# Remembering When David Bowie Collaborated With a Rock Icon for His First No. 1 Hit in America in 1975

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/remembering-when-david-bowie-collaborated-with-a-rock-icon-for-his-first-no-1-hit-in-america-in-1975/
- Published: 2026-11-12T11:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-12T11:22:37+00:00
- Original publisher: American Songwriter
- Original article: https://americansongwriter.com/remembering-when-david-bowie-collaborated-with-a-rock-icon-for-his-first-no-1-hit-in-america-in-1975/
- Topics: Americas, Celebrity, Entertainment, Music, World

## Key points

- “Fame” became Bowie’s first US No. 1.
- Lennon contributed guitar and backing vocals.
- The collaboration added two songs to *Young Americans*.

## Summary

David Bowie and John Lennon collaborated on two songs for Bowie’s 1975 album *Young Americans*, including “Fame”, which became Bowie’s first US No. 1 single. The session grew out of their friendship and shared interest in fame, and helped turn Bowie’s Philly soul-inspired album into a major American success.

Lennon played rhythm guitar on Bowie’s cover of the Beatles’ “Across the Universe” and sang backing vocals on “Fame”, which Bowie wrote largely with guitarist Carlos Alomar’s funk riff as its starting point. Lennon received a co-writing credit on “Fame”; Bowie replaced two planned album tracks with the new recordings and released “Fame” as the second single. Bowie later reached No. 1 in the US again with “Let’s Dance” in 1982.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.