Kate Bush pens touching tribute to late collaborator Del Palmer: “I’m going to miss him terribly”

Kate Bush has paid tribute to her late collaborator Del Palmer with moving words in a new blog posted to her website.

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Yesterday (January 10), the ‘Running Up That Hill’ singer took to her blog with a few words celebrating Palmer’s life. “It’s hard to know what to say,” began the post. “He was a big part of my life and my work for many years. It’s going to take a long time to come to terms with him not being here with us.”

She highlighted many of Palmer’s strengths, praising his relentless creativity and varied skill sets. “He was incredibly creative,” she continued. “Talented in lots of different ways. He was a brilliant musician, bass player, a great artist – he was always drawing. Once he covered a whole recording consul in cartoons. It took him days and it looked absolutely stunning. He taught himself to be a recording engineer, engineering several of my albums and later releasing his own.”

Palmer has notably worked in the studio with Bush from early in her career, beginning as a bassist on her 1978 sophomore release, ‘Lionheart’, and continuing until Bush’s last full-length, 2011’s ’50 Words For Snow’, for which he served as recording engineer.

Bush concluded her blog post with a showcase of Palmer’s prowess as a visual artist, attaching a picture of a mosaic piece he crafted, entitled “Tree Of Life”. “The image above is a mosaic that Del made,” Bush concluded. “He called it Tree of Life. I’m going to miss him terribly.”

Recently, Palmer’s niece Debbii Louise confirmed in a message that her uncle had died on January 5, surrounded by family members. A Kate Bush fansite noted that the musician and engineer had been dealing with health complications over the last few years. Palmer’s last recording project was his third solo album, ‘Point Of Safe Return’, which he released in 2015.

Palmer began his career in 1967, spending the late ’60s forming bands with his friend Brian Bath, including a band called Company, which signed to Cube Records in 1973 before changing their name to Conkers. In 1977, Bush and Palmer would form the KT Bush Band with Bath and Vic King, playing material which would form Bush’s debut 1978 album in the London’s pub circuit. As an engineer, Palmer is credited on several of Bush’s classic albums, including 1985’s ‘Hounds of Love’, 1989’s ‘The Sensual World’, 1993’s ‘The Red Shoes’, and 2005’s ‘Aerial’. Palmer has also collaborated with other artists, including Roy Harper and Midge Ure.

Bush and Palmer were also in a romantic relationship until the early 1990s, beyond which they remained friends and close collaborators. Palmer also notably appears on the cover of Bush’s 1982 album ‘The Dreaming’.

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