One silver lining out of the tragic passing of rock and roll icon David Bowie a little over a week ago was the absolute outpouring of fond memories and incredible experiences of the Star Man subsequently shared by so many of his friends and peers in the music industry.
One of the more heartwarmingly hilarious of these personal stories comes today from Coldplay, a band who often find themselves the punchline of a whole lot of jokes. You have to give it to them for their frank honesty and their willingness to take the piss out of themselves here though, after drummer Will Champion revealed the story behind that one time David Bowie swiped emphatically left on a potential collaboration between the two artists.
Speaking to NME, Champion recalled a time when Coldplay had contacted Bowie in the hope that he would be amenable to recording some vocals on one of their forthcoming songs. Bowie’s reply of ‘It’s not a very good song, is it?’ was the most cutting rejection made all the more hilarious by its sheer politeness. Try to read it in any other voice but Bowie’s, you just can’t.
Coldplay had no hard feelings back then and still don’t to this day, Champion applauding Bowie’s high standards. “He was very discerning, he wouldn’t just put his name to anything. I’ll give him credit for that!”. One look at Bowie’s track record of collaborations should attest to that, the icon having worked with fellow rock and roll royalty like Madonna, Brian Eno, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, John Lennon and most unforgettably with Queen.
He wasn’t one to shy away from collaborating with younger acts who looked up to him as an idol and an inspiration though, in recent years collaborating with people like Arcade Fire, TV On The Radio and James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem.
Say what you will about Coldplay and their music, but we thank them for sharing this, another fantastic story of a man larger than life.
Read our own tribute to David Bowie here.
Image from Mashable.com