TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid to the bassist and engineer who played an important role in the career of Kate Bush, as well as being the singer’s partner for a number of years, after he passed at the age of 71. Del Palmer had battled several health issues over the past few years, and passed away at home surrounded by friends a family.
“We don’t need to tell anyone out there the monumental role Del has always played in Kate’s work and music – it’s impossible to quantify,” said the Kate Bush News website.
DEL PALMER: ZIK IMAGES/UNITED ARCHIVES VIA GETTY IMAGES ; DAVID SOUL: SILVER SCREEN COLLECTION/GETTY
Greenwich-born Palmer joined the KT Bush Band, a group put together for Bush by her brother Paddy, and became a vital part of her backroom team. After Bush and Palmer separated on amicable terms as a couple they continued to work together. He also released three solo albums between 2007 and 2015.
“I knew Kate was going to be huge, that was obvious to me when she was seventeen and still a very raw artist,” Palmer told the Irish Examiner in 2018. “We had a residency at the Rose Of Lee, a pub in Lewisham, South-East London. On the first night there were about ten people. By the time the residency finished, people were out on the street [because] it was so jammed.”