Shortly after his sad passing, it was revealed that David Bowie had intended to record one more album before he was done. We’ll likely never know what The Thin White Duke intended for his follow-up to ★ (Blackstar), but one thing’s for sure: It probably wouldn’t have featured a Coldplay collaboration.
(Read: Ranking: Every David Bowie Album From Worst to Best)
As Coldplay’s drummer Will Champion revealed in a interview with NME, Coldplay asked the music icon to collaborate on a song. The band had written a three-part harmony they thought he’d be perfect for, and he’d been known to provide backing vocals before, such as on Arcade Fire’s “Reflektor”. However, Bowie turned down the request in no uncertain terms, saying, “It’s not a very good song, is it?”
“I was like, ‘Mm, okay, I’ll take that as a no,'” Champion laughed. “He was very discerning. He wouldn’t just put his name to anything. I’ll give him credit for that.”
Watch Champion tell the story as he and guitarist Jonny Buckland discuss the late Bowie’s legacy in the video below.
Update – Monday, February 8th at 3:40 p.m. CT: In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Coldplay’s Chris Martin revealed that Beyoncé turned down a collaborative track called “Hook Up”, saying, “I really like you, but this is awful.”
