This Kate Bush cover of “Rocket Man” was released in 1991 as part of the Elton John/Bernie Taupin tribute album Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin.
Kate’s version of “Rocket Man” was a commercial success, reaching no. 12 in the UK singles chart and no. 2 in Australia.
In 2007, the track was voted no.1 in The Observer readers' award for Greatest Cover of all time.
The B-side of the single was Kate’s recording of another Elton John classic, “Candle In The Wind”.

Musically the song carries on in a similar vein to where she left off on 1989s Sensual World.With elements of world music (pulsing reggae rhythms,haunting Celtic uillean pipes and gypsy accordion) Kate also mimed to a ukulele on her performance of the song on BBC 1 prime time chat show Wogan.The song was recorded in June 1989 and at the beginning of what was to be a very challenging time for Kate.Just months after the recording of the song her guitarist of ten years, Alan Murphy died of pneumonia, fatally weakened by the AIDS virus.Although visibly ailing Alan had kept the nature and seriousness of his disease largely secret.Rocket man was the final track he played on.On Bush’s performance of the song on Wogan an electric guitar sat on a chair towards the back of the stage in silent poignant tribute to Murphy.Shortly after Murphy’s death Kate was dealt another grim blow.One of her long standing dance partners Gary Hurst also died as a result of AIDS in 1990 again at a heartbreakingly young age.

With their deaths came a sense of a chapter closing underscored by the dawning of a new decade.

The song was recorded in June 1989 just after the Sensual World sessions at a time of conscious re-ordering of her priorities.Quality of life would take precedence after a whirlwind decade of recording and at times all consuming musical ambition, “Its not everything now ..I think at some point it was – my work was everything because it had such a sense of importance about it.That’s so stupid, so blown out of proportion, and if you’re not careful that spiraling effect can make you believe what you’re doing is the most important thing in the world! Ha! When it’s absolutely not at all” Raw magazine November 1989.