Kate Bush, byname of Catherine Bush, (born July 30, 1958, Bexleyheath, Kent, England), British singer and songwriter whose imaginative and inventive art rock—marked by theatrical sensuality, textural experimentation, and allusive subject matter—made her one of the most successful and influential female musicians in Britain in the late 20th century.

Bush was the youngest child of an artistic family. Her father, who was a doctor, played the piano, and her mother, a nurse, had competed as a folk dancer in her native Ireland. As a child, Bush studied violin and piano and frequently joined her parents and older brothers in performing traditional English and Irish tunes at home. By age 14 she had begun writing her own musical compositions, and two years later a family friend introduced her to Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, who helped her win a contract with EMI Records. For the next several years Bush took vocal lessons and studied dance and mime in London while preparing material for her first recording.

In 1978 Bush released her first single, “Wuthering Heights,” inspired by characters from Emily Brontë’s novel of the same name. Although its high keening vocals, florid instrumentation, and literary affectations were out of step with the punk rock that was then fashionable in Britain, the song became an unexpected number-one hit there and elsewhere and boosted sales of Bush’s debut album, The Kick Inside (1978), which featured similarly ornate and romantic fare. She quickly capitalized on her early success with another album, Lionheart (1978), after which she embarked on a European tour. The performance schedule exhausted Bush, however, and she subsequently focused primarily on recording.