Thirty-three years after her first win, reclusive Kate Bush is up for another Brit Award

By BEN TODD

Reclusive: Singer Kate Bush, pictured in 1980, is up for Best British Female Singer at this year's Brit Awards

She first won the award 33 years ago. However, reserved singer Kate Bush was tonight celebrating once more – after she was once more nominated for a Brit Award.
Miss Bush – whose first single Wuthering Heights went to No1 in February 1978 when she was still a teenager – has been nominated for a prestigious Brit Award, the music industry’s Oscars. The star, now 53, has been short-listed in the Best British Female Solo Artist category. She is vying for the accolade with contemporary singers Adele, Jessie J, Laura Marling and Florence & The Machine.
Miss Bush has won the Best British Female Solo Artist award at the Brits – or its predecessor the BPI Awards – three times before, in 1979, 1980 and 1987. Ironically, her last win took place a year before Adele was even born.

The famously reclusive Miss Bush - who was last short-listed in 2006 - was nominated following the release of two albums in 2011.
Director’s Cut – which came out in May - was an amalgamation and re-working of some of the songs from two of her previous albums The Sensual World and The Red Shoes.
These included a re-recording of the songs on analogue instead of digital as well as new vocals, drums and re-worked instrumentation.
Miss Bush then released a new album 50 Words For Snow in November. That record contained seven new songs and was said to be ‘set against a backdrop of falling snow.’

Nominated: Jessie J (left) and Ed Sheeran are both up for three and four categories respectively

The star last performed a full concert at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1979, the finale of her only tour.
And earlier this year, in a rare interview, Miss Bush – whose other hits included The Man With The Child In His Eyes, Babooshka and Running Up That Hill revealed she has nightmares over performing live again.
At the time, she told BBC Radio 4: ‘I do have the odd dream where I’m on stage and I’ve completely forgotten what I’m meant to be performing - so they are more nightmares than dreams.’

Head-to-head: Adele, pictured at last year's Brit Awards, is up against her old Brit School classmate Jessie J in several categories

Asked if she would ever consider playing concerts again, Miss Bush – whose hits include Wuthering Heights and Running Up That Hill - denied she suffered from stage fright but insisted: ‘I would be absolutely petrified to start with.’
The star, who has homes in Berkshire and Devon, lives with her husband Danny McIntosh – who is also her guitarist – and their 12-year-old son Bertie.
She insisted last year that her family life ‘comes first.’
The Brit Award nominations were announced at The Savoy hotel in central London tonight.

Singing sensations: Florence Welch, of Florence And The Machines (left), is up for British Female Solo Artist and British Album Of The Year, while newcomer Emeli Sande is receiving the Critics Choice and is up for British Breakthrough Act

Ed Sheeran led the way in the nominations, being short-listed for four awards.
He was given the nod for Best British Male Solo Artist, Best British Breakthrough, Best British Single for The A Team and Best British Album for + .
The 20-year-old was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire before moving to Framlingham, Suffolk.

The gong: Sir Peter Blake holding the new Brit Award design

He released his first record The Orange Room EP when he was just 14. + , his first full album was released in September, and went straight to No1.
Jessie J and Adele each received three nominations.
Adele – full name Adele Laurie Blue Adkins - has been shortlisted for Best British Female, Best British Album and Best British Single.
Adele’s second album 21 was the biggest-selling album last year selling 3.8 million copies in Britain alone. It has so far sold 12 million copies worldwide.

Award winners: Coldyplay, who have won several Brit Awards already, are up in two categories

Earlier this week, it returned to the No1 album spot for an astonishing 19th week, making it the longest chart-topper for 42 years. In the US, it has had the longest stay at the top of the charts for any album since 1998.
Someone Like You was also the first single to sell a million copies in the UK this decade.
A year ago Jessie J won the Critic’s Choice award, given to a rising British star, at the Brits.

Battle of the boy bands: X Factor group JLS (L-R) Aston Merrygold, Oritse Williams, Marvin Humes and Jonathan 'JB' Gill, are up for Best British Single

Will it be their year? The Wanted (L-R) Tom Parker, Nathan Sykes, Jay McGuiness and Siva Kaneswaren and Max George are also up for Best British Single

She rivals former Brit School classmate Adele with three nominations in the Best British Female, Best British Single and Best British Breakthrough categories, following hits including Price Tag and Do It Like A Dude.
Florence and the Machine – Florence Welch’s stage name – has two nominations for Best British Female Solo Act and Best British Album for Ceremonials.
Despite the fairer sex dominating the awards, the men continue to dominate in the Best British Group category, with guitar bands Arctic Monkeys, Elbow, Kasabian and Coldplay all nominated.
Chase & Status – a dance outfit – are the fifth group nominated in that category.

New boys on the block: X Factor teen boy band One Direction (L-R) Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles and Liam Payne - will fight it out with JLS and The Wanted

Coldplay – for Mylo Xyloto - are also also nominated in the Best British Album category alongside Adele, Florence & The Machine, PJ Harvey for Let England Shake and Ed Sheeran for +.
The Brit Awards will take place on February 21 at London’s O2 Arena.
A year ago, organisers axed the Outstanding Contribution award.
In a sign they accept that was a mistake, that has now been revived with 90s Brit pop stars Blur – fronted by Damon Albarn – being this year’s recipients. They will then bring the show to a finale.



source: dailymail