In continuation of the ongoing Taika Waititi drama, the Thor: Love and Thunder director is back making headlines. Only this time, it’s self-inflicted. Waititi has spoken about his thoughts on the rise of popularity of Kate Bush‘s “Running Up That Hill”, saying that Netflix’s Stranger Things has “ruined” the song.
In an interview with NME, Waititi believes that the Netflix show ruined Kate Bush. He went on somewhat of a gatekeeping rant on he doesn’t like how younger fans are enjoying Bush’s music thanks to one popular TV show, despite him enjoying the series. He is even self-aware that he became one of those people who are now gatekeeping an artist just because he was a fan of her work before Stranger Things.
“You mean how they ruined Kate Bush? I love that show, but as someone who feels a real ownership of Kate Bush music… I’m really annoyed! I’ve become one of those old assholes who’s like: ‘These kids never listened to Kate Bush, they’ve heard one song on a TV show! They don’t know Kate Bush! I know Kate Bush!’”
Waititi also reiterated that Bush’s music was planned to be included in Thor: Love and Thunder but was eventually scrapped because Stranger Things beat him to the punch.
“Before Stranger Things! Yeah, there were a bunch of Kate Bush songs I wanted to have in there. We were gonna have ‘This Woman’s Work’, which was gonna be great for [a scene with] Natalie Portman’s character. There was actually gonna be a lot of ABBA in the film as well…”
Fans did not expect Waititi to be the type of person to gatekeep people, especially since he used classic rock songs in Thor: Love and Thunder.
“Running Up That Hill” was streamed over 57 million streams in one week since the release of Stranger Things Season 4. It was reported that Bush earned over $306,000 per week since her song was featured in the Netflix series.
When asked about her newfound relevancy and popularity by younger audiences, Bush replied by saying that it’s “really wonderful” and thought it was “very special” that new people are discovering her music.
