David Bowie Turned Down a Collaboration With Dave Grohl, Said ‘It’s Not My Thing’
Like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Coldplay before him, Dave Grohl says David Bowie also turned down an offer to collaborate with the Foo Fighters frontman. When Grohl proposed the idea, Bowie replied, “I got to be honest, it’s not my thing…. I’m not made for these times.”
Grohl and Pat Smear, driving an old truck emblazoned with the Aladdin Sane lightning bolt, visit all of Bowie’s old L.A. haunts in a new video for Playboy. They make pit stops at Bowie’s Doheny Drive house, defunct glam club Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco and the Rainbow Room.
Along the way, Grohl revealed he once reached out to Bowie to do the music for a film he was working on:
We played at his 50th birthday party at Madison Square Garden and that was the last time I saw him, so that was 1997? About two years ago, I got approached by this movie to do a song for the movie, so I thought, "Maybe I’ll have someone else sing, I’ll do the music and then have another vocalist." And then I thought, "Maybe I’ll ask and see if David would want to do it." So the next day, I get an email and it says, "David, I watched the movie and I got to be honest, it’s not my thing." He said, "I’m not made for these times. So thanks, I think I’m gonna sit this one out."
Grohl recalls following up with another email expressing there weren't any hard feelings. Bowie responded: “All right, now that’s settled then, f--- off.”
Grohl admitted he didn’t know if the singer was joking or not and decided to write back, “See you in another 16 years.” Bowie told him, “Don’t hold your breath,” and said he had “run out” of birthdays.
Watch Grohl and Smear’s whole journey at the top of the page.