Kate Bush: Singer announces first tour in 35 years

Singer will play 15-date residency at Hammersmith Apollo

Kate Bush in 1986 (Rex Features)

Kate Bush is to return to the stage 35 years after she retired from touring.

The “Running Up That Hill” singer will play a 15-date residency at the Hammersmith Apollo in London from 26 August.

The 55-year-old made the surprise announcement about the show this morning.

A message sent from the Kate Bush Music Twitter account read: “Kate Bush will play a series of UK shows in August and September 2014.”

Bush was just 20 when she completed her first tour after topping the charts with “Wuthering Heights” the previous year.

Over the years, theories about her absence from the stage have included her perfectionism, a fear of flying and the death of one of the tour crew, lighting director Bill Duffield, during a show.

But in a rare interview with Mojo magazine in 2011 to mark her comeback, she explained that her years of silence on the touring circuit were simply down to the sheer exertion of the ordeal.

“It was enormously enjoyable. But physically it was absolutely exhausting,” she said.

Her reappearances have been sporadic. Her 2005 album Aerial was her first release for 12 years, although in recent years her work rate has become a little more prolific with a collection of reworked songs from earlier albums called The Director's Cut, as well as a themed album of songs about snow.

Tickets for the shows go on sale next Friday.

With additional reporting from the Press Association