Kate Bush to Play First Live Shows in 35 Years

Kate Bush has announced that she will play her first set of live shows since 1979. That's 35 years ago! Take that in for a minute ...

Bush, who's continued to record sporadically over the years, will return to the stage for a series of live dates in London in August and September. In all, the reclusive singer-songwriter will play 15 concerts.

Bush announced the news on her website, stating that she will play the Eventim Apollo starting on Aug. 26. They're part of a series called Before the Dawn. Tickets go on sale next week.

As the Guardian reports, Bush has toured only once during her 35-plus-year career, in 1979. It was a six-week tour of England and parts of Europe that left her drained. She later told the Guardian, “By the end, I felt a terrific need to retreat as a person, because I felt that my sexuality -- which in a way I hadn’t really had a chance to explore myself -- was being given to the world in a way which I found impersonal.”

Fans have speculated for years what really drove Bush from the stage. She's an eccentric personality, to say the least, so we won't even begin to theorize. She has made a couple of guest appearances over the years, mostly at benefits and special events.

But these upcoming shows mark her first extended stay on the stage since Jimmy Carter was president (or whoever was in charge of England at the time). "I hope you will be able to join us, and I look forward to seeing you there," Bush wrote with the announcement.