Kate Bush

1 portrait of Kate Bush

© Lichfield

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Kate Bush

by Patrick Lichfield
archival inkjet print, December 1980
25 1/2 in. x 19 1/8 in. (649 mm x 487 mm)
Given by Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield, 2003 in conjunction with the exhibition 'Lichfield: the early years 1962-1982'
Photographs Collection
NPG x126911

Sitterback to top

  • Kate Bush (1958-), Singer. Sitter in 5 portraits.

Artistback to top

Related worksback to top

  • NPG 7145: 'Work in Progress' (based on same portrait)

Linked publicationsback to top

  • 100 Photographs, 2018, p. 107 Read entry

    Singer-songwriter Kate Bush (b.1958) was the first female British singer to top the charts with a self-composed song, Wuthering Heights (1978). She signed to her record company at the age of sixteen, having already composed 200 songs. Her four-octave voice and use of mime in performance made her a compelling and unique star. As a cousin of Her Majesty the Queen, Patrick Lichfield (1939-2005) was known for his intimate portraits of the Royal Family. He was also an established society and fashion photographer for Vogue magazine, and a leading participant in, and chronicler of, the Swinging Sixties. Bush was included in Lichfield’s 1981 book of portraits, The World’s Most Beautiful Women.

Placesback to top

Events of 1980back to top

Current affairs

Margaret Thatcher makes one of her most famous speeches, living up to her nickname of 'the Iron Lady'. The speech was given to the Conservative Party conference in Brighton in response to the media speculation that the party would go back on its counter-inflationary policies: 'The lady's not for turning!'

Art and science

John Lennon is murdered on the steps of his house. After fatally shooting him, Mark David Chapman calmly sat down on the pavement and waited to be arrested by police. Chapman had a history of mental illness and claimed that he had committed the murder as a way of getting attention.

International

Iraq invades Iran, beginning eight years of conflict. The invasion followed years of border disputes, but was precipitated by the 1979 revolution in Iran and the resulting instability which Saddam Hussein saw as an opportunity to expand Iraqi influence in the region. Despite early gains for Iraq, the conflict soon descended into a war of attrition with huge causalities caused by Iraq's use of chemical weapons.

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