all the other work she’s done, that woman. She’s very, very, very gorgeous”.
Although they have yet to collaborate in any real way, the influence that Kate Bush has had on Björk continues to filter into her music. Pick out any Björk song from the last 30 years, and it won’t take long to detect the strong presence of Bush.
