Kate Bush Mourns Del Palmer, Her Collaborator and Once Romantic Partner Who Died at 71: 'Going to Miss Him Terribly'

Del Palmer, a longtime collaborator and former romantic partner of Kate Bush, died at age 71 on Friday. 

The musician was best known for playing in the “Running Up That Hill” singer’s early live band, performing bass on most of her records — from her sophomore album (1978’s Lionhart) to her most recent release (2011’s 50 Words for Snow) — and engineering much of her discography, including her 1985 hit album Hounds of Love.

Kate Bush News confirmed Palmer’s death on Saturday. The fan site for the art-pop star reported that the bassist died in his home “surrounded by his family.” 

Although a cause of death was not revealed, the outlet stated that he “had dealt with health issues over the past few years.” 

On Wednesday, Bush paid tribute to her late friend and professional partner with a statement that she shared to her official website. Along with a thoughtful note, she shared a photo of a colorful mosaic of a tree that the late artist had made and titled "Tree of Life." 

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer began her message, “It’s hard to know what to say… He was a big part of my life and my work for many years.”

She continued, “It’s going to take a long time to come to terms with him not being here with us.”

The British talent then shared what she admired about Palmer and reflected on a memory of him. “He was incredibly creative – talented in lots of different ways,” Bush wrote. “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,” the “Wuthering Heights” singer added. 

The note concluded, “I’m going to miss him terribly.”

According to Discogs, Palmer was born on Nov. 3, 1952 in London, England. In 1967, the musician began playing bass and formed his first band, which later evolved into The KT Bush Band in the late ‘70s, an archive of his former official website states. 

Per Palmer’s personal biography, after Bush caught label attention and recorded her debut solo album, she and the bass player formed a collaborative relationship in the studio with her second effort, despite being a self-taught engineer. He went on to help engineer projects like Hounds of Love, The Sensual World, The Red Shoes and many others. 

Because the two recording artists were romantically involved for over 15 years, Palmer rarely participated in interviews to respect the famously private singer, but he reflected on their early days working together in a 2018 conversation with The Irish Examiner. 

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He shared that he felt compelled to work with Bush from the moment they met through mutual friends in the London music scene. “I knew I had to be involved,” he told the outlet. “She was going to be huge — that was obvious to me when she was 17 and still a very raw artist..”

Palmer also reminisced about Bush’s one and only tour, 1979’s The Tour of Life, which was extremely influential for its use of a wireless microphone, choreography and theatrics. 

"The first night there were about 10 people. By the time we finished the residency, there were people out the street who couldn’t get in the door, it was so jammed,” he recalled. "She was remarkable, a little Energizer Bunny.”

Aside from his work with Bush, Palmer also released a series of his own solo albums (2007’s Leap Of Faith, 2010’s Gift and 2015’s Point of Safe Return).