David Bowie’s five best duets
(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
David Bowie never needed any help in being a star. Throughout his lengthy career, with his various different styles, characters and sounds, he earned himself a legacy as one of the most interesting and beloved artists of all time. But still, he was more than happy to share the limelight.
It would be easy for artists at his level to become shut off and cold, looking down on up-and-comers or seeing their peers as competition. However, in Bowie’s case, his collaborative and supportive spirit was well-known. He held long and enduring friendships and partnerships with his fellow artists, especially people like Lou Reed, Mick Jagger, and several other faces from his 1960s and ‘70s scene.
It seemed like his creative output knew no bounds. Even during his busiest and most successful years, he found time to jump on tracks with other artists or even appear on TV shows to do lengthy, elaborate medleys. From his early days right through to his more mature years, Bowie seemed never to turn down the opportunity to link up with other artists that he loved and respected to create something new and special.
There are countless clips out there of Bowie collaborating with artists from all decades and genres, but these five stand out as his finest. Whether reworking his own old material or writing brand new stuff in collaboration with a different band, these five duets show his tireless excitement for music at its best.
David Bowie’s five best duets:
‘Under Pressure’ – David Bowie and Queen
Let’s get the biggest, most obvious and potentially the best out of the way first. The 1981 duet is a prime example of two titans combining their joint power. Sometimes, that can result in something lacklustre that fails to live up to either reputation. But in this case, ‘Under Pressure’ shoots both stars into a whole other world of rock glory.
Bowie and Freddie Mercury are both giving this track their absolute all. There is no holding back or down playing to leave space for the other. With total confidence in their ability to keep up with each other, the song feels like a vocal battle where they both come out as winners. The result is a massive, enduring and forever electric track that the world has yet to tire of.
‘Quicksand’ – David Bowie and The Cure
From the best-known to an underappreciated deep cut. How else would Bowie celebrate his 50th birthday than with a big musical blowout, complete with special guests and deep cuts? At Madison Square Garden, the starman shared his stage with Foo Fighters, Lou Reed, Sonic Youth and more, with The Cure’s Robert Smith being amongst them. Together, the English grunge rocker and the glam god played ‘Quicksand’, an all-too-overlooked cut from his 1971 album, Hunky Dory.
Their voices couldn’t be more different. Bowie’s still swaggers with a kind of crooner, old-timey power, while Smith’s is indescribably yet instantly recognisably his own, with a unique combination of grit and softness. But when they come together, passing verses back and forth and both brandishing acoustic guitars, the result is something so special. It’s easy to see that Smith was incredibly nervous up there next to a musical hero, but their voices together merge into something beautiful and create a gorgeous moment to match the soundtrack.
‘Waiting For The Man’ – David Bowie and Lou Reed
Another piece of gold delivered at Bowie’s birthday bash was his duet with Lou Reed on ‘Waiting For The Man’. It had been a long time coming, so naturally, it is delivered with total ease, as if the song had always been made for the two of them to do together, with their friendship and tight musical connection making it electric.
In a lot of ways, it feels like Bowie and Reed were in a constant duet throughout their careers. Their work always seemed to find a way back to each other, whether that be through indirect inspiration or directly having one another on their songs or behind the mixing desk. Bowie’s instantly recognisable voice is heard at the end of ‘Satellite of Love’, while Bowie covered both ‘Waiting For The Man’ and ‘White Light/White Heat’. So, to finally have them singing together on a proper duet felt like a beautiful promise fulfilled.
‘Young Americans’ – David Bowie and Cher
It’s not enough to just listen to this duet between Cher and David Bowie; it has to be watched. In 1975, right as his Glam era was over and his seductively sleazy, cocaine-fuelled Thin White Duke era was beginning, Bowie found himself on The Cher Show. He made an impression, as Cher recalled of the meet-up: “I had a tiny crush. He was flirty… I was a little flirty 2.”
The duet feels like a 1970s fever dream. There they are, on a typical old-school American variety show backdrop, singing and dancing their way through 13 different songs in only six minutes, including ‘Young Americans’, ‘Day Tripper’, ‘Blue Moon’, ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ and plenty more, with Bowie doing his finest Elvis impression throughout. “I think any television performance of that period I was out of my gourd,” Bowie admitted as this clip has the energy of a frantic, but admittedly fun, high, complete with karaoke and choreography.
‘Dancing In The Street’ – Mick Jagger
“1985 brought us the gayest music video of all time,” Peter Griffin declares on Family Guy before the TV show pauses for a full three minutes to show the entirety of the ‘Dancing In The Street’ video. It’s truly a piece of camp cinema as the two are clad in the most off-their-era outfits possible, skipping through the streets arm in arm and having dance battles in an industrial hallway. It has the energy of if a bunch of kids TV presenters did a music video, but that video was powered by the best drugs money could buy.
But music video aside, a duet between Mick Jagger and Bowie was always going to be great. It’s a wonder it took them so long to get on a track together as they’d been friends for so long and had even covered each other’s work, with Bowie covering ‘Let’s Spend The Night Together’ on Aladdin Sane. But when they finally linked up for a duet, the result was a high-octane pop track that allowed both singers space for their signature vocal stylings and plenty of room for fun.
David Bowie’s five best duets:
- ‘Young Americans’ – with Cher
- ‘Quicksand’ – with The Cure
- ‘Dancing In The Street’ – with Mick Jagger
- ‘Under Pressure’ – with Queen
- ‘Waiting For The Man’ – with Lou Reed