There were apparently no hard feelings after David Bowie rejected Coldplayâs invitation to collaborate on a track. When Chris Martin approached the late musicianâas drummer Will Champion explained to NMEâhe responded in his well-known candor: “It’s not a very good song, is it?” Since then, Martin has covered Bowie twice.
The latest episode of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon featured one such instance, with a Chris Martin-led duet of Bowieâs “Life on Mars.” “Hey Chris, whatcha workinâ on?” asks Fallon as he approaches the Coldplay frontman. Martin simply responds by diving into the recognizable chords and melodies of the Bowie classic.
The scene is reminiscent of an old clip in which a young Bowie meets Bing Crosby; they proceed to gather around a piano and sing “The Little Drummer Boy.” In this latest duet, Martin tickled the ivory while Fallon sang, very nearly replicating Ziggy’s signature voice. During the bridge, The Roots guitarist Kirk Douglas appears, hands Fallon a small amp, and then plays the songâs guitar solo. When the song ends, Fallon jokes to Martin, “Well, you keep workinâ on it,” and leaves the room.
Itâs a poignant rendition, matching the tone of the countless other Bowie tributes that have taken place over the past few months. Coldplay, like everyone else, were greatly saddened by Bowie’s death. Champion recently told NME: “When you have any involvement in music he was one of the points of reference for absolutely everything, for genres and for how to be a rockstar or a popstar or whatever it was. Completely defining that. So for musicians it’s quite disorienting.”
Guitarist Johnny Buckland added:Â “I felt incredibly sad when I heard David Bowie had died. We’ve all loved his music for as long as we’ve known about music.”
What do you think of this latest Bowie tribue? Let us know in the comments.
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HT: NME
IMAGE: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon/Youtube