40 years on from Wuthering Heights, the musician honours the legacy of the author sisters
Kate Bush will pay tribute to the Brontë sisters in a new memorial on the Yorkshire Moors, on the bicentenary of Emily Brontë’s birth and 40 years after Bush’s haunting, chart-topping “Wuthering Heights”, inspired by the enduring novel of the same name.
The singer has written an inscription for a stone that will be placed on a seven mile trail between the Brontë’s family home in Haworth and the sisters’ birthplace in Thornton. A stone for her sister Charlotte will be placed at the family house while the Anne stone will be in a meadow in Haworth at the dedicated museum.
“I am delighted to be involved in this project” Bush said in a statement. “Each sister being remembered by stone in the enigmatic landscape where they lived and worked is a striking idea. Emily only wrote the one novel – an extraordinary work of art that has truly left its mark. To be asked to write a piece for Emily's stone is an honour and, in a way, a chance to say thank you to her.”
Bush is one of four artists who have written messages dedicated to the sisters, alongside poets Carol Ann Duffy, Jackie Kay, and author Jeanette Winterson. Each passage provided is under 100 words.
Bradford Literature Festival director Syima Aslam told BBC News that Bush was “an icon”, whose inscription would thrill fans.
“So much of her work references literature, so it felt like she would be the perfect person to respond to Emily and write something for the stone,” Aslam said. “We weren’t sure whether she would do it but we were absolutely delighted when she said yes. It was one of those – we won't know unless we ask. So we asked, and she said yes, and we were tremendously excited.”
Bush stays relatively out of the public eye – her last major appearance was in a number of London shows in 2014. This tribute will be the only way she marks the anniversary of “Wuthering Heights”.
On July 7, the Bradford Literature Festival will unveil the four stones to the public.
Read back on our Dazed guide to Kate Bush here.
