Halsey got in on the Stranger Things-inspired Kate Bush cultural moment at Governors Ball on Saturday night with a cover of the English singer-songwriter’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”.

The 1985 Kate Bush single has experienced a seismic, worldwide resurgence following its prominent inclusion in the Netflix ’80s-nostalgia fantasy-thriller’s fourth season. Young fans have flocked to “Running Up That Hill” in numbers since the new season arrived late last month, helping push it to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The track had previously peaked at #30 on the chart upon its initial release. Plus, the memes have been top-notch:

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[Image via reddit u/ReillyDiefenbach]

Halsey, who grew up not far from Citi Field in Washington, NJ and borrowed their stage name from a street in Brooklyn, has quite a bit of history with Governors Ball. In 2014, after signing their first major record deal with Capitol Records while wearing a Gov Ball wristband, Halsey headed out to the festival to celebrate as a fan. Later that day, the singer tweeted, “Gov ball is insaneeeeeeeds [sic].” In 2018, Halsey returned to Gov Ball as a performer for an early-evening set.

 

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By the time Halsey arrived at Citi Field to headline Saturday night at Gov Ball 2022, they seemed right at home in the NYC spotlight. As the singer told the crowd before performing new single “So Good” live for the first time, “I really wanted the first place that I ever performed it to be right here.”

Then, just in case there was still any doubt that Halsey had understood the Gov Ball headliner assignment, the 27-year-old singer played a 37-year-old cover for the tens of thousands of mostly-born-after-Y2K fans at a pop festival in 2022—and they all sang along. Stranger things have happened, I suppose…

As Halsey said of the cover in a tweet later that night, “truly wish I wrote this song more than anything in the world I’m soooo happy it’s having this resurgence. I knew immediately I wanted to do this.”

Watch fan-shot video of Halsey performing “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush at Governors Ball below. Scroll down to listen to the original track and watch a scene from Stranger Things season four centered around the song.

Halsey – “Running Up That Hill” (Kate Bush) – Governors Ball – 6/11/22

[Video: NIGHTMAUREUM]

Stranger Things – Kate Bush “Running Up That Hill” Scene

Kate Bush – “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”