Kate Bush has been announced as an official ambassador for this year’s Record Store Day UK.
The 2024 edition of the annual event, which celebrates the culture of independent record shops, is due to take place on Saturday, April 20.
This year, fans have the chance to buy special one-off collectable releases on vinyl, cassette and other formats from hundreds of acts – including The 1975, David Bowie, Daft Punk, Blur, Lily Allen, Gorillaz, Elton John, Paramore and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
RSD ’24 marks the 17th edition of the event, and it comes after the news that vinyl sales rose by nearly 15 per cent in the first nine months of 2023, despite the ongoing dominance of streaming services.
Now, it has been confirmed that Bush will serve as an ambassador for this year’s Record Store Day. In a statement, the legendary singer-songwriter said: “What a huge honour to have been asked to be [an] ambassador for this year’s Record Store Day. It really is a great privilege.
“Isn’t it great to see how the resurgence in vinyl has taken the music industry by surprise? It had decided to leave vinyl far behind, but it would seem that not everyone agrees! I love that!”
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Bush continued: “I know there are many, many artists who are just as excited to see the audience turning the tide.”
To celebrate her involvement, she will release a special 10-inch vinyl edition of her song ‘Eat The Music’, which originally appeared on her 1993 album ‘The Red Shoes’. It’ll boast the original artwork, printed directly onto the disc.
Bush explained: “It’s been fun putting designs together for some of the previous RSDs. This year’s design echoes the cancelled release of ‘Eat The Music’ as the first single from the album, ‘The Red Shoes’.
“The image was intended to be on the cover of the single bag and is now on the disc as a UV print. The title, ‘Eat The Music’, is meant to be a playful nod to ‘If music be the food of love, play on’, from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.”
Check out the preview image below, and find more information here.
The star, who announced some innovative physical reissues of her album back catalogue last November, also reflected on the unique experience of listening to music on vinyl.
“In the same way that some people like to read a book on Kindle but also want to have a book as a physical object, a lot of people like vinyl and streaming. Both have different appeals,” she wrote.
Kate has been asked to be the Ambassador for this year's Record Store Day: https://t.co/a20gHhUI0T @RSDUK pic.twitter.com/mOBmB9JIhx
— Kate Bush (@KateBushMusic) February 28, 2024
“The added bonus of vinyl is that it encourages people to listen to albums. An art form that I’ve always thought can be treasured in a unique way.”
Bush added: “An album on vinyl is a beautiful thing, given a strong identity by its large-scale artwork. There’s a much more personal connection with the artist and their work.”
She went on: “Each year Record Store Day gathers more attention, more momentum, and attracts more people who cram into indie record stores all over the world to see what’s up. What’s new?
“This year, I hope you have a fantastic time at this very important event, and that you get to celebrate music that’s been specially released for you. Very best wishes, Kate.”
It comes after Paramore were announced as ambassadors for Record Store Day 2024 earlier this month.
Bush hasn’t released any new music since 2011, but recently enjoyed a huge resurgence after her hit ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’ was featured in the latest season of Stranger Things.
The song went to Number One in the UK in June 2022 following its appearance on the Netflix sci-fi show – 37 years after its initial release. It was later revealed that Bush had officially broken three Guinness World Records with the track.
Last summer, the singer thanked fans after ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’ hit an “impossibly astonishing” one billion streams online.