Imagine getting a chance to work with the legendary David Bowie. Only a few elite musicians were able to work with him. Everyone in the world looked up to the late David Bowie, It was the same with Red Hot Chili Peppers and according to him, David Bowie turned down the chance to work with his band on more than one occasion.
Red Hot Chili Peppers has achieved notable success in the rock world and has even achieved superstar-level status. The California funk rock people wanted to work with David Bowie but were rejected, not only once but twice. Bowie is notorious for not wanting to team up with many other musicians like Dave Grohl and Coldplay too. RHCP was no exception.
When Bowie passed away in 2016, his musical legacy featured only a very few talented people in the discography. Anthony Kiedis admitted wanting to work with him was his dream. He revealed after every record they ever made, they had a band discussion where they would ask themselves, ‘Who should we get to produce this record?’. They would often tumble around David Bowie.
He said, in the beginning, they called him and he would say no, respectfully. He added, “Then, later, we would write long e-mails explaining everything, and why it was time for us to really get our ships on—and he always respectfully declined… For two minutes I was heartbroken, and then I would hear Chad Smith play drums, and I’d be like, ‘We’re good, we can go do something else’.”
Anthony even asked Bowie to produce their album ‘By the Way’ and their next record, ‘Stadium’ too but was rejected both times. He also said that David was thoughtful when it came to the rejections. He would write them letters explaining why he couldn’t do so. Anthony said he was, “a true gentleman, not a guy who just blows you off without an explanation.”
More than that, RHCP was also rejected by Brian Eno, and it was not only twice it was a whopping eight times. He revealed his mate, Eno was asked to produce a record for the band but said no to them eight times. And they just accepted their fate.
The rejection may be the reason RHCP often covers Bowie’s songs. Throughout their career, they have covered a lot of his songs. To show his appreciation, the bassist Flea also got a David Bowie tattoo on his forea
