Kate Bush was invited to support Fleetwood Mac on their huge Rumours tour in 1978, but she turned it down because she was building her own very different live show and didn’t want to be boxed into a supporting role.
What happened in 1978?
After Kate Bush’s first big hit, “Wuthering Heights”, she became a star very quickly. Fleetwood Mac were preparing the Rumours world tour — one of the biggest rock tours of that time — and someone suggested Kate join them as a support act. That would have put her in front of huge American audiences.
But Kate said no. Instead she focused on creating her own show, later called The Tour of Life (1979), which mixed music with dance, mime, costumes, and theatrical effects — a true stage play set to music, not just a rock concert. She wanted control over how her songs were presented and didn’t want to be limited to a short opening set on someone else’s bill.
Why she said no — plain and simple
She was planning a big, theatrical show. Kate’s live vision included dancers, mime, and storytelling — things that don’t fit into a short support slot. She wanted to show her music the way she imagined it.
She wanted artistic control. Opening for a massive rock band usually means playing a short set with limited staging. Kate was only 19–20 years old and already thinking like a director — she wanted her concerts to be full, dramatic experiences.
Over the years a few rumours have popped up — for example, that her family worried about the drug culture on big rock tours, or that label and logistics issues made the match difficult. These ideas have been mentioned in fan discussions and some articles, but the clearest, most-cited reason given by reliable sources is that Kate was focused on creating her own ambitious live show.