Lulu: "Yes, I had sex with David Bowie"

26 September 2025, 11:59

David Bowie and Lulu. Picture: Alamy/Getty Images

By Mayer Nissim

Lulu finally speaks candidly about her sexual fling with David Bowie in the 1970s.

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David Bowie and Lulu can seem like (literally) strange bedfellows.

Bowie was the groundbreaking avant garde artist who changed music several times over. Lulu is instead best known for her powerhouse vocals and down-the-line pop hits like 'Shout', 'Boom Bang-a-Bang' and Take That collaboration 'Relight My Fire'.

But the two crossed paths in the mid-1970s, with Lulu performing a stunning cover of 'The Man Who Sold The World', which took the then little-known Bowie album track all the way to number three in the UK singles chart.

They recorded other songs together, including 'Dodo', that are still yet to be released.

As well as their working relationship and friendship, there's long been rumours that the two shared a physical entanglement.

Neither ever confirmed or denied the suggestion before, but speaking to Fearne Cotton's Happy Place podcast, Lulu has finally spoken candidly about the fling.

Lulu on Bowie, Reinvention & Owning Her Story

“You know what, I have never said yes, I had sex with David Bowie until now," Lulu said.

"This is the first time. This is the first time I've said it because I've always said, you know, I chose not to speak about it.

"It was private. And if I'm 100% honest, which I have decided that's what I'm going to be, I think I was slightly pissed. I can't really remember.

"Only to say that he got me there and we were in his room, and you know, we performed the acts and I don't have to go into bloody details because I can't actually remember details, but I wouldn't share them anyway. I do have boundaries.

Lulu - The Man Who Sold The World (1974)

"I'm learning to have boundaries. But the point is, I did and it was an incredible experience to work with a guy like that, to be in his orbit and to be so, he's honoured me."

Lulu went on to explain how their working relationship continued, and why it fell apart before too long.

"He was the coolest dude on the block," she said.

"He said he's going to record me... 'Yeah, people say all sorts of things'. But I'll tell you, as soon as I walked back to my room that first night, I got into my room in the hotel. Phone rang. It was him."

David Bowie and Lulu at a photoshoot in 1973. Picture: Alamy

She added that while her record label were telling her to record songs like 'Boy' and 'I'm A Tiger', she would go home and listen to Ray Charles, and that Bowie really took an interest in her and understood her.

But Lulu also revealed that when they were having a moment together he surprised her by telling her "I think you could lose a bit of weight".

"I was crushed," Lulu admitted. "Because I don't think I was fat, but you know, he was emaciated, and I think he really wanted to take me and redesign me to get me to a place that he thought was better for me, etc. etc.

"I would have loved it to have continued, but you know, when I then went to New York to do the next lot of recordings, David was not in a place that I felt comfortable with because he was doing a lot of drugs.

Lulu & David Bowie - Dodo

"And I mean, I'm not letting the cat out of the bag. It's documented. And I was hanging around a lot. I recorded ‘Can You Hear Me?’ And I recorded another thing called 'Dodo'. 'I’m a dodo'... interesting lyric.

"But with David Bowie, it was just different... It didn't go any further than that because I decided I'm going back to London. This is really not comfortable. And it frightened me."

Lulu added that even though Bowie thought she was angry with him, she wasn't, thoughh she was "maybe frustrated", and that removing herself from hat situation was the "common sense" thing to do.

Bowie became much healthier by the end of the 1970s, and there's an adorable photograph of Bowie and Lulu together after a set he recorded for radio in 2000, showing there didn't appear to be any lingering hard feelings.