David Bowie was rarely in the headlines for talking smack about other people or airing out his grievances with his contemporaries. He was more focused on the music and the art, after all. Still, some of his contemporaries were not down with Bowie, and they made their beef with the Starman extremely clear on several occasions.
Let’s look at a few examples (including one that appears to be more rumor than a true riff).
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Gary Numan
This is a surprising entry on our list of musicians who beefed with David Bowie, considering Gary Numan and the Starman aren’t really different. They’re both new wave legends in their own respective way. However, this beef is actually really sad, and it’s hard not to feel for Numan in this instance.
According to Gary Numan, he was a huge David Bowie fan back in the day. That changed when Bowie reportedly kicked him off a co-headlining performance on The Kenny Everett Christmas Show in 1980. Allegedly, Bowie thought Numan was copying him.
“It bothered me at the time because I was a massive fan, and he’d been such a big part of my life for so many years, so I was pretty disappointed… and the fact I got taken off the show afterwards,” said Numan of the incident. “But I later came to realise we all go through periods when we’re more fragile or paranoid and not sure how we fit into all of this.”
Keith Richards
Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones had beef with a lot of people, so I’m sure David Bowie didn’t take this one too personally. According to the very bold Richard, after “Changes” from Hunky Dory hit the airwaves, nothing else by Bowie tickled the guitarist’s fancy.
“I can’t think of anything else [Bowie’s] done that would make my hair stand up, ” said Richards in 2008. “It’s all pose; it’s all f*cking posing. It’s nothing to do with music. He knows it, too.”
Ouch. I have to say, it’s hard to side with Richards on this one. What about “Life On Mars?” or “Fame”? Come on.
Axl Rose
Some beefs between rock stars are more rumors than actual riffs, and that seems to be the case for the alleged feud between Axl Rose and David Bowie. To be fair, there did seem to be some form of altercation between the two musicians during a video shoot for Guns N’ Roses’ “It’s So Easy”.
As has been the case between men since time immemorial, Rose allegedly got upset over Bowie getting a little too friendly with the GNR frontman’s girlfriend. Depending on who you ask, punches were thrown, and insults were lobbed. Even Rose all but confirmed the confrontation in a 1990 interview with Kerrang. But whatever it was, it was short-lived.
“Bowie and I had our differences,” Rose explained. “Then, we talked and went out to dinner, and then went down to the China Club and stuff. When we left, I was like, ‘I wanna thank you for being the first person that’s ever come up to me in person and said how sorry they were about the situation and stuff.’ It was cool, you know?”
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