Kate Bush Replaced a Country Legend on Peter Gabriel’s Duet, ‘Don’t Give Up’
In 1986, Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel released one of the greatest classic rock duets, “Don’t Give Up.” However, Bush wasn’t Gabriel’s first choice when deciding who should sing with him. Gabriel initially chose a country legend.
Peter Gabriel didn’t initially want Kate Bush to duet with him on ‘Don’t Give Up’
With how great Bush and Gabriel’s duet on “Don’t Give Up” is, it’s hard to imagine anyone else singing with the “In Your Eyes” singer. Yet, Gabriel originally had someone else in mind, country legend Dolly Parton.
Gabriel told The Quietus, “There’s an interesting story about this song. Because there was this reference point of American roots music in it when I first wrote it, it was suggested that Dolly Parton sing on it.
“But Dolly turned it down… and I’m glad she did because what Kate did on it is… brilliant.”
Later, Parton wanted to record the song with Gabriel
Gabriel said he liked the power of Bush’s voice on “Don’t Give Up.” However, the “Sledgehammer” singer almost got to sing the song with Parton.
Gabriel said, “Obviously a lot of the power of the song came from the way that Kate sings it. Dolly later asked me to sing it with her on her TV show but I couldn’t because I was on tour.”
Gabriel might not have gotten to sing “Don’t Give Up” with Parton, but he got the next best thing. In 2011, Gabriel re-recorded the track with Ane Brun for his album New Blood. He said Brun sounded like Parton.
“Ane has moments when she really sounds like Dolly, so I thought it would be interesting. She also has a cooler Scandinavian aspect to her singing which I like a lot,” Gabriel said.
Elton John said Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel’s ‘Don’t Give Up’ saved his life
Bush and Gabriel’s version of “Don’t Give Up” appeared on the “Solsbury Hill” singer’s fifth solo album, So. The single first charted in the U.K. at No. 9 and stayed in the Top 75 for 11 weeks. In the U.S., it reached No. 72 on the Hot 100 and remained on the chart for six weeks. It wasn’t a No. 1 hit, but Elton John thinks it is.
When Elton John heard Bush and Gabriel in their beautiful back-and-forth dance, he said it saved his life.
According to AZ Central, Elton John revealed that the song was what he needed to “get sober” in the 2014 BBC documentary The Kate Bush Story: Running Up That Hill. However, he’s never told Bush and Gabriel about the song’s impact on him.
“That record helped me get sober … So she played a big part in my rebirth,” Elton John said in the film. “That record helped me so much. I never told her that but it did.”
The song’s lyrics are inspiring to say the least. “Rest your head,” Bush sings. “You worry too much/ It’s going to be all right/ When times get rough/ You can fall back on us/ Don’t give up.”
“Don’t Give Up” became one of the most profound tunes in Bush and Gabriel’s entire catalogs.
