A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills often have a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit (e.g. Box Hill, Surrey).

The panoramic view from Connors Hill, near Swifts Creek, Victoria

Terminology[link]

A Khulan (Mongolian Wild Ass) on a hill in the Gobi of Mongolia at sunset.

The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is generally somewhat lower and less steep than a mountain. In the United Kingdom geographers historically regarded mountains as hills greater than 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, which formed the basis of the plot of the 1995 film The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. In contrast, hillwalkers have tended to regard mountains as peaks 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level: the Oxford English Dictionary also suggests a limit of 2,000 feet (610 m). This has led to Cavanal Hill in Poteau, Oklahoma, receive billing as the "World's Tallest Hill" due to its height of 1,999 feet (609 m). Mountains in Scotland are frequently referred to as "hills" no matter what their height, as reflected in names such as the Cuillin Hills and the Torridon Hills. In Wales, the distinction is more a term of land use and appearance and has nothing to do with height.

A hillock is a small hill. Other words include knoll and (in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England) its variant, knowe.^[1]

Artificial hills may be referred to by a variety of technical names, including mound and tumulus.

Hills of the Judean Desert.

Hills may form through a number of geomorphic phenomena: faulting, erosion of larger landforms, such as mountains and movement and deposition of sediment by glaciers (e.g. moraines and drumlins, or by erosion exposing solid rock which then weathers down into a hill. The rounded peaks of hills results from the diffusive movement of soil and regolith covering the hill, a process known as downhill creep.

Areas that would otherwise have hills do not because of glacier cover during the Ice Age. The hills that existed before the ice age were worn down by the ice (and the rocks they carry) and/or the surrounding valleys and hollows were filled in with glacial drift, therefore leaving a level topography. The contrast between the flat plains of northern Indiana, once covered by ice, and the rugged hills of southern Indiana, where the ice never reached, is a result of this. Another example is the Driftless Zone, an island of hilly country that the ice sheets missed, surrounded by glacial plains, also in the American Midwest.

There are various specific names used to describe particular types of hill, based on appearance and method of formation. Many such names originated in one geographical region to describe a type of hill formation peculiar to that region, though the names are often adopted by geologists and used in a wider geographical context. These include:

• Drumlin – an elongated whale-shaped hill formed by glacial action.
• Butte – an isolated hill with steep sides and a small flat top, formed by weathering.
• Tor – a rock formation found on a hilltop; also used to refer to the hill itself, especially in South West England.
• Puy – used especially in the Auvergne, France, to describe a conical volcanic hill.
• Pingo – a mound of earth-covered ice found in the Arctic and Antarctica.

Historical significance[link]

Clouds over hills

Hills have played an important role in history.

Many settlements were originally built on hills, either to avoid or curb floods, particularly if they were near a large body of water, or for defence, since they offer a good view of the surrounding land and require would-be attackers to fight uphill. For example, Ancient Rome was built on seven hills, protecting it from invaders.

In northern Europe, many ancient monuments are sited in heaps. Some of these are defensive structures (such as the hill-forts of the Iron Age), but others appear to have hardly any significance. In Britain, many churches at the tops of hills are thought to have been built on the sites of earlier pagan holy places. The National Cathedral in Washington, DC has followed this tradition and was built on the highest hill in that city.

Military significance[link]

The Battle of Bunker Hill

Hills provide a major advantage to an army, giving them an elevated firing position and forcing an opposing army to charge uphill to attack them. They may also conceal forces behind them, allowing a force to lay in wait on the crest of a hill, using that crest for cover, and firing on unsuspecting attackers as they broach the hilltop.

As a result, conventional military strategies often demand possession of high ground. Hills have become sites for many noted battles, such as the first recorded military conflict in Scotland known as the battle of Mons Graupius. Modern conflicts include the Battle of Bunker Hill (which was actually fought on Breed's Hill) in the American War for Independence and Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill in the Battle of Gettysburg, the turning point of the American Civil War. The Battle of San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War won Americans control of Santiago. The Battle of Alesia was also fought from a hilltop fort. Fighting on Mamayev Kurgan during the Battle of Stalingrad and the Umurbrogol Pocket in the Battle of Peleliu were also examples of bloody fighting for high ground. Another recent example is the Kargil War between India and Pakistan.

The Great Wall in China is also an example of an advantage provider; it is built on mountain tops, and was meant to defend against invaders from the north, and among others, Mongolians.

Sports and games[link]

Hillwalkers on Beinn Dearg, Scotland

An example of a golf course in England that has hills

Hillwalking is a British English term for a form of hiking which involves the ascent of hills. The activity is usually distinguished from mountaineering as it does not involve ropes or technically difficult rock climbing, although the terms mountain and hill are often used interchangeably in Britain. Hillwalking is popular in mountainous areas such as the English Peak District or the Scottish Highlands. Many hills are categorised according to relative height or other criteria and feature on lists named after mountaineers, such as Munros (Scotland) or Wainwrights (England). Specific locating activities such as "peak bagging" (or "Munro bagging") involve climbing hills on these lists with the aim of completing (or "compleating") the list.

In golf, the terrain on golf courses is often made more rugged and hilly to make the holes harder to play. For example, the hole may be located at the top of a hill, and the course is designed specifically to make it almost impossible to allow the golf ball to rest near the top; it would roll down, and the player would have to try again.

Cheese rolling is an annual event in the West Country of England which involves rolling a wheel of cheese down a hill. Contestants stand at the top and chase the wheel of cheese to the bottom. The winner, the one who catches the cheese, gets to keep the wheel of cheese as a prize.

Largest man-made[link]

• Blackstrap Ski Hill (45 m (148 ft))^[2]
• Silbury Hill (40 m (130 ft))
• Grizzly Peak (Disneyland Resort) (34 m (112 ft))
• Mount Manisty 100ft
• Monks Mound (30 m (98 ft))
• Mount Gushmore (27 m (89 ft))

Gallery[link]

• 

  Cerro Paranal in Chile is a privileged place for astronomical observation.^[3], and home of ESO's telescopes.

• 

  A coffee plantation on a conical hill near Orosí, Costa Rica.

• 

  Some hills can be quite small, such as this Ant-hill

See also[link]

Look up hill in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: hills

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (September 2009)

• Earth Sculpture; Or, The Origin of Land-forms
• The International Geography

Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel at the Wikipedia 10th anniversary party in London in January 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Peter Brian Gabriel
Born	(1950-02-13) 13 February 1950 (age 62) Chobham, Surrey, England, United Kingdom
Genres	Progressive rock, art rock, experimental rock, pop rock, world music
Occupations	Musician Producer Humanitarian
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, flute, drums, piano, guitar, bass, harmonica, oboe
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Geffen (US & Canada), Real World, Virgin, Charisma, Atlantic (US & Canada), EMI (Brazil)
Associated acts	Genesis, Laurie Anderson, Kate Bush
Website	www.petergabriel.com

Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis.^[1] After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career. His 1986 album, So, is his most commercially successful, and the album's biggest hit, "Sledgehammer", won a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards, and the song is the most played music video in the history of the station.^[2]

More recently, Gabriel has focused on producing and promoting world music and pioneering digital distribution methods for music. He has also been involved in various humanitarian efforts. Gabriel has won numerous music awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male in 1987, six Grammy Awards, thirteen MTV Video Music Awards, and in 2007 he was honoured as a BMI Icon at the 57th annual BMI London Awards for his “influence on generations of music makers.”^[3][4][5] Gabriel was also awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2009, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010.

Early life[link]

Peter Gabriel was born in Chobham, Surrey, England.^[6] His father, Ralph Parton Gabriel, was an electrical engineer, and his mother, Edith Irene Allen,^[7] from a musical family, taught him to play the piano at an early age. He attended Cable House, a private primary (pre-prep) school in Woking, Surrey, St. Andrews Prep School in Horsell, then Charterhouse School (Godalming) from 1963. He played drums in his first rock bands, and Mike Rutherford commented in 1985 that "Pete was - and still is, I think - a frustrated drummer."^[8]

Genesis[link]

Gabriel founded Genesis in 1967 with fellow Charterhouse School pupils Tony Banks, Anthony Phillips, Mike Rutherford, and drummer Chris Stewart. The name of the band was suggested by fellow Charterhouse alumnus, the pop music impresario Jonathan King, who produced their first album, From Genesis to Revelation.

Gabriel was influenced by many different sources in his way of singing, such as Family lead singer Roger Chapman. In 1970, he played the flute on Cat Stevens' album, Mona Bone Jakon.

Genesis drew some attention in England and eventually also in Italy, Belgium, Germany and other European countries, largely due to Gabriel's flamboyant stage presence, which involved numerous bizarre costume changes and comical, dreamlike stories told as the introduction to each song (originally Gabriel developed these stories solely to cover the time between songs that the rest of the band would take tuning their instruments and fixing technical glitches). The concerts made extensive use of black light with the normal stage lighting subdued or off. A backdrop of fluorescent white sheets and a comparatively sparse stage made the band into a set of silhouettes, with Gabriel's fluorescent costume and make-up providing the only other sources of light.

Costumes[link]

Gabriel as "Britannia", or "The Moonlit Knight" 1974

Early Genesis concerts were hampered by a bad PA system which made it difficult for audiences to understand what Gabriel was singing. According to Mike Rutherford, this drove Gabriel to find other ways to impress his personality on the audience, leading to his performing in various costumes.^[8]

In an episode of the 2007 British documentary series Seven Ages of Rock, Steve Hackett recalled the first appearance of Gabriel 'in costume'. It was the dress-wearing, fox-headed entity immortalised on the cover of Foxtrot. Hackett and the rest of the band had no inkling that Gabriel was going to do this, and at the time Hackett worried that it would ruin the performance. However, it was a success, encouraging Gabriel to continue wearing costumes while singing.

Among Gabriel's many famous costumes, which he developed to visualise the musical ideas of the band as well as to gain press coverage, were "Batwings" for the band's usual opening number, "Watcher of the Skies".

Other costumes included "The Flower" and "Magog", which were both alternately worn for "Supper's Ready" from the album Foxtrot.

"Britannia" was worn for "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", and "The Reverend" was worn for "The Battle of Epping Forest" from Selling England by the Pound.

"The Old Man" was worn for "The Musical Box" from Nursery Cryme.

"The Slipperman" and "Rael" were worn during "The Colony of Slippermen", in which "Rael" was the protagonist of the album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.

Departure[link]

Gabriel's departure from Genesis in 1975—which stunned fans of the group and left many commentators wondering if the band could survive—was the result of a number of factors. His stature as the lead singer of the band, and the added attention garnered by his flamboyant stage persona, led to tensions within the band. Genesis had always operated more or less as a collective, and Gabriel's burgeoning public profile led to fears within the group that he was being unfairly singled out as the creative hub. The band had also begun to feel confined by the reputation (and fans' expectations) attached to their famously elaborate theatrical performances, believing that the visual element of their performances was receiving more attention than their actual music.

Tensions were heightened by the ambitious album and tour of the concept work The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, a Gabriel-created concept piece which saw him taking on the lion's share of the lyric writing. During the writing and recording of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Gabriel was approached by director William Friedkin, allegedly because Friedkin had found Gabriel's short story in the liner notes to Genesis Live interesting. Gabriel left Genesis to pursue a film project with Friedkin, only to rejoin a week later.^[8] The decision to quit the band was made before the tour supporting The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, with Gabriel explaining his decision to the band while keeping it from the press until the conclusion of that tour. Bassist Mike Rutherford recalled that they all "could see it coming."^[8] Although tensions were high, both Gabriel and the remaining members of Genesis have stated publicly that Gabriel left the band on good terms.

The breaking point came with the difficult pregnancy of Gabriel's wife, Jill, and the subsequent birth of their first child, Anna-Marie. When he opted to stay with his sick daughter and wife, rather than record and tour, the resentment from the rest of the band led Gabriel to conclude that he had to leave the group. "Solsbury Hill", Gabriel's debut single as a solo artist, was written specifically about his departure from Genesis. The song also charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978,^[9] reaching the Top 70, though it was recorded in 1976, and appeared on the 'Car' album in 1977. In 1982, Gabriel reunited with his former Genesis colleagues for the one-off concert Six of the Best, in order to recoup debts that arose from his involvement in the staging of the first WOMAD concert.

Solo career[link]

Gabriel refused to title any of his first four solo albums, which were all labelled Peter Gabriel using the same typeface, but which featured different cover designs (by Hipgnosis); in all of these designs, Gabriel's face is wholly or partially obscured in some way. The albums are usually differentiated by number in order of release (I, II, III, IV), or by sleeve design, with the first three solo albums often referred to as Car, Scratch and Melt respectively, in reference to their cover artwork. His fourth solo album, also called Peter Gabriel, was titled Security in the U.S. at the behest of Geffen Records.

After acquiescing to distinctive titles, Gabriel used a series of 2-letter words to title his next three albums: So, Us, and Up. His most recent greatest hits compilation is titled Hit; within the two-CD package, disc one is labelled "Hit" and disc two is labelled "Miss".

[edit] Peter Gabriel albums (1977–1985)

Gabriel performing, August 1978

Gabriel recorded his first self-titled solo album in 1976 and 1977 with producer Bob Ezrin. His first solo success came with the single "Solsbury Hill", an autobiographical piece expressing his thoughts on leaving Genesis. Although mainly happy with the music, Gabriel felt that the album, and especially the track "Here Comes the Flood" was over-produced. Sparser versions can be heard on Robert Fripp's Exposure, and on Gabriel's greatest hits compilation Shaking the Tree (1990).

Gabriel worked with guitarist Fripp as producer of his second solo LP, in 1978. This album was leaner, darker and more experimental, and yielded decent reviews, but no major hits.

Gabriel developed a new interest in world music (especially percussion), and for bold production, which made extensive use of recording tricks and sound effects. Gabriel's interest in music technology is considered by many people to be the spark of his success as it inspired his third album. The third album is often credited as the first LP to use the now-famous "gated drum" sound.^[10] Phil Collins played drums on several tracks, including the opener, "Intruder", which featured the reverse-gated, cymbal-less drum kit sound which Collins would also use on his single "In the Air Tonight" and through the rest of the 1980s. Gabriel had requested that his drummers use no cymbals in the album's sessions, and when he heard the result he asked Collins to play a simple pattern for several minutes, then built "Intruder" around it. The album achieved some chart success with the songs "Games Without Frontiers" (#4 U.K, #48 U.S.), and "Biko".

Arduous and occasionally damp recording sessions at his rural English estate in 1981 and 1982 resulted in Gabriel's fourth LP release, on which Gabriel took more production responsibility. It was one of the first commercial albums recorded entirely to digital tape (using a Sony mobile truck), and featured the early, extremely expensive, Fairlight CMI sampling computer, which had already made its first brief appearances on the previous album. Gabriel combined a variety of sampled and deconstructed sounds with world-beat percussion and other unusual instrumentation to create a radically new, emotionally charged soundscape. Furthermore, the sleeve art consisted of inscrutable, video-based imagery. Despite the album's peculiar sound, odd appearance, and often disturbing themes, it sold very well. This album featured his first Top 40 hit in the U.S., "Shock the Monkey", as well as the song "I Have the Touch". The music video for "Shock the Monkey", which featured Gabriel in white face paint and a caged macaque, held the #1 spot on "MTV" for 9 weeks. Geffen records forced Peter to give his fourth self-titled album a name in the US - Security - to mark his arrival on the label and to differentiate his fourth album from the other three.

Alternate versions of Gabriel's third and fourth albums were also released with German lyrics. Peter Gabriel 3 consisted of basically the same recording overdubbed with new vocals, while Security was also remixed and several tracks were extended or altered in slight ways.

Gabriel toured extensively for each of his albums. Initially, he pointedly eschewed the theatrics that had defined his tenure with Genesis. For his second solo tour, his entire band shaved their heads. By the time of Security he began involving elaborate stage props and acrobatics which had him suspended from gantries, distorting his face with Fresnel lenses and mirrors, and wearing unusual make-up. His 1982–83 tour included a section opening for David Bowie. Recordings of this tour were released as the double LP Plays Live.

The stage was set for Gabriel's critical and commercial breakout with his next studio release, which was in production for almost three years. During the recording and production of the album he also found time to develop the film soundtrack for Alan Parker's 1984 feature Birdy, which consisted of new material as well as remixed instrumental tracks from his previous studio album.

[edit] So, Passion and Us (1986–1994)

	"Don't Give Up" noicon A 1986 duet with Kate Bush, "Don't Give Up" tells of the despair of a man who feels defeated by the economic system, and the support and wise counsel sung in the refrain.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Gabriel achieved his greatest popularity with songs from the 1986 album So.^[11] The album charted at number 1 in the UK Album Chart, and number 2 on the Billboard 200 in the US.^[12][13] It is certified triple platinum in the UK, and five times platinum in the US.^[14][15] The album produced three UK Top 20 hits, "Sledgehammer", "Big Time", and "Don't Give Up" — a duet with Kate Bush.^[12] The album also produced three Top 40 hits in the U.S., "Sledgehammer", "In Your Eyes" (featured in the John Cusack film Say Anything), and "Big Time".^[13] "Sledgehammer", peaked at #1 in the U.S., knocking Genesis' "Invisible Touch" off the top spot, and #4 in the UK.^[13] The ballad "Don't Give Up" was about the devastation of unemployment. Gabriel co-produced So with Daniel Lanois, also known for his work with U2 and Brian Eno.^[16] In 1990, Rolling Stone ranked So number #14 on its list of "Top 100 Albums of the Eighties".^[17]

Gabriel's song "Sledgehammer", which dealt specifically with the themes of sex and sexual relations, was accompanied by a much-lauded music video, which was a collaboration with director Stephen R. Johnson, Aardman Animations, and the Brothers Quay.^[2] The video set a new standard for art in the music video industry, and won nine MTV Video Music Awards in 1987, a record which still stands as of 2011.^[2] "Sledgehammer" is the most played music video in the history of MTV, and in 1998 it was named the station's number one animated video of all time.^[2][18] A follow-up video for the song "Big Time" also broke new ground in music video animation and special effects. The song is a story of "what happens to you when you become a little too successful", in Gabriel's words. The success of the album earned Peter Gabriel two awards at the Brit Awards in 1987: Best British Male Solo Artist and Best British Video for "Sledgehammer".^[4] Gabriel was also nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year.^[19]

In 1989, Gabriel released Passion, the soundtrack for Martin Scorsese's movie The Last Temptation of Christ. For this work he received his first Grammy Award, in the category of Best New Age Performance. He also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score - Motion Picture.

Following this, Gabriel released Us in 1992 (also co-produced with Daniel Lanois), an album in which he explored the pain of recent personal problems; his failed first marriage, and the growing distance between him and his first daughter.

Gabriel's introspection within the context of the album Us can be seen in the first single release "Digging in the Dirt" directed by John Downer. Accompanied by a disturbing video featuring Gabriel covered in snails and various foliage, this song made reference to the psychotherapy which had taken up much of Gabriel's time since the previous album. Gabriel describes his struggle to get through to his daughter in "Come Talk To Me" directed by Matt Mahurin, which featured backing vocals by Sinéad O'Connor. O'Connor also lent vocals to "Blood of Eden", directed by Nichola Bruce and Michael Coulson, the third single to be released from the album, and once again dealing with relationship struggles, this time going right back to Adam's rib for inspiration. The result was one of Gabriel's most personal albums. It met with less success than So, reaching #2 in the album chart on both sides of the Atlantic, and making modest chart impact with the singles "Digging in the Dirt" and the funkier "Steam", which evoked memories of "Sledgehammer". Gabriel followed the release of the album with a world tour (with Paula Cole or Joy Askew filling O'Connor's vocal role) and accompanying double CD and DVD Secret World Live in 1994.

Gabriel employed an innovative approach in the marketing of the Us album. Not wishing to feature only images of himself, he asked artist filmmakers Nichola Bruce and Michael Coulson to coordinate a marketing campaign using contemporary artists. Artists such as Helen Chadwick, Rebecca Horn, Nils Udo, Andy Goldsworthy, David Mach and Yayoi Kusama collaborated to create original artworks for each of the 11 songs on the multi-million-selling CD. Coulson and Bruce documented the process on Hi-8 video. Bruce left Real World and Coulson continued with the campaign, using the documentary background material as the basis for a promotional EPK, the long-form video All About Us and the interactive CD-ROM Xplora1.

Gabriel won three more Grammy Awards, all in the Music Video category. He won the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video in 1993 and 1994 for the videos to "Digging in the Dirt" and "Steam" respectively. Gabriel also won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video for his Secret World Live video.

[edit] OVO, Up, Scratch My Back and New Blood (1995–present)

After five years of not releasing any new music, Gabriel re-emerged with OVO, a soundtrack for the live Millennium Dome Show in London in 2000, and Long Walk Home, the music from the Australian movie Rabbit-Proof Fence, early in 2002. This soundtrack also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score – Motion Picture.

In September 2002, Gabriel released Up, his first full-length studio album in a decade. Entirely self-produced, Up returned to some of the themes of his work in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Three singles failed to make an impression on the charts—in part because almost every track exceeded six minutes in length, with multiple sections—but the album sold well globally, as Gabriel continued to draw from a loyal fan base from his almost forty years in the music business. Up was followed by a world tour featuring his daughter Melanie Gabriel on backing vocals, and two concert DVDs, Growing Up Live (2003) and Still Growing Up: Live & Unwrapped (2004).

In 2008, Gabriel contributed to the WALL-E soundtrack several new songs with Thomas Newman, including the film's closing song, "Down to Earth", for which they received the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. The song was also nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Original Song - Motion Picture and the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

In 2010, Gabriel released Scratch My Back. The album is made up entirely of cover songs including material written by David Bowie, Lou Reed, Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Regina Spektor, Neil Young, and more. The concept for the record is that Gabriel covers songs by various artists and those artists in turn will cover Gabriel songs to be released on a future follow-up album called I'll Scratch Yours. Scratch My Back features only orchestral instrumentation; there are no guitars, drums, or electronic elements that are usual attributes of Gabriel records. A very brief tour followed the album's release where Gabriel performed with a full orchestra and two female backup singers, his daughter Melanie Gabriel and Norwegian singer-songwriter Ane Brun.

On 11 October 2011, Gabriel released New Blood, a collection of his earlier songs recorded with an orchestra. A special edition of the album features solely instrumental versions of some of the songs.

In Fall 2012, Gabriel will embark on the Back to Front Tour in which he will perform the entire So album to celebrate its 25th anniversary.^[20]

Musicians and collaborators[link]

Gabriel has worked with a relatively stable crew of musicians and recording engineers throughout his solo career. Bass and Stick player Tony Levin, for example, has appeared on every Gabriel studio album (except Scratch My Back and the soundtracks Passion and Long Walk Home) and has performed on every Gabriel solo tour (except The New Blood Tour). Guitar player David Rhodes has been Gabriel’s guitarist of choice since 1979. Prior to So, Jerry Marotta was Gabriel's preferred drummer, both in the studio and on the road. (For the So and Us albums and tours Marotta was replaced by Manu Katché, who was then replaced by Ged Lynch on parts of the Up album and all of the subsequent tour). Gabriel is known for choosing top-flight collaborators, from co-producers such as Ezrin, Fripp, Lillywhite, and Lanois to musicians such as Natalie Merchant, Elizabeth Fraser, L. Shankar, Trent Reznor, Youssou N'Dour, Larry Fast, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Sinéad O'Connor, Kate Bush, Ane Brun, Paula Cole, John Giblin, Peter Hammill, Papa Wemba, Manu Katché, Bayete, Phil Collins (as drummer), and Stewart Copeland.

Over the years, Gabriel has collaborated with singer Kate Bush several times; Bush provided backing vocals for Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers" and "No Self Control" in 1980, and female lead vocal for "Don't Give Up" (a Top 10 hit in the UK) in 1986, and Gabriel appeared on her television special. Their duet of Roy Harper's "Another Day" was discussed for release as a single, but never appeared.

He also collaborated with Laurie Anderson on two versions of her composition "Excellent Birds" – one for her 1984 album Mister Heartbreak, and a slightly different version called "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)", which appeared on cassette and CD versions of So. In 1987, when presenting Gabriel with an award for his music videos, Anderson related an occasion in which a recording session had gone late into the night and Gabriel's voice had begun to sound somewhat strange, almost dreamlike. It was discovered that he had fallen asleep in front of the microphone, but had continued to sing.

Gabriel sang (along with Jim Kerr of Simple Minds) on "Everywhere I Go", from The Call's 1986 release, Reconciled. On Toni Childs' 1994 CD, The Woman's Boat, Gabriel sang on the track, "I Met a Man".

In 1998, Gabriel appeared on the soundtrack of Babe: Pig in the City, not as a composer, but as the singer of the song "That'll Do", written by Randy Newman. The song was nominated for an Academy Award, and Gabriel and Newman performed it at the following year's Oscar telecast. He performed a similar soundtrack appearance for the 2004 film Shall We Dance?, singing a cover version of "The Book of Love" by The Magnetic Fields.

Gabriel has also appeared on Robbie Robertson's self-titled album, singing on "Fallen Angel"; co-written two Tom Robinson singles; and appeared on Joni Mitchell's 1988 album Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm, on the track "My Secret Place".

In 2001, Gabriel contributed lead vocals to the song "When You're Falling" on Afro Celt Sound System's Volume 3: Further in Time.^[21] In the summer of 2003, Gabriel performed in Ohio with a guest performance by Uzbek singer Sevara Nazarkhan.

Gabriel collaborated on tracks with electronic musician BT. The tracks were never released, as the computers they were contained on were stolen from BT's home in California. He also sang the lyrics for Deep Forest on their theme song for the movie Strange Days. In addition, Gabriel has appeared on Angelique Kidjo's 2007 album Djin Djin, singing on the song "Salala".

Gabriel has recorded a cover of the Vampire Weekend single "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" with Hot Chip, where his name is mentioned several times in the chorus. He substitutes the original line "But this feels so unnatural / Peter Gabriel too / This feels so unnatural/ Peter Gabriel too" with "It feels so unnatural / Peter Gabriel too / and it feels so unnatural / to sing your own name."

WOMAD and other projects[link]

Gabriel has been interested in world music for many years, with the first musical evidence appearing on his third album. This influence has increased over time, and he is the driving force behind the World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) movement. He created the Real World Studios and record label to facilitate the creation and distribution of such music by various artists, and he has worked to educate Western culture about the work of such musicians as Yungchen Lhamo, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Youssou N'dour. He has a long-standing interest in human rights, and launched Witness,^[22] a nonprofit which trains human rights activists to use video and online technologies to expose human rights abuses. In 2006 his work with WITNESS and his long standing support of peace and human rights causes was recognised by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates with the Man of Peace award.

In the 1990s, with Steve Nelson of Brilliant Media and director Michael Coulson, he developed advanced multimedia CD-ROM-based entertainment projects, creating the acclaimed Xplora (the world's largest selling music CD-ROM), and subsequently the EVE CD-ROM. EVE was a music and art adventure game directed by Michael Coulson and co-produced by the Starwave Corporation in Seattle; it won the prestigious Milia d'Or award Grand Prize at the Cannes in 1996 and featured themes and interactivity well in advance of its time. Xplora and EVE can no longer be played on modern PCs, due to changes to their operating systems.

In 1994, Gabriel starred in the Breck Eisner short film "Recon" as a detective who enters the minds of murder victims to find their killer's identity.

Gabriel helped pioneer a new realm of musical interaction in 2001, visiting Georgia State University's Language Research Center to participate in keyboard jam sessions with bonobo apes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (This experience inspired the song "Animal Nation," which was performed on Gabriel's 2002 "Growing Up" tour and was featured on the Growing Up Live DVD and The Wild Thornberrys Movie soundtrack.) Gabriel's desire to bring attention to the intelligence of primates also took the form of ApeNet, a project that aimed to link great apes through the internet, enabling the first interspecies internet communication.^[23]

He was one of the founders of On Demand Distribution (OD2), one of the first online music download services. Its technology is used by MSN Music UK and others, and has become the dominant music download technology platform for stores in Europe. OD2 was bought by US company Loudeye in June 2004 and subsequently by Finnish mobile giant Nokia in October 2006 for $60 million.

Additionally, Gabriel is also co-founder (with Brian Eno) of a musicians union called Mudda, short for "magnificent union of digitally downloading artists."

In 2000, Peter Gabriel collaborated with Zucchero, Anggun and others in charity for kids with AIDS. Erick Benzi have write words and music and Patrick Bruel, Stephan Eicher, Faudel, Lokua Kanza, Laam, Nourith, Axelle Red have accept to sing it.

In 2003, Gabriel's song "Burn You Up, Burn You Down" was featured in Cyan Worlds' video game Uru: Ages Beyond Myst. In 2004, Gabriel contributed another song ("Curtains") and contributed voice work on another game in the Myst franchise, Myst IV: Revelation.

During the latter part of 2004, Gabriel spent time in a village in eastern Nepal with musician Ram Sharan Nepali, learning esoteric vocal techniques. Gabriel subsequently invited Nepali to attend and perform at the Womad festival in Adelaide, Australia.

In June 2005, Gabriel and broadcast industry entrepreneur David Engelke purchased Solid State Logic, a leading manufacturer of mixing consoles and digital audio workstations.^[24] SSL is among the top 2 or 3 recording console manufacturers in the world of recording.

In May 2008, Gabriel's Real World Studios, in partnership with Bowers & Wilkins, started the Bowers & Wilkins Music Club - now known as Society of Sound - a subscription-based music retail site. Albums are currently available in either Apple Lossless or Flac format.^[25]

Activist for humanitarian causes[link]

In 1986 he started what has become a longstanding association with Amnesty International, becoming a pioneering participant in all 28 of Amnesty's Human Rights Concerts — a series of music events and tours staged by the US Section of Amnesty International between 1986-1998. He performed during the six-concert A Conspiracy of Hope US tour in June 1986; the twenty-concert Human Rights Now! world tour in 1988; the Chile: Embrace Of Hope Concert in 1990 and at The Paris Concert For Amnesty International in 1998. He also performed in Amnesty's Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows.^[26] He spoke of his support for Amnesty on NBC's Today Show in 1986.^[27]

Inspired by the social activism he encountered in his work with Amnesty, in 1992 Gabriel co-founded WITNESS, a non-profit group that equips, trains and supports locally-based organizations worldwide to use video and the internet in human rights documentation and advocacy.

In 1995, Gabriel and Cape Verdean human rights activist Vera Duarte were awarded the North-South Prize in its inaugural year.^[28][29]

Peter Gabriel at WITNESS Gala 2007

In the late 1990s, Gabriel and entrepreneur Richard Branson discussed with Nelson Mandela their idea of a small, dedicated group of leaders, working objectively and without any vested personal interest to solve difficult global conflicts.

On 18 July 2007, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nelson Mandela announced the formation of a new group, Global Elders, in a speech he delivered on the occasion of his 89th birthday. The present members of this group are Desmond Tutu, Graça Machel, Kofi Annan, Ela Bhatt, Lakhdar Brahimi, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Jimmy Carter, Mary Robinson, Muhammad Yunus, and Aung San Suu Kyi (with an empty chair for her).^[30]

The Elders will be independently funded by a group of "Founders", including Branson and Gabriel.

Desmond Tutu serves as the chair of the Elders, who will use their collective skills to catalyse peaceful resolutions to long-standing conflicts, articulate new approaches to global issues that are causing or may later cause immense human suffering, and share wisdom by helping to connect voices all over the world. They will work together over the next several months to consider carefully which specific issues they will confront.

In November 2007 Gabriel's non-profit group WITNESS launched The Hub, a participatory media site for human rights.

In September 2008 Gabriel was named as the recipient of Amnesty International’s 2008 Ambassador of Conscience Award. In the same month, he received Quadriga United We Care award of Werkstatt Deutschland along with Boris Tadić, Eckart Höfling and Wikipedia. The award was presented to him by Queen Silvia of Sweden.^[31]

Gabriel lent his support to the campaign to release Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning after being convicted of committing adultery.^[32]

Politics[link]

At the 1997 general election, Gabriel declared his support for the Labour Party, which won that election by a landslide after 18 years out of power, led by Tony Blair.^[33]

In 1998, Gabriel was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to Labour.^[34] In 2003, he revealed he had voted for Labour and admired what they had done for health and education but distanced himself from the Labour government over Tony Blair’s support for George W. Bush and Britain’s involvement in the Iraq War, which he strongly opposed, although he continued to believe Blair was a man of conscience.^[35] Quoted in The Mirror newspaper, he said:

This is a fundamental issue of life and death and I very much think the Prime Minister is in the wrong. I'm also sure George W. Bush is an affable bloke but he's highly dangerous and I wish America was in the hands of someone else. To put oil interests ahead of human life is appalling. War is always terrible but unjustified war is obscene and on present evidence that is what we are facing. People want peace and I think it's great that the Mirror is leading this campaign. I think the consequences of this war would be the biggest threat to world peace in my lifetime...There is a slogan which says: 'Peace is what happens when you respect the rights of others'. Iraqis have rights too.^[36]

In 2005, Gabriel gave a Green Party of England and Wales general election candidate special permission to record a cover of his song "Don't Give Up" for his campaign.^[37]

In 2010, The Guardian described Gabriel as "a staunch advocate of proportional representation".^[38]

In 2012, Gabriel condemned the use of his music by American talk radio personality Rush Limbaugh during a controversial segment in which Limbaugh vilified Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke. A statement on behalf of Gabriel read: "Peter was appalled to learn that his music was linked to Rush Limbaugh's extraordinary attack on Sandra Fluke. It is obvious from anyone that knows Peter's work that he would never approve such a use. He has asked his representatives to make sure his music is withdrawn and especially from these unfair, aggressive and ignorant comments."^[39]

Personal life[link]

Gabriel has two daughters with his first wife Jill Moore: Anna-Marie (born 26 July 1974) and Melanie Gabriel (born 23 August 1976). Married on 17 March 1971, they divorced in 1987. Moore's father was Lord Moore of Wolvercote.

Anna-Marie is a filmmaker and Melanie is a musician. Anna-Marie filmed and directed the Growing Up On Tour: A Family Portrait and Still Growing Up: Live & Unwrapped DVDs. Melanie has been a backing vocalist in her father's band since 2002.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Gabriel lived with actress Rosanna Arquette but they never married.

Gabriel also has two sons with Meabh Flynn: Isaac Ralph (born 27 September 2001) and Luc (born 5 July 2008). Gabriel and Flynn have been married since 9 June 2002.

Gabriel has resided for many years in the county of Wiltshire in England, where he also runs his Real World Studios. He previously lived in the Woolley Valley near Bath, Somerset. In 2010 he joined a campaign to stop an agricultural development at the valley, which had also inspired his first solo single "Solsbury Hill" in 1977.^[40]

Appearances: 2005–present[link]

Gabriel actively coordinated and performed at the Eden Project Live 8 concert in July 2005. In his earliest days, Gabriel played flute on Cat Stevens's first album on the Island records label, Mona Bone Jakon as a "nervous session musician". Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam, joined him on stage 33 years after that experience, in Johannesburg during Nelson Mandela's 46664 concert. The two performed the Stevens hit "Wild World".

A double DVD set, Still Growing Up: Live & Unwrapped, was released in October 2005.

FIFA asked Gabriel and Brian Eno to organise an opening ceremony for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany, planned to take place a couple of days before the start of the tournament; however, the show was cancelled in January 2006 by FIFA.

Rumours of a possible reunion of the original Genesis line-up began circulating in 2004 after Phil Collins stated in an interview that he was open to the idea of sitting back behind the drums and "let Peter be the singer." The classic line-up has only reformed for a live performance once before, in 1982. However, the group did work together to create a new version of the 1974 song "The Carpet Crawlers", ultimately released on the Turn It On Again: The Hits album as "The Carpet Crawlers 1999". Gabriel later met with other Genesis band members, to discuss a possible reunion tour of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. He chose to opt out of a reunion tour, and his former bandmates, Collins, Banks, and Rutherford chose to tour as Genesis without him.

At the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Gabriel performed John Lennon's "Imagine" during the opening of the festivities on 10 February 2006.

In October 2006, Gabriel was given the first Pioneer Award at the BT Digital Music Awards, an award presented in recognition of his "profound and lasting influence on the development of digital music."

In November 2006, the Seventh World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Rome presented Gabriel with the Man of Peace award. The award, presented by former President of the USSR and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev and Walter Veltroni, Mayor of Rome, was an acknowledgement of Gabriel's extensive contribution and work on behalf of human rights and peace. The award was presented in the Giulio Cesare Hall of the Campidoglio in Rome. At the end of the year, he was awarded the Q magazine Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to him by American musician Moby. In an interview published in the magazine to accompany the award, Gabriel's contribution to music was described as "vast and enduring."

Gabriel took on a project with the BBC World Service's competition "The Next Big Thing" to find the world's best young band. Gabriel is judging the final six young artists with William Orbit, Geoff Travis and Angélique Kidjo.

The Times reported on 21 January 2007, that Peter Gabriel had announced that he planned to release his next album in the U.S. without the aid of a record company. Gabriel, an early pioneer of digital music distribution, had raised £2 million towards recording and 'shipping' his next album, Big Blue Ball in a venture with investment boutique Ingenious Media. Gabriel is expected to earn double the money that he would through a conventional record deal. Commercial director Duncan Reid of Ingenious explains the business savvy of the deal, saying, "If you're paying a small distribution fee and covering your own marketing costs, you enjoy the lion's share of the proceeds of the album. Gabriel is expected to outsource CD production for worldwide release through Warner Bros. Records. The new album deal covers the North America territory, where Gabriel is currently out of contract.^[41]

The album Big Blue Ball was launched in America thanks to a venture capital trust initiative. Bosses at London-based firm Ingenious raised more than $4 million (GBP 2 million) to help promote the release in the United States. The venture capitalists, Gabriel and his Real World Limited partners, have created a new joint venture company, High Level Recordings Limited, to oversee the release of the album, which took place in 2008. Gabriel appeared on a nationwide tour for the album in 2009.^[42]

On 24 May 2007, he was honoured with the Ivor Novello Award for lifetime achievement.^[43]

Gabriel was a judge for the 6th and 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.^[44]

In February 2009, Gabriel announced that he would not be performing on the 2008 Academy Awards telecast because producers of the show were limiting his performance of "Down to Earth" from WALL-E to 65 seconds. John Legend and the Soweto Gospel Choir performed the song in his stead.

Gabriel's 2009 tour of Mexico and South America included visiting Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Venezuela. His first ever performance in Peru was held in Lima on 20 March 2009, during his second visit to the country. His concert in Mexico City, on 27 March 2009, attracted more than 38,000 fans.

On 25 July 2009, he played at WOMAD Charlton Park, his only European performance of the year, to promote Witness. The show included two tracks from the then-forthcoming Scratch My Back: Paul Simon's "The Boy in the Bubble" and The Magnetic Fields' "The Book of Love".^[45]

On 5 October 2011 at the Royal Festival Hall, London Gabriel appeared at the end of an interview of President Carter by Channel 4 News presenter, Jon Snow, to lead the 2,500-strong audience in a rendition of happy birthday to mark the President turning 87.

On 9 November 2011 he appeared and performed on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman.

Discography[link]

• Peter Gabriel 1 (Car) (1977)
• Peter Gabriel 2 (Scratch) (1978)
• Peter Gabriel 3 (Melt) (1980)
• Ein deutsches Album (1980)
• Peter Gabriel 4 (Security) (1982)
• Deutsches Album (1982)
• Birdy (1985)
• So (1986)
• Passion (1989)
• Us (1992)
• OVO (2000)
• Long Walk Home (2002)
• Up (2002)
• Scratch My Back (2010)
• New Blood (2011)

See also[link]

• List of best selling music artists
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (October 2011)

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Peter Gabriel

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Peter Gabriel

• Official website
• Peter Gabriel at the Internet Movie Database
• Peter Gabriel discography at MusicBrainz
• Peter Gabriel at TED Conferences
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Peter Gabriel on Charlie Rose
• Works by or about Peter Gabriel in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Peter Gabriel collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Audio interview at BBC Wiltshire
• Peter Gabriel takes part in a panel at the Global Philanthropy Forum video

Kate Bush
Kate Bush about to perform at Comic Relief 1986
Background information
Birth name	Catherine Bush
Born	(1958-07-30) 30 July 1958 (age 53) Bexleyheath, Southeast London, England
Genres	Art rock,[1] progressive rock,[2] alternative rock[1], baroque pop
Occupations	Musician, vocalist, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, keyboards, bass guitar, guitar, violin
Years active	1975–present
Labels	EMI Records (1975–present) Columbia Records (U.S.) (1989–2009) Legacy Recordings (2010–present) Fish People (division of EMI) 2011–
Website	Official website
Notable instruments
Fairlight CMI

Catherine "Kate" Bush (born 30 July 1958)^[1] is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.

In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights", becoming the first woman to have a UK number one with a self-written song.^[3] She has since released ten albums, three of which topped the UK Albums Chart, and has had 25 UK Top 40 hit singles including the Top 10 hits "Wuthering Heights", "Running Up that Hill", "King of the Mountain", "Babooshka", "The Man with the Child in His Eyes", and "Don't Give Up".

In 1987, she won a Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist, and in 2002, her songwriting ability was recognised with an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. During the course of her career, she has also been nominated for three Grammy Awards. After her 1979 tour – the only concert tour of her career – Bush released the 1980 album Never for Ever, which made her the first British solo female artist to top the UK album charts and the first female artist ever to enter the album chart at Number 1.^[4] She is also the first (and to date only) female artist to have Top 5 albums in the UK charts in 5 successive decades.

In May 2012, Bush's latest album, 50 Words for Snow, won the South Bank Arts Award ^[5]. The album was also nominated for an Ivor Novello Award and a Brit Award that same year.

Early life[link]

Bush was born in Bexleyheath, Southeast London, to English physician Robert Bush and his Irish wife, Hannah Daly.^[6] She was raised in their farmhouse in East Wickham with her older brothers, John and Paddy.^[7] Bush came from an artistic background: her mother was a former Irish folk dancer, her father was an accomplished pianist, Paddy worked as a musical instrument maker and John was a poet and photographer. Both brothers were involved in the local folk music scene.^[8]

John was a karateka at Goldsmiths College karate club and Kate also trained there, becoming known as "Ee-ee" because of her squeaky kiai. One of the instructors, Dave Hazard, later noted in his autobiography that her dance moves seemed to owe something to karate.^[9]

Her family's musical influence inspired the young Kate to teach herself to play the piano at the age of 11. She also played the organ in a barn behind her parents' house and studied the violin.^[10] She soon began writing her own tunes and eventually added lyrics to them.^[11]

Career[link]

Bush attended St Joseph's Convent Grammar School (later the St Joseph's campus of Bexley College) and a Catholic girls' school on Woolwich Road in Abbey Wood, London, in the mid-1970s. During this time her family produced a demo tape with over 50 of her compositions, which was turned down by record labels. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd received the demo from Ricky Hopper, a mutual friend of Gilmour and the Bush family. Impressed with what he heard, Gilmour helped the sixteen-year-old Bush get a more professional-sounding demo tape recorded that would be more saleable to the record companies.^[12] Three tracks in total were recorded and paid for by Gilmour. ^[13]The tape was produced by Gilmour's friend Andrew Powell, who would go on to produce Bush's first two albums,^[11] and sound engineer Geoff Emerick.^[14] The tape was sent to EMI executive Terry Slater.^[15] Slater was impressed by the tape and signed her.^[16] The British record industry was reaching a point of stagnation.^[15] Progressive rock was very popular and visually oriented rock performers were growing in popularity, thus record labels looking for the next big thing were considering experimental acts.^[15]

Bush was put on retainer for two years by Bob Mercer, managing director of EMI group-repertoire division. According to Mercer he felt Bush's material was good enough to be released but felt that if the album failed it would be demoralising and if it was successful Bush was too young to handle it.^[17] For the first two years of her contract, Bush spent more time on school work than making an album. She left school after doing her mock A-levels and having gained ten GCE O-Level qualifications.^[18] In 2005, Bush stated in an interview with Mark Radcliffe on BBC Radio 2 that she believed EMI signed her before she was ready to make an album so that no other record company could offer her a contract. After the contract signing, EMI forwarded her a sizeable advance which she used to enrol in interpretive dance classes taught by Lindsay Kemp, a former teacher of David Bowie,^[19] and mime training with Adam Darius.^[20]

Bush also wrote and made demos of close to 200 songs, a few of which today can be found on bootleg recordings and are known as the Phoenix Recordings.^[21] From March to August 1977, she fronted the KT Bush Band at public houses around London – specifically at the Rose of Lee public house (now Dirty South) in Lewisham. The other three band members were Del Palmer (bass), Brian Bath (guitar), and Vic King (drums). She began recording her first album in August 1977,^[11] although two tracks had been recorded during the summer of 1975.

[edit] The Kick Inside and Lionheart

	Kate Bush "Wuthering Heights" (1978) noicon Sample from Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights".
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

As part of her preparation for entering the studio, Bush toured pubs with the KT Bush Band. However, for her debut album The Kick Inside (1978) she was persuaded to use established session musicians, some of whom she would retain even after she had brought her bandmates back on board.^[22] Her brother Paddy played the harmonica and mandolin, unlike on later albums where he would play more exotic instruments such as the balalaika and didgeridoo. Stuart Elliott played some of the drums and would become her main percussionist on subsequent albums.^[23]

Bush released The Kick Inside when she was 19 years old, but some of the songs had been written when she was as young as 13. EMI originally wanted the more rock-oriented track "James and the Cold Gun" to be her debut single, but Bush insisted that it should be "Wuthering Heights". Even at this early stage of her career, she had gained a reputation for her determination to have a say in decisions affecting her work.^[11] "Wuthering Heights" topped the UK and Australian charts and became an international hit.^[24] Bush became the first woman to reach number one in the UK charts with a self-penned song.^[25] A second single, "The Man with the Child in His Eyes", reached number six in the UK charts.^[26] It also made it onto the American Billboard Hot 100 where it reached number 85 in early 1979. Bob Mercer felt that Bush's relative lack of success in the United States compared to the rest of the world was due to her music being a poor fit for American radio formats and that there were no outlets for the visual presentation central to Bush's appeal.^[17] "The Man with the Child in His Eyes" went on to win her an Ivor Novello Award in 1979 for Outstanding British Lyric.^[27]

EMI capitalised on Bush's appearance by promoting the album with a poster of her in a tight pink top that emphasised her breasts. In an interview with NME magazine in 1982, Bush criticised the marketing technique, stating: "People weren't even generally aware that I wrote my own songs or played the piano. The media just promoted me as a female body. It's like I've had to prove that I'm an artist in a female body."^[11] In late 1978, EMI persuaded Bush to quickly record a follow-up album, Lionheart, to take advantage of the success of The Kick Inside. Bush has often expressed dissatisfaction with Lionheart, feeling that she had needed more time to get it right. The album was produced by Andrew Powell, assisted by Bush. While it had spawned several hit singles, most notably "Wow", it did not garner the same reception as her first album, reaching number six in the UK album charts.^[28]

Bush was displeased with being rushed into making the second album. She set up her own publishing company, Kate Bush Music, and her own management company, Novercia, to maintain complete control over her work. Bush herself, along with members of her family, comprised the company's board of directors.^[11] Following the album's release, she was required by EMI to undertake heavy promotional work and an exhausting tour, the only one of her career.^[29] The tour, named The Tour of Life, began in April 1979 and lasted six weeks. This live show was co-devised and performed on stage with magician Simon Drake.^[30] Typical of her determination to have control, she was involved in every aspect of the show's production, choreography, set design, and staff recruitment.^[11] The shows were noted for her dancing, complex lighting and her 17 costume changes per show. Because of her intention to dance as she sang, her sound engineers used a wire coat hanger and a radio microphone to fashion the first headset mic to be used by a rock performer since the Swedish group Spotnicks used a very primitive version in the early 1960s.^[1][31]

[edit] Never for Ever and The Dreaming

	Kate Bush "Babooshka" (1980) noicon Sample from Kate Bush's "Babooshka". Kate Bush "There Goes a Tenner" (1982) noicon Sample from Kate Bush's "There Goes a Tenner".
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Released in September 1980, Never for Ever saw Bush's second foray into production, co-producing with Jon Kelly. Her first time as a producer was on her Live On Stage EP, released after her tour the previous year. The first two albums had resulted in a definitive sound evident in every track, with orchestral arrangements supporting the live band sound. The range of styles on Never for Ever is much more diverse, veering from the straightforward rocker "Violin" to the wistful waltz of hit single "Army Dreamers". Never for Ever was the first Kate Bush album to feature synthesisers and drum machines, in particular the Fairlight CMI, to which she was introduced when providing backing vocals on Peter Gabriel's eponymous third album in early 1980.^[11] It was her first record to reach the top position in the UK album charts, also making her the first female British artist to achieve that status,^[18] and the first female artist ever to enter the album chart at the top.^[4] The top-selling single from the album was "Babooshka", which reached number five in the UK singles chart.^[32] In November 1980, she released the Christmas single "December Will Be Magic Again", which reached number 29 in the UK charts.

September 1982 saw the release of The Dreaming, the first album Bush produced by herself.^[33] It was also a major departure for Bush, being initially composed on the Fairlight CMI rather than piano, with songs extensively revised and rebuilt in the studio, rather than merely arranged there.^{[citation needed]} With her new-found freedom, she experimented with production techniques, creating an album that features a diverse blend of musical styles and is known for its near-exhaustive use of the Fairlight CMI. The Dreaming received a mixed critical reception in the UK at first. Many were baffled by the dense soundscapes Bush had created, and some critics accused the album of being over-produced.^{[citation needed]} In a 1993 interview with Q, Bush stated: "That was my 'She's gone mad' album."^[11] However, the album was hailed as a "masterpiece" and a "musical tour-de-force" by critics in America, and the album became her first to enter the US charts, albeit only reaching number 157.^[11] The album entered the UK album chart at number three, but is to date her lowest-selling album, garnering only a gold disc.

"Sat in Your Lap" was the first single from the album to be released. It pre-dated the album by over a year and peaked at number 11 in the UK.^[34] The album's title track, featuring the talents of Rolf Harris and Percy Edwards, stalled at number 48, while the third single, "There Goes a Tenner", failed to chart, despite promotion from EMI and Bush. The track "Suspended in Gaffa" was released as a single in Europe, but not in the UK.

Continuing in her storytelling tradition, Bush looked far outside her own personal experience for sources of inspiration. She drew on old crime films for "There Goes a Tenner", a documentary about the war in Vietnam for "Pull Out the Pin", and the plight of Indigenous Australians for "The Dreaming". "Houdini" is about the magician's death, and "Get Out Of My House" was inspired by Stephen King's novel The Shining.^[35]

[edit] Hounds of Love and The Whole Story

	Kate Bush "Running Up that Hill" (1985) noicon Sample from Kate Bush's "Running Up that Hill".
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Hounds of Love was released in 1985. Because of the high cost of hiring studio space for her previous album, she built a private studio near her home, where she could work at her own pace.^[36] Hounds of Love ultimately topped the charts in the UK, knocking Madonna's Like a Virgin from the number one position.^[37]

The album takes advantage of the vinyl format with two very different sides. The first side, Hounds of Love, contains five "accessible" pop songs, including the four singles "Running Up that Hill", "Cloudbusting", "Hounds of Love", and "The Big Sky". In August 1985, NME featured Bush in a "Where Are They Now" article. "Running Up that Hill" reached number 3 in the UK charts and also re-introduced Bush to American listeners, climbing to number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1985. The second side of the album, The Ninth Wave, takes its name from Tennyson's poem, "Idylls of the King", about the legendary King Arthur's reign, and is one continuous piece of music.^[38] The album earned Bush nominations for Best Female Solo Artist, Best Album, Best Single, and Best Producer at the 1986 BRIT Awards. In the same year, Bush and Peter Gabriel had a UK top ten hit with "Don't Give Up" (Dolly Parton, Gabriel's original choice, turned his offer down),^[39] and EMI released her "greatest hits" album, The Whole Story. Bush provided a new lead vocal and refreshed backing track on "Wuthering Heights," and recorded a new single, "Experiment IV," for inclusion on the compilation. At the 1987 BRIT Awards, Bush won the award for Best Female Solo Artist.

[edit] The Sensual World and The Red Shoes

The increasingly personal tone of her writing continued on 1989's The Sensual World, with songs about unexpressed and unrequited love ("Love and Anger" and "Never Be Mine", respectively), and the pressures on modern relationships ("Between a Man and a Woman").^{[citation needed]} One of the quirkiest tracks on the album, touched by Bush's black humour, is "Heads We're Dancing", about a woman who dances all night with a charming stranger only to discover in the morning that he is Adolf Hitler.^[40] The title track drew its inspiration from James Joyce's novel Ulysses.^[40]

	Kate Bush "The Sensual World" (1989) noicon Sample from Kate Bush's "The Sensual World".
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The Sensual World went on to become her biggest-selling album in the US, receiving an RIAA Gold certification four years after its release for 500,000 copies sold. In the United Kingdom album charts, it reached the number two position.^[41]

In 1990, the boxed-set This Woman's Work was released and included all of her albums with their original cover art, as well as two discs of all single B sides recorded from 1978–1990. In 1991, Bush released a cover of Elton John's "Rocket Man", which reached number 12 in the UK singles chart^[42], and went as high as number two in Australia, and in 2007, was voted the greatest cover ever by readers of The Observer newspaper.^[43] She recorded "Candle in the Wind", as the single's b-side.^[44]

The Red Shoes was released in November 1993. The Red Shoes features more high-profile cameo appearances than Bush's previous efforts, including contributions from composer and conductor Michael Kamen. Comedian Lenny Henry, Prince, Eric Clapton, Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, Trevor Whittaker, and Jeff Beck also contributed to the album. Both "The Sensual World" and "The Red Shoes" featured contributions from Trio Bulgarka, a trio of women who sang on several tracks, including "You're The One" and "Rocket's Tail." The album gave Bush her highest chart position in the US, reaching number 28, although the only song from the album to make the US singles chart was "Rubberband Girl", which peaked at number 88 in January 1994. In the UK, the album reached number two, and the singles "Rubberband Girl", "The Red Shoes", "Moments of Pleasure", and "And So Is Love" all reached the top 30.^[34][45] That same year, the short film The Line, the Cross & the Curve, written and directed by Bush, and starring Bush and English actress Miranda Richardson,^[46] used six of the songs on the album.

The initial plan had been to take the songs out on the road (though a new tour did not transpire), so Bush deliberately aimed for a live-band feel, with less of the studio trickery that had typified her last three albums and that would be difficult to recreate on stage.^[47] The result alienated some of her fan base, who enjoyed the intricacy of her earlier compositions,^[48] but others found a new complexity in the lyrics and the emotions they expressed.^[49]

This was a troubled time for Bush. She had suffered a series of bereavements, including the loss of guitarist Alan Murphy, who had started working with her on The Tour Of Life in 1979, and her mother Hannah, to whom she was exceptionally close.^[18] Many of the people she lost are honoured in the ballad "Moments of Pleasure". However, Bush's mother was still alive when "Moments of Pleasure" was written and recorded. Bush describes playing the song to her mother, who thought the line where she is quoted by Bush as saying "Every old sock meets an old shoe", was hilarious and "couldn't stop laughing".^[50]

[edit] Aerial

After the release of The Red Shoes, Bush dropped out of the public eye for many years, although her name occasionally cropped up in the media with rumours of a new album release. Bush had originally intended to take one year off but despite working on material 12 years would pass before her next album release.^[51] The press often viewed her as an eccentric recluse, sometimes drawing a comparison with Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens's Great Expectations.^[52] In reality, she was trying to give her young son a normal childhood, and needed a quiet place for her creative process to function.^[51] In 1998, Bush had given birth to Albert, known as "Bertie", fathered by her guitarist and now-husband Danny McIntosh.^[18][53] After living for many years on Court Road, Eltham, southeast London, the couple and their son moved away from the city and currently have two homes: a £2.5 million house in East Portlemouth on the Devon coast^[53] and a mansion on an islet on the Kennet and Avon canal at Sulhamstead in West Berkshire.^[54]

Bush's eighth studio album, Aerial, was released on double CD and vinyl in November 2005.^[18] The first single from the album was "King of the Mountain", which was played for the first time on BBC Radio 2 on 21 September 2005.^[55]

As on Hounds of Love (1985), the album is divided into two sections, each with its own theme and mood.^[56] The first disc, subtitled A Sea of Honey, features a set of unrelated themed songs, including "King of the Mountain"; "Bertie", a Renaissance-style ode to her son; and "Joanni", based on the story of Joan of Arc. In the song "π", Bush sings the number Pi to 115 decimal places.^[56][57] The second disc, subtitled A Sky of Honey, features one continuous piece of music describing the experience of being outdoors after waking at dawn, moving through afternoon, dusk, to night, then back to the following dawn of single summer's day. All the pieces in this suite refer or allude to sky and sea in their lyrical content. Bush mixed her voice with cooing wood pigeons to repeat the phrases "A sea of honey, a sky of honey," and "You're full of beauty" throughout the piece, and uses recordings of actual birdsong throughout. A Sky of Honey features Rolf Harris playing the didgeridoo on one track, and providing vocals on "The Painter's Link".^[56] Other artists making guest appearances on the album include Peter Erskine, Eberhard Weber, Lol Creme, and Gary Brooker. Two tracks feature string arrangements by Michael Kamen, performed by the London Metropolitan Orchestra. A CD release of the single "King of the Mountain" included a cover of "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye.^[58]

	Kate Bush "King of the Mountain" (2005) noicon Sample from Kate Bush's "King of the Mountain".
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"King of the Mountain" entered the UK Downloads Chart at number six on 17 October 2005,^[59] and by 30 October it had become Bush's third-highest-charting single ever in the UK, peaking at number four on the full chart. Aerial entered the UK albums chart at number 3,^[60] and the US chart at number 48.^[61] Bush herself carried out relatively little publicity for the album, only conducting a handful of magazine and radio interviews. Aerial earned Bush two nominations at the 2006 BRIT Awards, for Best British Female Solo Artist and Best British Album.^[62]

In late 2007, Bush composed and recorded a new song, "Lyra", for the soundtrack to the fantasy film The Golden Compass.^[63]

[edit] Director's Cut and 50 Words for Snow

On 16 May 2011, Bush released the album Director's Cut. The album, which Bush has described as an entirely new project rather than a collection of mere remixes, contains 11 tracks of substantially reworked material from her earlier albums The Sensual World and The Red Shoes, all of which have been recorded using analogue, rather than digital, equipment to create "a warmer sound". All the tracks have new lead vocals, new drums, and radically reworked instrumentation. Some of them have been transposed to a lower key to accommodate her lowering voice. Three of the songs, including "This Woman's Work", have been completely re-recorded, with lyrics often changed in places.^[64] The album has been met with a wide range of reviews with most reviewers a bit confused about the concept of the album itself, while responding with varying degrees of enthusiasm about its revamped tracks. Of particular note is the warmer, more intimate tone of the songs and the richer, more mature sound of her voice.^[65][66] This is the first album on her new label, Fish People, a division of EMI Records, with whom she's had a relationship since she started recording. In addition to the album Director's Cut in both its single CD form and in a box-set with The Sensual World and the analogue re-mastered The Red Shoes, Fish People will be releasing re-mastered editions of The Hounds of Love and The Dreaming.^[67] The album debuted at number 2 on the United Kingdom chart.^[68]

The song "The Sensual World" has been renamed "Flower of the Mountain" and contains a passage of Molly Bloom's famous soliloquy from James Joyce's novel Ulysses. Bush said, "Originally when I wrote the song "The Sensual World", I had used text from the end of Ulysses. When I asked for permission to use the text I was refused, which was disappointing. I then wrote my own lyrics for the song, although I felt that the original idea had been more interesting. Well, I'm not James Joyce am I? When I came to work on this project I thought I would ask for permission again and this time they said yes."^[69]

The first single released from the album was "Deeper Understanding" and contains a new chorus featuring computerised vocals from Bush's son, Albert. A video for the song, directed by Bush, has been released through her channel on YouTube. It features Robbie Coltrane as a man consumed by his relationship with his computer (voiced by Bush's son). Frances Barber plays the man's wife, and Noel Fielding also appears.

Bush's next studio album, 50 Words for Snow, was released on 21 November 2011. The album contains seven new songs "set against a backdrop of falling snow," with a total running time of 65 minutes.^[70][71] A radio edit of the first single, "Wild Man," was played on BBC Radio 2's 'Ken Bruce' show on 10 October.^[72] and was released as a digital download on 11 October.^[73] The album will be distributed in the United States by Anti-Records.