David Bowie goes No.1 on Hot 100 with “Fame” in 1975 with a little help from John Lennon

The song was Bowie’s first No.1 in the U.S

David Bowie goes No.1 on Hot 100 with “Fame” in 1975 with a little help from John Lennon



In 1975 David Bowie scores his first No.1 in the U.S charts with “Fame”, a song taken from his latest album back then “Young Americans”, his soul-influenced record. “Fame” became one of Bowie’s signature songs and along with the title track of the album, the greatest hit on it. The song was co-written by Bowie during his American period with John Lennon and longtime collaborator guitarist Carlos Alomar. Bowie who was in New York finishing the album “Young Americans” meet Lennon there and the pair jammed together, leading to a one-day session at Electric Lady Studios in January 1975. There, Carlos Alomar had developed a guitar riff for Bowie’s cover of “Footstompin'” by the Flairs, which Bowie thought was “a waste” to give to a cover. Lennon, who was in the studio with them, sang “aim” over the riff, which Bowie turned into “Fame,” and he thereafter wrote the rest of the lyrics to the song. Lennon’s voice is heard interjecting the falsetto “Fame” throughout the song. The song was re-issued in 1990 as “Fame 90” on a remastered version and is one of four of Bowie’s songs to be included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.



Watch David Bowie performing “Fame” in 1975 on The Cher Show



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