Kate Bush Announces Rarities Collection, Shares Video for “Rocket Man” Cover

Music News Kate Bush
Kate Bush Announces Rarities Collection, Shares Video for “Rocket Man” Cover

English singer-songwriter Kate Bush has announced a new four-disc rarities collection titled The Other Sides, out March 8. It was originally compiled for Bush’s 18-LP catalog reissue last year, and includes a selection of 25 rarities and nine covers.

Among the original songs in the collection are rarities from films like The Golden Compass and Nic Roeg’s Castaway, as well as the previously unheard demo “Humming.”

In addition to announcing The Other Sides, Bush has shared a video for her 1991 cover of Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” which will appear in the collection alongside other covers like John’s “Candle In The Wind,” and George and Ira Gershwin’s “The Man I Love.”

Bush wrote a blog post about the “Rocket Man” cover on her website, saying:

I remember buying this when it came out as a single by Elton John. I couldn’t stop playing it—I loved it so much. Most artists in the mid-seventies played guitar but Elton played piano and I dreamed of being able to play like him.

Years later in 1989, Elton and Bernie Taupin were putting together an album called Two Rooms, which was a collection of cover versions of their songs, each featuring a different singer. To my delight they asked me to be involved and I chose “Rocket Man.” They gave me complete creative control and although it was a bit daunting to be let loose on one of my favourite tracks ever, it was really exciting. I wanted to make it different from the original and thought it could be fun to turn it into a reggae version. It meant a great deal to me that they chose it to be the first single release from the album.

That meant I also had the chance to direct the video which I loved doing—making it a performance video, shot on black-and-white film, featuring all the musicians and … the Moon!

Read Bush’s full statement on her website and watch the video for her cover of “Rocket Man” below. Further down, you can hear Paste archival audio of John performing the beloved tune circa 1986.

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