JOHN AND DAVID BOWIE: FAME

"Fame" is a song recorded by David Bowie, initially released in 1975. Written by Bowie, Carlos Alomar and John Lennon, it was a hit in North America, becoming Bowie's first number 1 single in the Canadian Singles Chart as well as the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The song was one of the most successful singles of the year, ranking at number 7 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100. It was less successful in Europe, reaching number 17 in the UK Singles Chart.
The song 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.

David Bowie said about John Lennon: "Whenever the two of us got together it started to resemble Beavis and Butthead on [CNN debate programme] Crossfire." They were great pals, and occasional collaborators. It's Lennon who interjects "Fame!" as a backing vocal on the classic Bowie track of the same name, and he's credited as a co-writer on the song too, along with Bowie and guitarist Carlos Alomar.


Bowie had invited John to New York's Electric Lady Studios in January 1975 hoping that he might work on a cover of the Beatles track Across the Universe that Bowie wanted to include on his forthcoming Young Americans album. John played acoustic guitar and sang backing vocals, and also jammed on a guitar riff that Alomar had pulled from the 1961 track Footstompin' Pt 1 by The Flares. John yelped "Aim!" over the riff, thereby setting in motion the writing of the rest of the song, which would go on to give Bowie his first US No.1.