(Credits: Far Out)
Any artist lives for that moment of seeing their name on the charts, and many never do. But when people love your music enough to buy it, it’s about more than a simple record sale. It’s about listeners relating on a musical level, and the biggest artists of all time are known to give their audience their fair share of thrills.
Looking at the people who have occupied the charts the most, it’s always about taking chances on their records. There are often people like Elvis Presley who could notch up a non-stop barrage of hits, but when listening to million-selling acts like The Beatles, they weren’t interested in making the same thing. They wanted to capture the spirit of their times, and that reflected when they began dominating the charts.
The ‘Top 40’ can be a bit of a tricky thing to quantify as well. As much as people like the idea of it being a completely fair fight, time can often change how people view things. George Michael, for example, might not have had a single chart hit ever since his untimely passing in the 2010s, but whenever December rolls around, there’s no doubt that you’re going to end up seeing Wham! back on the charts when ‘Last Christmas’ hits all over again.
Many factors play into people getting back on the charts, but whereas most people like to celebrate their favourite artists when they pass away by sending everything up the music ladder, Kate Bush didn’t need that kind of push. She was going to get the job done with pure music, and as 2014 rolled around, she managed to put every other iconic pop artist to shame when she returned on the road.
How did Kate Bush dominate the charts?
First of all, the idea of Bush putting on her first live shows after a while would always be a big-ticket item. The baroque pop queen had only really gone on tour once during her prime, and now, with new technology bringing some of her greatest songs to life, this felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everyone, especially with her music getting more grandiose by the minute on 50 Words for Snow.
But with renewed interest in her back catalogue, Bush earned the distinction of having the most albums in the charts at the same time, as her entire discography started making its way into the public consciousness. There may have been a few caveats, given the nature of the charts in the 2010s, but even by that metric, it was unthinkable to see some of her finest work make it into the Top 10 in an era when the biggest names in music were people like Taylor Swift and Drake.
Then again, Bush is also responsible for being the godmother of a lot of the biggest names in art pop today. FKA Twigs had her debut around this time, taking cues from what she had done, and given the fact that Lady Gaga had released her own artistic detour one year earlier, it seemed like the world was ready to throw things back to the era where pop could have a lot more to unpack than a simple catchy melody. In fact, it’s not that far a stretch to think that Charli XCX was paying attention as well to where she would take her career a few years later.
So while a lot of casual music fans only remember Bush’s recent resurgence thanks to Stranger Things, her omnipresence on the charts in 2014 helped prove a point. Her music might not have been the most accessible thing in the world, but anyone willing to listen further would be rewarded with some of the most thoughtful pop music ever heard.
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