Did David Bowie's diary hint at the hope of more John Lennon duets?

11 September 2025, 13:42

David Bowie and John Lennon collaborated a couple of times in 1975 but it's clear Bowie wanted more work together.

David Bowie was one of the all time great solo performers in history, but he was also remarkably good at playing with others.

That didn't just mean the astonishing array of musicians who flitted in and out of his backing bands over the years, from Mick Ronson and Robert Fripp to Gail Ann Dorsey and Brian Eno.

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Bowie was also more than happy to share the spotlight with stars every bit as successful as him, and even those whose fame outstripped his own.

He went toe-to-toe with Freddie Mercury when he collaborated with Queen on 'Under Pressure' in 1981, but six years earlier he went even bigger, when he duetted with John Lennon on two songs for his Young Americans album.

Backed by guitarists Carlos Alomar and Earl Slick, bassist Emir Ksasan and drummer Dennis Davis, Lennon and Bowie hooked up at Electric Lady Studios in New York City in January 1975.

The duo had met late the previous year during Lennon's "Lost Weekend" at an LA party thrown by Elizabeth Taylor and are said to have jammed a few times before getting together in the studio.

They recorded an ill-conceived cover of The Beatles' 'Across The Universe', and then reworked a Carlos Alomar riff from Bowie's cover of The Flares' 'Footstompin'' into 'Fame'.

At the newly-launching David Bowie Centre at V&A Storehouse at London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, you can see Bowie's diary entry following the momentous occasion.

Dated January 30, the oblique entry makes several references to Bowie's collapsing relationship with his then-manager Tony Defries and his MainMain organisation and the star's unhappiness at their 50:50 royalties split.

"Some wonderful publishing is fame," Bowie's diary entry starts.

David Bowie - Fame 90 (Official Video)

"My first co-written with Lennon, a beatle, about my future."

As well as Bowie feeling the need to identify John Lennon as "a Beatle", what immediately leaps out is Bowie's description of the song as "my first co-written with Lennon".

The heavy suggestion is that, given the opportunity, Bowie would have very much been interested in working with Lennon again on future new material.

There was also the hint of some other types of collaboration. "Lock it up on, to move out," Bowie wrote. "An I thought of films with Lennon. Lots of prospects. Am happy."

Sadly, after Lennon sat out most of the second half of the decade to focus on his family life, he was murdered just weeks after his musical comeback with Double Fantasy.

In his diary, Bowie then swung back to musing on his management woes, adding: "Am happy that Defries, the man, is desperate to lock up my first future on t.v. and day apartment. Is fame about my publishing."

Back to 'Fame', Bowie later said of its writing: "With John Lennon in the studio it was more the influence of having him that helped. There's always a lot off adrenalin flowing when John is around, but his chief addition to it all was the high pitched singing of 'Fame!'."

Lennon himself said in 1980 of the song: "We took some Stevie Wonder middle eight and did it backwards, you know, and we made a record out of it!"

The song went all the way to number one in the US, making him a superstar in America.

The David Bowie Centre for the Study of Performing Arts will open on September 13, 2025 at the Park's V&A East Storehouse and feature over 90,000 items – including 70,000 photographs, prints, negatives, slides and contact sheets, many of which have never been seen by the public.