'Wuthering Heights' by Kate Bush: The making of the literary debut smash

4 March 2026, 13:08

Kate Bush burst on to the scene with a stunning debut single like no other.

Kate Bush hasn't released an album of new music since 2011's stunning 50 Words For Snow, but that hasn't stopped her legion of fans just growing.

Her Before The Dawn concert residency in 2014 was global news and much more recently than that she topped the charts with her classic 'Running Up That Hill', thanks to it featuring prominently in hit TV show Stranger Things.

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We're going back to where it all began, with her very first single 'Wuthering Heights' all the way back in 1978.

Do you know who wrote and played on the single, and which adaptation of the classic tale was the direct inspiration for the song?

Read on for everything you might want to know about Kate Bush's all-conquering debut.

Who wrote 'Wuthering Heights'?

Wuthering Heights (2018 Remaster)

This is an easy one.

With the exception of some strings and pipes on The Dreaming and some traditional elements on 'Hello Earth' from Hounds of Love, every single song on every single one of Kate Bush's ten studio albums was written by the woman herself, and no-one else.

That was true all the way back to her debut single 'Wuthering Heights', which Kate wrote on March 5, 1977, when she was just 18 years old.

What do the lyrics of 'Wuthering Heights' mean?

Wuthering Heights 1967 BBC

'Wuthering Heights' obviously shares its title with Emily Brontë's 1847 novel, and takes its inspiration from that literary classic.

Spoiler warning for those who haven't caught up in the last 180 years or so, Kate Bush sings in first person as the spirit of Catherine Earnshaw, haunting Heathcliff.

More specifically, Bush was inspired by the acclaimed 1967 BBC adaptation, which starred Ian McShane as Heathcliff and Angela Scoular as Catherine Earnshaw.

After watching that film, Kate read the novel and also found that she and Brontë shared a birthday, 140 years apart: July 30.

When was 'Wuthering Heights' released and where did it get in the charts?

Kate Bush was signed up by EMI when she was just 16, partly thanks to a little bit of help from Pink Floyd's David Gilmour but mainly as a result of her own prodigious talent.

Her label were keen to launch her with the slightly more trad 'James and the Cold Gun' but Kate wanted her debut to be 'Wuthering Heights' and thankfully got her own way.

Originally due for release on November 4, 1977, the single was delayed because Bush was unhappy with the single sleeve, and it was eventually on shelves on January 20, 1978.

The song went all the way to number one in the UK, and ended up the 10th best selling single of the year. While it didn't scale the main US charts, it still got to number 8 on Billboard's Bubbling Under rankings.

It would also close out the first half of Bush's debut The Kick Inside album, which would get to number three on the UK albums charts.

Why does 'Wuthering Heights' have two music videos?

Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights - Official Music Video - Version 1

Not every major single has a music video these days, but most do. And in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s it would unthinkable to try and launch an artist without one.

But back in 1978, a few years before the launch of MTV, they were far from a must-have.

Kate Bush has always had a keen eye for the visual though, and had not one but two music videos made for 'Wuthering Heights'. An acclaimed dancer, Bush choreographed herself for both promos.

Directed by Keith 'Keef' MacMillan, the "white dress" video has Kate giving her ghostly dance moves in a dark room.

Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights - Official Music Video - Version 2

The story goes that it was decided that this video was a little too intense for American audiences, so they also made another.

So Kate made another, with similar dance moves for the "red dress" version, directed by Nicholas Abson.

This video was filmed on the Salisbury Plain, with the Wiltshire grass standing in for the "wily, windy moors" of Yorkshire from Brontë's novel.

While it was the "white dress" version by future regular collaborator Keef that appeared on 1986's The Whole Story video compilation and was arguably the canonical take, it's the "red dress" version that has really endured.

What is The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever all about?

The "red dress" video has become so iconic, in fact, that it has directly inspired what has come to be known as The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever.

It all started at the Brighton Fringe with Shambush's The Ultimate Kate Bush Experience, with the collective trying to set an (unofficial) world record for the most people dressed as Kate Bush (specifically in versions of that red dress) in one place.

Hundreds of people showed up, and since then similar gatherings have been held every year, everywhere from Australia and Bulgaria to Israel, Mexico and Sweden.

Who has covered 'Wuthering Heights'?

Wuthering Heights

With its weird structure and tricksy vocals you might think that not many other artists would touch 'Wuthering Heights' with a ten-foot barge pole.

And you won't find hundreds of big names giving it a go, to be honest, but a few major artists have still put their spin on the track.

Pat Benatar covered the song as early as 1980. Since then, China Drum and The Puppini Sisters have also given it a shot.